Many composite barrel bats banned by IHSA – The State Journal-Register
Tremont’s Jim Workman is quoted in this article about the Heart of Illinois Conference and their use of wood bats.
For at least a generation, most high school baseball players’ biggest interaction with a wood bat has been watching major league games, or perhaps hitting in the occasional wood bat tournament.
That’s not likely to change soon. But the National Federation of State High School Associations is doing its best to make sure the metal bats used on high school fields perform like their wood counterparts.
All bats used this season had to meet the Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution standard. It’s a tougher standard to meet than the previously used Ball Exit Speed Ratio standard.
Some composite barrel bats met the BBCOR standard initially. But since their performance improves over time, many of them were banned this spring by the NFHS.
It’s a change the NFHS initially planned to make in 2012 before deciding to move the timetable up a year. The Illinois High School Association follows the rules mandated by the NFHS, which led it to ban the bats this season.
“The way the ball was trampolining off the bat was too dangerous to go another year in advance to what we’re headed to in 2012,†IHSA associate executive director Craig Anderson said. “That’s why in July this past summer they came forward and said composite barrel bats are going to be banned.â€
via Many composite barrel bats banned by IHSA – Springfield, IL – The State Journal-Register.
