About Baseball and Softball Bats

Barrel - The hitting surface of the bat

A longer barrel will offer a larger sweet spot. This is why you may see features like “extended barrel” or “Extended” in descriptions of bats. The standard bat diameter for softball (slow pitch or fast pitch) and Little League baseball is 2 ¼” inches. The standard barrel for senior league is 2 ¾” inches and a slightly smaller 2 5/8” is used for high school and college. Softball bats, particularly fast pitch bats, have a larger barrel due the shorter distance from the pitcher to home plate.

Bat Taper – The size of the handle

Baseball bats have a handle that is 31/32” thick and softball bats are sized at 29/32” for women's smaller hands.

Bat Materials – Alloys and their benefits

Aluminum is the material used by most baseball and softball leagues from tee ball to college. There are many choices in alloys with exotic names and flashy graphics. The rule of thumb is the higher up the alloy scale you go, the stronger the alloy. What this lets bat manufacturers do is make the walls of the bat thinner without a great decrease in durability. Thin bat walls create a “trampoline” effect which will cause the ball to “jump” off of the bat increasing power (more “pop”). Another advantage to thinner walls is that weight can be distributed to areas advantageous to the hitter making the bat “feel” better and increasing the size of the sweet spot. The general names for alloys from lowest to highest are: 7050, CU31, C405, SC500, SC555, SC777, SC888, and SC900. Most all bat companies offer generous warranties with their bats lasting one year or more from your purchase date, so if you decide to spend some big bucks you should be covered for normal use (except for the 1-2 weeks while you send your damaged bat in and wait for the replacement).

Bottom Line: better alloys = more balls in play and harder hits.

Types of Bats

To make it easier for you to find the bat you need, we have our bats organized by type. Within each type category are the manufacturers. The bats you find are approved for play in the category they are in. The types of bats we carry are:

Highschool / College / Adult

Little League

Senior League

Slowpitch

Fastpitch

Wood

Fungos

Choosing the right size bat

Beyond what league the bat is being used in length and weight are the two factors in choosing a bat. You want to choose a bat that is the right length for how tall the player is and light enough to maximize swing speed without sacrificing too much power. See the scale at the top of this page for bat length and weight sizing based on height and weight of the player.

Go to the bats page now!

Ounce Drop – What does -12 mean?

As you look at a bat you will usually see a negative number in its description like “-10”. This reflects the length to weight ratio or how light the bat is compared to its length. A bat that is 30” long and 20oz. is considered -10 meaning the weight number is 10 less than the length number. This number is often referred to as the “drop” or “ounce drop” of a bat. A bat that is a -12 will be 2 ounces lighter than a -10 bat of the same length. Most all leagues have requirements for maximum ounce drop so check with your local league before making your final decision.

Bottom Line: higher ounce drop = more bat speed.

Wood bats-Not just for the pros

Up until the first aluminum bats were introduced in the 1970s all bats were made of wood. Since then, most amateur leagues use aluminum bats and wood bats have been mostly used by professional baseball players. Wood bat leagues have become popular and offer baseball players the opportunity to play the game the way it has been played for over a century. Beyond wood bat leagues, many college players practice with wood bats to ease the transition to the pros. Many players have discovered that practicing with a wood bat can help improve your swing. Wood bats have a small sweet spot and have more “feel” than an aluminum bat. These aspects help to let you know when you hit a ball incorrectly. Wood bats tend to be heavier than aluminum bats of the same size and are great for increasing strength and bat speed.

We carry a full selection of wood bats by Akadema , Louisville Slugger , Wilson/DeMarini , and Nokona

What's a fungo?

Fungo, now that's a funny word. A fungo is a type of bat used by coaches to hit baseballs to infielders and outfielders. Fungos tend to be longer than 34”, have a thin handle and are weighted such that they can be used with one hand.

Check out our Fungo section