CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Perfect Game has announced four of its five 2011 Baseball Championship Series (BCS) Finals will require the use of bats that meet Bat-Ball Coefficient of Restitution (BBCOR) guidelines.
The BCS’s move to the BBCOR -3 bats follows a decision by the NCAA to mandate the use of the bats for its current 2011 season.
The BCS is Perfect Game’s metal bat tournament division. The BBCOR -3 bats will be required in the BCS 15U, 16U, 17U and 18U Finals only. The 14U Finals will continue to allow bats with a -5 rating.
Mark Kraemer, a representative of Rawlings Sporting Goods, said BCS officials are making the right move at the right time.
“Colleges have already started using BBCOR bats this year, and for scouting purposes it’s good for the college (recruiters) to see what the kids will be using at the next level,” Kraemer said. “It’s similar to what they do for wood bats when (the players) are being scouted by Major League teams.”
The BBCOR -3 bats don’t provide as big of a sweet spot or as much pop as a traditional metal bat and the NCAA decided to mandate their use largely as a safety measure. High school athletic associations across the country are also starting to require the use of the BBCOR bats.
“Safety has been on the forefront,” Kraemer said. “You can see it through the different legislation in different states where they’ve been banning aluminum and composite bats. You see it at little league, you see it at the different youth levels where they’ve been going through and banning bats.
“(The BBCOR bat) takes the level of the playing field and brings it down closer (to the performance) of a wood bat,” he continued. “That way you don’t have composite or aluminum bats where they’re breaking in over time and getting hotter and hotter, which sometimes accelerates the game.”
There are early indications that run production is down in NCAA games this spring, but the coaches at the top programs learned as early as last fall how to make the necessary adjustments.
“There’s no question that these bats are going to change the game,” LSU Coach Paul Mainieri told Perfect Game in November. “You just can’t sit around and wait for a three-run homer anymore, and from a pure baseball standpoint, it’s probably better that way.”
All of the 2011 BCS Finals will be held in July at Terry Park in Fort Myers, Fla. The 16U and 14U tournaments run July 2-7; the 15U runs July 9-14; and the 17U and 18U Finals are July 17-22.
Click here to view Perfect Game’s complete 2011 tournament schedule.
Click here for a complete list of the bats that will be allowed in the affected BCS Finals. They are the same bats allowed by the NCAA. Perfect Game is offering a special price on Rawlings BBCOR bats. Please contact Tom Jackson (tjackson@perfectgame.org) or Ben Ecker (becker@perfectgame.org) or call 319-298-2923 for details.