New Mizuno Bat 2018
- Thread starter Geezer000
- Start date
scottydoesnt
Extra Hitter
Wow. I like the white/red usssa 2-piece. Never tried a nighthawk, but really wanted to. Maybe this year if that's a nighthawk or equivalent.
Hiltz
Built for comfort
I didn't notice "CRUSH" near the transition, that's a cool nod to the classic Mizunos.
It looks like the first pic was taken in the shade and the second one in the sun, I wonder if the orange accent is actually the same colour on both bats.
As always, I will give them their fair shot and trial as I've liked the Mizuno line last few years.
I hope it's Orange too.
That explains some of the FB posts I've seen of the retro Crush tshirt etc.
And why no one has called it a "Nighthawk" this go around. Hoping they have a formula for a faster work in and last year's handle personally.
Should be a good stick as always. Those who keep hitting and hitting the Hawks with any ball under the sun seem to be well rewarded.
My mistake last year was buying an EL when I wound up moving towards all Bal bats later in the season. My buddy bought my EL and his is on absolute fire hanging with all the DC41's our teams own.
I hope it's Orange too.
That explains some of the FB posts I've seen of the retro Crush tshirt etc.
And why no one has called it a "Nighthawk" this go around. Hoping they have a formula for a faster work in and last year's handle personally.
Should be a good stick as always. Those who keep hitting and hitting the Hawks with any ball under the sun seem to be well rewarded.
My mistake last year was buying an EL when I wound up moving towards all Bal bats later in the season. My buddy bought my EL and his is on absolute fire hanging with all the DC41's our teams own.
CougarHunter1B
Member
I'll give it a fair shot as well as I am a big supporter of Mizuno products. (Shoes, bags, apparel) That said, the ASA Nighthawk left a real bad taste in my mouth. I'm by no means a power hitter and I split two Nighthawks in half, both under 50 cuts. I hope the 2018 line gives me a reason to revisit Mizuno and isn't just a repaint.
Geezer000
Addicted to Softballfans
You are correct sir, 12 inch barrels on both.
Geezer000
Addicted to Softballfans
Kodiak1
Addicted to Softballfans
Those are sharp looking - just don't like how they do the little "carbon windows" at the base of the barrel.
On a separate note, what happened to the Nighthawk in the last picture?
Geezer000
Addicted to Softballfans
That's called a CRAP ton of hits....several thousand in all weather conditions......
Geezer000
Addicted to Softballfans
Still trying to narrow that down. I believe it will be in February 2018
scottydoesnt
Extra Hitter
Way to go Mizuno. Hopefully it performs as good as it looks.
SouthSTLOF
Coach
These are very sexy, but gonna have to have the performance akin to the Connell I've swung all year to get me to change.
May as well share with the 'Muricans what I posted up on the SFO forums for us Canucks....
Had the pleasure of test driving the 2018 Crush last night with some Mizuno staff & players. (ONLY UTRIP BATS - No ASA or Dual there)
Big shout out to TacoTime, Mizuno and Playball Academy Canada for the fine evening and hosting.
Great facility and space for winter training. Rumour has it there will be some Slo Pitch BP nights coming up there being organized and I strongly advise contacting them for details if you are in the Cambridge/KW area itching for winter swings. Nice roomy facility and fun to swing in. Enjoyed the night and practice a lot.
The bat is something completely new and different. Shorter barrel than the previous Nighthawks for sure. Spec says 12" - Which is accurate for hitting surface, but the taper to handle seems a little longer than some other 12" barrel bats by a little bit. Visually to me it reminded me more of 12.5-13" set up and I took to the balanced model the most.
Slightly mid-loaded feel like Balanced 17 Hawk for me, perfect. The End Load model had a nice substantial End Load like last year's Hawk in my opinion.
Very stiff handle matched with a barrel that seemed to get a nice softer feel very quickly as the night went on. Tested 275 out of wrap and dropped down to 250 pretty quickly with a few rounds into each. Signs of a hot bat with a quick work in process. My kind of twig.
