What Bats are Y'all Using?

My son is using a 34/31 2104 Easton S-1. 

My 13 yr olds swing a 33" DiMarini Voodoo  (not sure the year) they love them.  They are a bit of an anomaly though.  Big for their age (6'1" 200 lbs) going into high school I wanted them to be used to the BBCOR so they settled on this and love it. 

My 14U incoming freshman is swinging a 33/30 2017 Demarini Zen in games.  Batting practice he uses a 33/30 Marucci Cutch 22 wood.

15U Freshman swinging a 32/29 Axe Avenge BBCOR and a 32/29 Axe Mookie Betts wood bat.  Awesome bats....

roothog66 posted:

My son is using a 34/31 2104 Easton S-1. 

Isn't it worn out?

2017 Rawlings Velo 33/30 6’ 180”.  Son loves the balance and has good pop.  Good and bad is that it is a 1 piece on purpose.  If you hit the sweet spot you don’t lose power from the connector but if you mishit it you will get stung for immediate feedback.  Kinda like a metal wood bat.  A lot of college players swing metal barreled bats, either 1 or 2 piece.  Most often seen bats, Marucci, Voodoo, LS metal barrels, Easton metal barrels.  

Ok, here's a question: Why do most college players use bats with metal barrels but a lot of high school players use bats with composite barrels? Is metal better vs composite? why?

My HS players  all swing a 33/30.  We didn't find much success going to 32/29, but some with use that for faster pitchers.  

My 2020 swung both the Slugger 915 and Slugger 918 this spring.

This summer he’ll swing either a Marrucci, Old Hickory or Tucci, depending on the one that has hits in it at the time. :-)

My kid is using a 32 inch beaver bat 271 wood for his school league that he claims has lost it pop and a 32 in LS 517 bbcor that he uses in tourneys  as I got it for like 50 bucks and I am cheap. I am looking to get the easton 33" 2014 S1 as root stated it is a really hot bat. 

Big Taco posted:

Ok, here's a question: Why do most college players use bats with metal barrels but a lot of high school players use bats with composite barrels? Is metal better vs composite? why?

I don't believe composite bats are permitted in College.

AD2018 posted:

Big Taco posted:

Ok, here's a question: Why do most college players use bats with metal barrels but a lot of high school players use bats with composite barrels? Is metal better vs composite? why?

I don't believe composite bats are permitted in College.

Composites are legal as long as they are BBCOR. To answer the OP, though, since BBCOR was implemented, composites have no clear advantage over one piece alloys.

https://www.ncaa.org/sites/def...rotocol_20171009.pdf

Big Taco posted:

Ok, here's a question: Why do most college players use bats with metal barrels but a lot of high school players use bats with composite barrels? Is metal better vs composite? why?

I believe that in this regard, as with about 90% of choices that adolescents and young adults make, the #1 influence on decision-making is the actions & opinions of their peers.  If the best power hitter on the team gets that idea that a certain bat is hot, that spreads to the rest of the team, whether it's true or not.

34/31 Omaha 518

roothog66 posted:

https://www.ncaa.org/sites/def...rotocol_20171009.pdf

Thanks. I was good until I saw  [𝑒𝑛 = 𝑒𝑒 − 𝑒𝑒 + 𝑒], it like speaking in Klingonese

57special posted:

HS player is using  2018 33/30 Easton Hybrid. Loves it. Still takes BP with a wooden bat, as he has for years now. 

14U player started out using a two piece Louisville 718 -5 USA bat, but has dropped it for his brother's old 2016 32/29 Velo. He likes the balance a lot more, and seems to be hitting better with it. Ball seems to be  faster off the bat, and there doesn't seem to be any less distance. He also likes the feedback of the one piece metal. The USA -5's aren't very popular. Most kids have them, but are using a BBCOR instead.

Quoting myself;

Just finished talking to my Senior HS'er, and he said he's never been so happy with his bat situation. He's had a(BBCOR) 2015 Easton S1, 2016 Velo, Easton Z core (two), and finally a Easton Hybrid. Uses his Louisville wood as much as he can in practice and wooden bat tournaments. Is looking forward to using Sambats in college...they have a very good rep.

14U just hit a triple 325' on the fly up here in the cooler air of the upper midwest with  the Velo referenced above. I can't see him hitting any further unless it gets hot and humid...he's 145 lbs. soaking wet. I was going to buy a new Velo, which is supposed to be more or less the same as a 2016, but at this point I don't think I would be able to get him to swing it. The Louisville drop 5 USA bat is just gathering dust at this point.

