NFHS 2027: Pitchers can receive the call

What changed for 2027

Through the 2026 season, NFHS rules allowed a coach in the dugout or bench area to send one-way electronic communication to the catcher only while the team was on defense. For 2027, both sports add the pitcher as a permitted receiver.

Baseball and softball did not use identical words. Quote the sport you play.

NFHS’s softball announcement states the practical effect in one sentence: “Pitchers will now join catchers as the only players in high school softball permitted to receive one-way electronic communication from the dugout, effective with the 2027 season.” Baseball’s 2027 press release uses “pitcher and/or the catcher for the purposes of calling pitches,” and notes that previously “the catcher was the only defensive player allowed to receive communication from the coach.”

Baseball’s “and/or,” softball’s “the pitcher and the catcher,” and the softball press line that pitchers “join catchers” all describe who may receive. None of those texts requires a school to put a receiver on both players. For baseball, the 2027 comments say that explicitly.

How we got here

Baseball: catcher in 2024, pitcher in 2027

The NFHS Baseball Rules Committee, meeting June 4–6, 2023, in Indianapolis, recommended — and the NFHS Board of Directors approved — one-way devices from a coach in the dugout to the catcher beginning with the 2024 season (Rules 1-6-2 and 3-2-5). The July 14, 2023, NFHS release said coaches could not communicate electronically with any other player besides the catcher on defense, or with any player while batting, and had to be in the dugout when using the device.

The 2024 rules-change listing for 1-6-2 required the path to be one-way (the player cannot use an electronic device to respond or communicate back to the coach), named examples of technologies (“earpiece, electronic band or a smart watch”), and attached this penalty: the umpire issues a team warning to the coach of the team involved, and the next offender(s) of that team will be ejected along with the head coach. Rule 3-2-5 was the coaching-conduct companion: a coach may use a one-way device to communicate to the catcher for the purpose of calling pitches, and may not use electronic communication with any other team member while on defense or any team member while on offense.

The 2027 baseball change is an expansion of that same 1-6-2 article. NFHS’s July 8, 2026, press release says the Baseball Rules Committee recommended seven rules changes at its meeting the previous month in Indianapolis, later approved by the NFHS Rules Review Committee and Board of Directors. NFHS posted the 2027 baseball rules list on July 13, 2026. On player communication equipment, that list updates 1-6-2 and 1-6-3; it does not reprint Rule 3-2-5. Read the 2027 Baseball Rules Book for whether the coaching-conduct companion was editorially aligned. The published 2027 listing for 1-6-2 also does not reprint a penalty; use the current rulebook for the penalty table.

Softball: catcher in 2025, pitcher in 2027

Softball’s catcher-only rule arrived a year later. The Softball Rules Committee met June 9–11, 2024, at The Alexander hotel in Indianapolis; the Board of Directors approved one-way dugout-to-catcher communication for 2025. The July 8, 2024, NFHS release named earpieces, electronic bands, and “smart” watches as examples, provided the player does not use the device to return correspondence. New language went into Rule 1-8-6 (Exception and Penalty) and Rule 3-6-11 (bench and field conduct): coaches are prohibited from using the device “to communicate with any other team member while on defense or any team member while on offense,” and the coach cannot use the device “outside the dugout/bench area.” Violators are subject to ejection unless the umpire rules the offense “of a minor nature” (warning, then ejection if repeated).

The committee called 2025 a permissive rule: schools that want the technology may use it; schools that prefer signals or a playbook/playcard may continue that approach.

By the 2026 softball interpretations, those provisions are cited as 1-9-6 and 3-5-11 (the rulebook was renumbered; do not treat 1-8-6 as the 2027 citation). The 2027 softball change, recommended at the committee’s June 14–16 meeting in Indianapolis and later approved by the Board of Directors, is the 1-9-6 Exception quoted above. NFHS posted that change on July 9, 2026. The 2027 listed softball changes are 1-9-6 Exception, 2-46-3a, 8-10-2, and 10-4-2. Rule 3-5-11 is not among those listed 2027 changes. NFHS also listed “One-Way Electronic Communication” as a 2027 softball Point of Emphasis; this page quotes the Exception and the announcement, not that POE. Read the 2027 Softball Points of Emphasis for the committee’s note.

