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