Metal for HS - Dimarini Vodoo BBCOR 33/30 has both 2015 and 2017 versions. 

Wood for summer - Chandler and Old Hickory 34 inch

BP - swings 34 in wood bat mostly and also works with a 35 in wood in cages. 

My 16u sophomore uses rawlings quatro 33/30 . Tons of pop, big barrel but poor durability

Big Taco posted:

Ok, here's a question: Why do most college players use bats with metal barrels but a lot of high school players use bats with composite barrels? Is metal better vs composite? why?

One-piece aluminum bats are stiffer and generally more end-loaded. Taking advantage of those characteristics requires more strength. There's definitely a macho component with college players and aluminum. Composites are "soft" (they don't sting your hands as much.)

High School = Dimarini Voodoo.

Travel Ball = Easton Ghost

I imagine they use aluminum because their season doesn't allow for the 60+ degrees to swing composite.

Before BBCOR, composites would continue to soften and provide a greater trampoline effect after "breaking in." However, BBCOR testing forced the design of these metals to be changed so that they only softened up so much and that, at even it's most optimum, the bats would still meet BBCOR standards. With those changes, composites lost their trampoline effect advantage over one piece alloys and no longer display greater capabilities after a break in period than they do out of the wrapper.

Rawlings Wood Composite. Just showed up on the door step the other day. Hit what should have been a triple, ifbhe had watched his coach instead of the ball. He was out at third. #badbaserunning. 

BishopLeftiesDad posted:

Rawlings Wood Composite. Just showed up on the door step the other day. Hit what should have been a triple, ifbhe had watched his coach instead of the ball. He was out at third. #badbaserunning. 

sort of a, "yes, yes, yes.....noooooooooo!" moment?

MidAtlanticDad posted:

Big Taco posted:

Ok, here's a question: Why do most college players use bats with metal barrels but a lot of high school players use bats with composite barrels? Is metal better vs composite? why?

One-piece aluminum bats are stiffer and generally more end-loaded. Taking advantage of those characteristics requires more strength. There's definitely a macho component with college players and aluminum. Composites are "soft" (they don't sting your hands as much.)

The Rawlings Velo BBCOR is about the most balanced, non end loaded bat you can find. Even the older ones w/o the composite end cap.

BishopLeftiesDad posted:

Rawlings Wood Composite. Just showed up on the door step the other day. Hit what should have been a triple, ifbhe had watched his coach instead of the ball. He was out at third. #badbaserunning. 

had to check your location on your bio, we played against a kid like this this weekend in GA.  Fast kid, but out at third.  

Well, this was a cf8 32/29.  Hit one off the handle.  I am not sure how this happened though.  Before game he was hitting off a tee and smoking them with no sign that anything was wrong, then in a game hits one off the handle and it breaks??   

Dadof3 posted:

 

 

Well, this was a cf8 32/29.  Hit one off the handle.  I am not sure how this happened though.  Before game he was hitting off a tee and smoking them with no sign that anything was wrong, then in a game hits one off the handle and it breaks??   

I've seen 4 Dimarini's do that...although the others were black, not white.

57special posted:

BishopLeftiesDad posted:

Rawlings Wood Composite. Just showed up on the door step the other day. Hit what should have been a triple, ifbhe had watched his coach instead of the ball. He was out at third. #badbaserunning. 

sort of a, "yes, yes, yes.....noooooooooo!" moment?

His mother and I knew as soon as he rounded second that it was a done deal. But yes you are exactly right. It was all fun anyway

CaCO3Girl posted:

BishopLeftiesDad posted:

Rawlings Wood Composite. Just showed up on the door step the other day. Hit what should have been a triple, ifbhe had watched his coach instead of the ball. He was out at third. #badbaserunning. 

had to check your location on your bio, we played against a kid like this this weekend in GA.  Fast kid, but out at third.  

Thanks, However if my kid was playing at that level now it would be completely unfair. He would literally be a man among boys. He graduated college in 2015...

BishopLeftiesDad posted:

Rawlings Wood Composite. Just showed up on the door step the other day. Hit what should have been a triple, ifbhe had watched his coach instead of the ball. He was out at third. #badbaserunning. 

In our last game, a kid hit a double off the fence in center with a brand new Marucci hard maple bat.  I was thinking if he had swung metal it would've been a HR.