Easton, Brett Brothers, and others make some composite bats that one of my son's teammates uses.  I would think that they would make a great bat for BP and practice.

if you hit the ball on the end of the bat or at the handle the bat is likely to break, regardless of how much you spent or what species of wood the bat is made out of.  You should try (dry swing) various wood bats to find a length/weight/shape that most closely resembles the BBCOR bat you use, then look to find a factory second version of the bat you like.  Since you're in Minnesota you should be able to find MaxBat bats at your favorite baseball shop (they're made here in Minnesota).

My son uses a 33.5" RipIt as his BBCOR bat and finds that a 243 pattern feels most like his RipIT.  For wood he uses 33.5" BWP 243 Pro Maple Lite bats with a 1/2 cup in the end (weight's in at -3 to -4) and 33.5 BWP 243 Pro Maple bats with 1/2 cup for cage work (-2 weight).  Since those are for cage use he gets the cage model from BWP to save some bucks.  Just remember, there are a large number of bat shapes and they all feel different.  Besides the 243 that my son prefers, 110, 73, and 271 are other popular shapes.

Louisville Slugger has a model at Dick's or Sports Authority that can be purchased off the shelf for around $49-$59, referred to as Louisville Genuine Maple bat or Louisville hard maple bat. Two tone with natural handle and reddish barrel with cupped end. Decent bat that is fine for the cage or game use. Louisville Slugger HM125S Hard Maple Cupped Slyke Finish Baseball Bat Sees to hold up pretty well.

If you aren't afraid to try a non name brand bat, I bought several from a lunmber company called batsandbillets.com, they are modeled after popular styles and they have actually lasted pretty good.......also got batch of louisville sluggers blems on ebay and they seem to refuse to break

Just Bats sells a three bat pack of Marucci bats for about $200.  They are blems, but our son could not find the defect.  They are a pretty good deal when three guys go in together on the purchase.

My son is using Brett Bros. Maple Master Wood BBCOR Bat: MM110 at $59.99.

He is having success using these $59.99 bats, and several teammates have replaced their $125+ for a Brett Bros. bat. 

I've bought several bats from Justbats.com.  My son broke the wood bat this weekend that I bought from Justbats last month.  I called Justbats, told them my son had broken his bat and I needed to order another one.  I was intending to buy two more bats. Without any prompting they sent me a replacement bat for no charge.  I'll be buying all my son's bats from Justbats.com!

My opinion - wood bats are another one of those things that it saves in the long run to buy a wood composite bat - even if they are more expensive. My son went through 3 wood bats in 60 days between practice and games. All about $60-80 - bamboo-maple - it did not matter - they all broke relatively quickly. I bit the bullit and bought a BAUM bat ($200) - a composite wood bat but still BBCOR certified. Used it for 2 years - uses every day in practice/batting cages (real balls not hard plastic-never take a wood bat or a BBCOR bat to commercial batting cages) - and is in 2nd summer of wood league - its still going strong. Probably has over 10,000 swings on it.Worth every penny.

Should I get a bat that is close to my game bats size, or should I opt for a heavier bat that can be used for overload underload training as well as tee work/bp? 

I suggest using your same weighted bat in practice. You do not want to slow your swing down using a heavy bat. You are actually training your muscles to swing at a slower speed with a heavy bat. You can check our wood bats at www.annexbaseball.com

and take some time to read our reviews.

We ship for free and they are pro grade maple, we also have blems for a great price, you must order those through paypal, not our website . Just send me an email at info@annexbaseball.com for more details. We are also out of MN. Take care, and good luck with your season!

Matt Ingle

http://www.warstic.com/Product...ics_AshBat_byWarstic

You can get a pack of 3 from Rawlings for under $100.

nspeltz11,

Why not just get a cheap metal BBCOR and set it up to have the same swing weight and ‘feel?

I see an Easton 2012 Reflex and a Worth 2011 Lithium Prodigy available for $49.97. Wouldn’t that be a “better” value?

Bumping this thread:

I was hoping for some information on what type of wooden bat to get my 14u son.  Specifically, what type of wood?  Ash, Birch, Maple, other?  Bamboo and composite are out of consideration. I'm thinking the budget is about $50

So, in the tradition of oxymoron's, what is a GREAT CHEAP wooden bat?

After my 13u son broke two bats his first two games this summer I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought him a bamboo bat that came with a warranty of I think 90 days.  It wasn't that expensive and it actually is still in one piece.  It had a BBB on it,  The label with the warranty will make it stand out as well.  It may have been a few dollars over your $50 budget but you'll have the warranty to fall back on if it breaks. 

Thanks MK, but since PG has banned Bamboo bats I was hoping to go with a different wood.  But thank you!

Ahh, didn't know that.  The oldest (non-bamboo) wood bat I have in one piece is hard maple.  It has to be 7-8 years old (2016 got it when he was in LL).  Younger son was just using it last night for a science project!  The second oldest we have is a Marucci Chase Utley model (maple).  

Honestly, if you aren't going to get it online I would have him swing the bats (maple or ash I guess) at the store that are in your price range and see which one feels the best.  It's possible that any of them will break depending on where he makes contact on any given swing.   There are lots of Louisville Slugger wood bats online right now on closeoutbats that are 49 and 59.  Mostly Maple and Ash. 

All bats will break in time.  When my son was your sons age, he went through wood bats like it was going out of style.  Cheap bats, expensive bats, didn't matter.  It was his swing that ultimately determined how long the bat would survive.  I will say that once his swing improved he was able to make a quality wood bat last 10-12 months. 

