7/30/26 – KHSAA Board Adopts Use of Double First Base in Baseball for 2027 Season

July 30, 2026 Athletic Department Blog Updates

The Board of Control, at its July meeting late last week in Newport, reaffirmed the adopted use of a double first base in baseball beginning with the 2027 playing season.

NFHS playing rules changed in July of 2025, announcing that, beginning with the 2027 season, a double first base would be required.  Following up on that change was an addition to the rule change passed in July of 2026, which, upon state adoption, also allowed the choice to use an 18-inch first base beginning in 2027.  States could independently choose either.

Because the initial rule change was announced and some schools had already begun facility planning and using a double first base in 2026, the state association adopted a policy requiring all KHSAA member schools to continue using the double first base beginning with the 2027 season.

For any questions, reach out to Senior Associate Commissioner Butch Cope, bcope@khsaa.org.

– KHSAA –

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 291 member schools, both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 229 state championships to 59 teams and 178 individuals in 13 sports and six sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 109,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.