old_school - i agree that the last few yrs of marketing new composits will leave you drained at the end of the day. word of advice on the wood bat issues is to look into a Baum bat. My friend and I went in on one at the beginning of the summer and split the cost ($210 shipped). Our boys have been pretty happy with it. Used in the cage as well as games with no issues. Also have not had issues with it being allowed at PG etc as it is BBCOR cert .50. From all accounts they should be able to get 2-3 yrs out of it with heavy use.
Being in the business myself, I see the dilemma faced by parents when it comes to the world of bats. I also have two sons who play. There is a whole lot of , ahem, "marketing" out there that I can attest has very little basis in reality. With the advent of the BBCOR rule, success in metal bats comes down to marketing and graphics because there is not much else to differentiate them.
About the Baum bats, they are now out of business. While they were very durable, they always sort of stuck in my craw as they were only about 1% wood and the rest was foam and fiberglass. I get the "pain point" of wood bat durability though and that is why I invented the Powerwood bat a few years ago. It is laminated in a unique way but is 100% real wood and carries a 4 month breakage warranty. Not to mention it outperforms the other composite type wood bats as well as the "pro maple" bats. It is also BBCOR certified and approved by all the major youth baseball organizations. I'm chiming in here because I don't have a bajillion marketing dollars and grow by word of mouth. I'm happy to answer bat questions anytime. www.MacDougallBats.com