Leagues will go to wooden bats

The change will please college and pro scouts.

By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

STRUTHERS — If unused aluminum bats end up in recycling centers when the Class B League implements its wooden bat policy, consider it a blessing in disguise.

For one, it would reduce demand for amateur baseball’s version of the natural resource.

Secondly, it may cut down on injuries from hard-hit balls.

Lastly, it would please college and pro scouts.

The local baseball league for players 18-and-under is reverting to wooden bats this season, which begins today with five games at Cene Park beginning at 5:30.

“We’re excited about it,” said Scott Ruark, league treasurer and a coach with Astro Falcons, one of 10 teams for 2007.

Class B will start with aluminum, then pick up wood for the final two-thirds of the summer season.

The league’s younger sibling, the Little b League, will follow suit, but its timetable for introduction doesn’t start until two-thirds of the regular season are in the books.

Playoffs also will use wood, but tournaments will use aluminum except for the NABF Senior regional.

From aluminum to wood

“They’re swinging aluminum now coming out of high school and using $300 bats, so we’ve got to let them swing it a little longer,” Ruark said of the graduated transition to start the summer.

Ruark explained that colleges have gravitated toward the use of wooden bats instead of aluminum.

“Aluminum sometimes inflates average,” Ruark said. “A fist shot with aluminum has a lot more velocity than with wood,” he said.

When the NABF Senior regional was held using wood last summer, players from the local 18-and-under league were at a disadvantage against visiting teams.

“Now, our players will have more of an advantage and we’re hoping to send a local team to the world series,” Ruark said of the all-wood NABF. “Some of the teams never swung wood because our kids were using aluminum until that time.”

This year’s NABF Senior regional at Cene Park runs July 20-24. The winner will advance to the NABF 18-under World Series in Jackson, Miss.

Bat supplier in Washington

To make the move to wood more palatable, the B League has partnered with George Brett Brothers, a company out of Washington state.

By using their bats, Ruark said, the league is guaranteed 120 days.

“If a bat breaks, we’d get a new one. They’re composite bats. They have a little bamboo but are harder to break than a regular pine bat. They’ll take a good beating. We did a lot of research and tested a lot ourselves. We felt it was the most feasible way to go.”

“Hopefully, this is long commitment where we’ll be able to do this every single year. I think wood bats are what baseball is all about; it gets kids prepared a lot more.

The 10 Class B sponsors are Livi Steel, Youngstown Express, Astro Falcons, Simon Roofing, Dave Sugar Construction, Roth Brothers, Rondinelli Tuxedo, Wharmby Sports, Action Physical Therapy and R & J Trucking.

Most games at Cene

Most Class B games are at Cene, except — for the first time — Livi playing nine games in Niles.

“That’s a change,” Ruark said. “In previous years, all teams played at Cene. Now each team will play Livi in Niles and 18 at Cene. Everybody else will play 26 at Cene and one at Niles.”

The new sponsors are Simon Roofing and Action Physical Therapy.

Postseason tournaments are: Mickey Mantle (16-under) state, July 7-11; the 44th annual Ohio Connie Mack (18-under) state tournament, starting July 14; NABF junior (16-under) regional, July 19-22; NABF Senior (18-under) regional, July 20-24; Babe Ruth (16-under) regional, July 20-24.

Class B president Tony Gorvet will direct the Babe Ruth regional.

bassetti@vindy.com