I love wood bat tournaments. It really distinguishes the real hitters from the rest. While I agree that in theory aspiring college hitters should only swing what they are going to swing in college, if I was a college scout I'd want to see which prospects can truly "barrel" it up and a wood bat tournament can help show that....
Heard something interesting about wood bats the other day.
My son was hitting with a guy who retired from MiLB a year or so ago, and this player told him that ALL of the wood bats available online or in stores are s__t. He said the best lots of wood all go to the MLB guys, and the next best lots trickle down to upper level MiLB, then lower, then summer college leagues, leaving nothing but the worst wood for retail. He said that this, plus the fact that MiLB and MLB balls have lower seams, make it easier to drive the ball with wood as you climb the ladder.
At our recent World Showcase, we sold the SSK MLB maple bats to the 15 teams including the two Australia teams. This is the same ML Maple used by Javier Baez and Robinson Cano.
It is the aging for the quality of the ash bat. The minor league wood is age for 2 years before the tuning of the wood. Major League ash is aged 4 years.
We have a few SSK remaining for purchase. Also the special coaches fungoes
Bob