After 4 days at the Pride Classic in AZ I have more appreciation for wood bats than before. BBCOR bats have gotten so much better and I can understand how fun it is to watch the ball fly further from a fans perspective. But as a 5A coach I like what wood bats allow us to do with kids on the mound. My mid 70's strike throwers got lid up vs metal bats! We had to do a better job missing bats which caused our pitch counts to climb fast. The fact that NFHS has to set pitching limitations because arm injuries are climbing, is a great reason why we should stay with wood bats. I wouldn't mind metal if we decided to go back to it, as I believe more kids will have success at the plate, but player safety on the mound should be our priority.
Sorry for beating a dead horse, but after this weekend I was reminded why I love our state being a wood bat state.