NFHS’s 2027 softball release adds that use of other electronic devices to transmit or record information remains prohibited on the field of play, and that players remain prohibited from transmitting or recording audio or video from the playing surface.

What 2027 does not do

• It does not authorize electronic communication to infielders, outfielders, or anyone besides the pitcher and catcher.
• It does not authorize two-way talk. The path is still coach → player. The player still may not transmit back through the device.
• It does not authorize use while the team is on offense.
• It does not let the coach operate the device from the coaching box or elsewhere outside the dugout/bench area.
• It does not require a school to buy or use a system.
• It is not an NCAA, NAIA, travel-ball, or recreation-league rule. Those bodies publish their own rulebooks.

Baseball and softball are not the same rulebook

Coaches who work both sports should not copy one sport’s interpretation onto the other.

Purpose of the message

Baseball 1-6-2 (2027) still says “for the purpose of calling pitches.” The 2025 Baseball Points of Emphasis, describing the then catcher-only rule, also mentioned “setting up the defense.” That is 2025 emphasis language, not the 2027 rule text. Softball’s 2027 rationale is explicitly broader: “defensive strategy and game management information.” The 2025 softball interpretations (Situation 1) treated communication to the catcher on defense as unrestricted as to when or what — a drop ball, bunt coverage, and a throw to third were all legal examples.

Device capability vs. how the device is used

Softball (2025 interpretations, Situation 5): legality follows use, not hardware design. An earpiece with a microphone, or a smartwatch that is capable of two-way communication, is legal if it is used only to receive one-way communication from the coach while on defense. The 2026 interpretations (Situation 1) stated there is “no restriction to what type of device is utilized, or what that device is designed to or is capable of doing,” and held a 12-receiver watch-like system legal if only the catcher wore a receiver under the then catcher-only rule. 2027 adds the pitcher as a permitted receiver; the published Exception does not authorize other fielders to wear receivers.

Baseball (2024 interpretations, Situation 6): a device that has two-way capability is illegal even if the coach says it is muted (team warning). Situation 7: two separate one-way devices on the catcher (an earpiece and a display bracelet) are legal. When this page was reviewed, the NFHS baseball rules page still linked 2026 interpretations, not a 2027 set. Do not assume Situation 6 was relaxed.

Relaying the call

Under 2026 softball Situation 3, once the catcher has received a one-way electronic message, the catcher may communicate it to the rest of the defense by verbal call or signal. The limitation is on who may use an electronic device to receive the message, not on ordinary on-field communication afterward. 2027 adds the pitcher as a permitted electronic receiver. It does not, in the published Exception, put electronic receivers on the rest of the defense.

Baseball’s 2024 Situation 11 treated using the catcher’s device to gather the infield at the mound and relay instructions as an illegal use of the device (and not as a charged defensive conference). That is 2024 interpretation language, written for the catcher-only rule.

Who may transmit, and from where

Baseball 2024 Situations 8, 9, and 13: the device may be used only from the dugout/bench area; an assistant merely listening from the bullpen is illegal; only one coach may communicate with the catcher at a time. Situation 10: one-way earpieces on the base coaches for offensive plays are illegal. Those interpretations were written for the catcher-only era. The 2027 equipment rule still requires the coach to stay in the dugout/bench area.

Recording and wearable cameras

Baseball 1-6-3 (2027) states: “No player shall wear any audio (microphone) or video (camera) device during the game. The use of electronic communication devices (e.g. amplifying devices, wireless communication devices, headphones, etc.) with players on the field is prohibited except for the one-way communication between the coach (in the dugout), pitcher and/or catcher.” Note 1: medical appliances and/or medical devices are not considered wearable technology. Note 2: “State associations may also have policies in place to further address the use of electronic devices.” The rationale for that article adds that state associations “may further restrict electronic devices.” The 2027 comments say state associations have been given additional latitude in enforcing the article.

Softball’s 2027 announcement likewise says other devices used to transmit or record information remain prohibited on the field, and players remain prohibited from transmitting or recording audio or video from the playing surface. 2026 softball Situation 2 held that a self-contained body camera on a pitcher was illegal for that reason.