Stick with the mid grade, name brands for now.  Rawlings, Marucci, Demarini, etc.  As far as the wood type, I think that's personal preference.  Ash will have a little more flex.  Maple is a little more dense, therefore it may be a -1 / -2 instead of a -3.  Take your son to the store and have him pick up a few makes and models and see which one feels best when he holds/swings it.  I used to take a scale with me when I purchased wood bats to ensure they were actually -3.  You would be amazed how much wood bats vary in weight.  Sometimes I would have to grab 4-5 bats of the same make/model in order to find one that was -3.  Sounds silly, but I wanted to make sure the wood bat I was buying matched the length/weight of the BBCOR bat he was using at the time. 

Hope this helps. 

Check the x-outs on both Old Hickory website and Max bats website. Great way to get $100+ bats within your budget. Even better is if you can find a local retailer who sells them so you can choose the exact bats, as they will vary a bit.

My son is using the Louisville Slugger M110 in ash.  Amazon sells them for $39.95.  He does tend to break one about every 25 to 30 at bats.  But at the same time, he had the highest slugging percentage of anyone at the 17u WWBA this year, so he is hitting pretty hard.  

I buy 3 at a time with free shipping.

Your son should learn about the different shapes, or "turns" of the bats.  The M110 is my son's favorite.  he started with the 271, but found he liked the feel of the 110 better.  

Cheap wood bats = firewood.

The ash from stores and discount retailers is cut from blocks after tree is harvested.

Major League ash is seasoned for three years, minor league wood two years.

Maple is a hard wood and not flake like ash. I have over 400 SSK maple bats ready for the ML players and our American and Canadian players traveling to Goodwill Series/Australia in December.

Bob

I agree with Dadofa17 with regards to the turn models.  I would certainly take some time to google them and learn the basics about them.  IE: the 110 Model is a balanced bat while the 271 and 243 are end loaded.  Marruci had a completely separate turn model system but you can read about each model on their web site.  Both of my sons prefer the CU26; balanced without the flared knob much like the 110.

There is a reason why Major League players only want, and get, the best wood possible.

Of course, money doesn't get in the way there.  Only a small percentage of all the wood used to make bats is marked MLB quality.  From there you can grade down all the way to the wood used for those little souvenir bats.

All wood bats break, some easier than others.  The biggest difference is in performance.

BTW, due to popular demand I believe we will once again be making certain composite bats legal at our events. More on that over the winter.

All of PG's WWBA events follow the MLB standard now... a bat made from one solid piece of wood. Bamboo isn't singled out, you just can't make a (real) baseball bat from one solid piece of bamboo, whereas there are other types of composite bats made from glued up pieced of maple, ash, etc.

Very good point.  I mentioned the Bamboo being banned because in MANY articles and on this site I keep seeing things like "Bamboo is hardest to break, Bamboo will hold up the longest"...so I pointed out in my opener that Bamboo and Composite are out of consideration....then again PGStaff just said there is hope for some!

Have to admit... I love seeing a kid get sawed off when he's late on an inside FB.

I'd pick a price point where I could buy at least 2 bats if not three.  

Anyone have any advice on taping wood bats for BP?  Heard if done correctly it greatly reduces the chance of breaking in the cage.

You don't see many people taping the barrel these days, mostly because of the popularity of maple over ash. Ash has a more open grain, and that grain tends to get mashed down and splinter over time. The tape will protect that surface wood. Maple is so dense that it doesn't have that problem. Another reason people tape the barrel is if they're hitting a lot of machine-fed synthetic balls. Some of those balls are harder on wood than leather is. In both cases the issue is the breakdown of the barrel wood, not the bat actually breaking.

My guys have had decent success with Akadema.  You can get Maple or Ash blems for less than $50.  I've never been able to tell what the blemish(es) are.

http://www.bestbatdeals.com/  Excellent vendor and great bats.

Juaregui makes nice maple bats too, but the last time I went to their website it wasn't listed as safe.  You could still call them though.  Their office is in San Diego.

There's also an eBay seller (StLouisWebGems?) that usually has pretty good deals on quality bats.

I haven't purchased anything from SilverCreek bats (actual hickory bats!), but I've heard very good things about them.

A quick word about wood type:  Your player's swing style, and bat "flex" preference will go a long way in determining the type of wood he prefers.  If he likes an aluminum/composite BBCOR bat with a lot of flex, he's more than likely going to be an ash guy.  If he prefers a stiff bat, he'll be a maple guy.  In between....you guessed it:  probably birch.  Of the three, maple is usually the most expensive, then birch, then ash.

That's my two cents anyway.  Like many have said, in many cases you get what you pay for where bats are concerned.  That doesn't necessarily mean a $300 bat won't break just as easily as a $35 bat though.  Best advice I can give you is don't go crazy on bats until you're sure he's mastered wood.  Few things will correct a swing better than bad cuts with a wood bat (it's both painful and expensive!).

PG - My customer and I both are very happy to hear this.  I can't say I'm surprised.

I have many customers who participate in PG and WWBA events and like the fact that our bat is 100% real wood.  It is Babe Ruth's Hickory fused with Harmon Killebrew's Tanoak.  Even the NCAA says they consider it a "solid wood bat".  It carries a 5 month breakage warranty too!

Is there any special process for getting on the approved list?  Thanks!

John MacDougall

MacDougall Bats