Penalties are not interchangeable

Baseball’s 2024 1-6-2 / 3-2-5 penalty is a team warning, then ejection of the next offender(s) and the head coach. Softball’s 2025 construction is ejection unless the umpire finds the offense minor. Do not apply one sport’s penalty table to the other, and do not treat the 2024/2025 penalty reprint as a 2027 substitute for the rulebook in force.

If your device fails

Both sports’ interpretations say the opponent does not have to shut theirs off if yours breaks (baseball 2024 Situation 12; softball 2025 Situation 2). Softball 2025 Situation 3: the umpire should allow a nominal amount of time to address a dead battery, as with other equipment, without an extended delay.

Wristband play cards are a different rule

NFHS baseball Rule 1-6-1 (new in 2024) treats a wristband with defensive shifts, offensive plays, pitching choices, or game directions as non-electronic equipment. It must be a single solid color, worn on the wrist or forearm; it does not have to match the uniform. For pitchers, it may not contain the colors white or gray, or be distracting, and shall be worn on the non-pitching arm. The 2024 interpretations allow the card in a uniform pocket (Situation 3) and allow a light board used with those wristbands (Situation 14). That is not the electronic-communication rule, and 2027 does not repeal it.

State associations still have a say

NFHS writes playing rules. Member state associations adopt them, sometimes with amendments. Baseball 1-6-3 Note 2 (2027) states that state associations may also have policies to further address electronic devices. If your state has not adopted the 2027 rulebook, or has published a more restrictive bulletin, the NFHS 2027 language does not override that bulletin. This page does not list states. Ask the state association that governs your school.

Common questions

What this means on the field in 2027

For programs already using a one-way catcher device under the 2024 baseball / 2025 softball rules, 2027 is a receiver expansion, not a new category of communication. You may put a receiver on the pitcher, the catcher, or both. You still may not put electronic receivers on the rest of the defense. The coach still works from the dugout or bench. The path is still one-way.

PerfectCall Varsity is a dedicated, one-way radio system operated from the dugout: coach tablet to player-worn receivers, with no return path from the field. Whether any particular device is legal in a given contest is a question for the current NFHS rulebook and your state association, not for a vendor page.

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Primary sources

Every rule citation on this page is from one of the following NFHS publications. If a later rulebook, interpretation, or state bulletin disagrees, that later document controls.

• NFHS Baseball Rules Changes — 2027 (1-6-2, 1-6-3; posted July 13, 2026)
• NFHS Baseball Comments on the Rules — 2027 (posted August 18, 2026; 1-6-2 “either one or both”)
• NFHS, “Larger First Base Option Allowed in High School Baseball” (July 8, 2026 press release; includes the pitcher/catcher communication change)
• NFHS, “Electronic Communication Devices from Dugout to Catchers to be Permitted in High School Baseball” (July 14, 2023)
• NFHS Baseball Rules Changes — 2024 (1-6-1, 1-6-2, 3-2-5)
• 2024 NFHS Baseball Rules Interpretations (PDF; Situations 3 and 6–14)
• NFHS Baseball Points of Emphasis — 2025 (“Improper Use of Communication Equipment”)
• NFHS Softball Rules Changes — 2027 (1-9-6 Exception; posted July 9, 2026)
• NFHS, “One-way Electronic Communications Allowed for Pitchers Under 2027 High School Softball Rules Changes” (July 9, 2026)
• NFHS, “One-Way Electronic Communication Approved for High School Softball” (July 8, 2024)
• NFHS Softball Rules Changes — 2025 (1-8-6 Exception, 3-6-11)
• NFHS Softball Comments on the Rules — 2025
• NFHS Softball Rules Interpretations — 2025 (Situations 1–5)
• NFHS Softball Rules Interpretations — 2026 (1-9-6, 3-5-11; Situations 1–3)

NFHS stated that the print 2027 Baseball Rules Book would be available in October 2026 and the baseball digital edition in September 2026 via NFHS Digital. For softball, NFHS stated that both the print and digital 2027 rulebooks would be available in October 2026. Where the bound rulebook differs from a website excerpt, the rulebook in force for your contest controls.