The feel was very nice, good blend of soft barrel and stiff handle and a nice pop on the ball. Every time I jumped back in for a round, the bat seemed hotter and better. Just kept getting better and better the more we hit it.
Whipped great through the swing and "zone" - Felt I had a good flip through impact with this one.
Surprisingly very forgiving barrel for its size. Big sweet spot for its size. Whatever tech they carried over from fast pitch for this one is proven. Certainly not a dime sized sweet spot like other 12" I can think of without dropping names... I expected to have poor consistency as usual with 12" - Typically nice hot hits and really cold mi****s - But instead I found consistency like I've come to expect with my 14" big sweet spot bats. Interesting, makes me want to revisit this bat again soon and compare more.
Had a nice crack to it that seemed a bit louder than what I was used to with Mizuno in the past, while not having an obnoxiously loud ping or glassy sound, it actually had a sound that echo'd a bit in the facility when we pure'd it. Always nice to have an audible crack with a nice hit. In comparison I found the 17 Hawks quiet in that department.
Grips seemed to be the same as the 2017 Hawk - Which is a good thing IMO.
The look of these is a winner. Love the Orange and it's great to have the Crush name back around. Should be a hit for Mizuno in 2018. The bat is a different beast altogether but it's packed with performance we expect with the continuations of the Nighthawk Slowpitch lines.
Side note: There was a sample 13" Pro Select H-Web Softball Pattern glove kicking around as a demo. Didn't realize I never got a pic. Damn sweet piece of leather that I hope sees production. Quality and a proper size for the 12" ball. And it was sexy as hell in the black and brown.
Had the pleasure of test driving the 2018 Crush last night with some Mizuno staff & players. (ONLY UTRIP BATS - No ASA or Dual there)
Big shout out to TacoTime, Mizuno and Playball Academy Canada for the fine evening and hosting.
Great facility and space for winter training. Rumour has it there will be some Slo Pitch BP nights coming up there being organized and I strongly advise contacting them for details if you are in the Cambridge/KW area itching for winter swings. Nice roomy facility and fun to swing in. Enjoyed the night and practice a lot.
The bat is something completely new and different. Shorter barrel than the previous Nighthawks for sure. Spec says 12" - Which is accurate for hitting surface, but the taper to handle seems a little longer than some other 12" barrel bats by a little bit. Visually to me it reminded me more of 12.5-13" set up and I took to the balanced model the most.
Slightly mid-loaded feel like Balanced 17 Hawk for me, perfect. The End Load model had a nice substantial End Load like last year's Hawk in my opinion.
Very stiff handle matched with a barrel that seemed to get a nice softer feel very quickly as the night went on. Tested 275 out of wrap and dropped down to 250 pretty quickly with a few rounds into each. Signs of a hot bat with a quick work in process. My kind of twig.
The feel was very nice, good blend of soft barrel and stiff handle and a nice pop on the ball. Every time I jumped back in for a round, the bat seemed hotter and better. Just kept getting better and better the more we hit it.
Whipped great through the swing and "zone" - Felt I had a good flip through impact with this one.
Surprisingly very forgiving barrel for its size. Big sweet spot for its size. Whatever tech they carried over from fast pitch for this one is proven. Certainly not a dime sized sweet spot like other 12" I can think of without dropping names... I expected to have poor consistency as usual with 12" - Typically nice hot hits and really cold mi****s - But instead I found consistency like I've come to expect with my 14" big sweet spot bats. Interesting, makes me want to revisit this bat again soon and compare more.
Had a nice crack to it that seemed a bit louder than what I was used to with Mizuno in the past, while not having an obnoxiously loud ping or glassy sound, it actually had a sound that echo'd a bit in the facility when we pure'd it. Always nice to have an audible crack with a nice hit. In comparison I found the 17 Hawks quiet in that department.
Grips seemed to be the same as the 2017 Hawk - Which is a good thing IMO.
The look of these is a winner. Love the Orange and it's great to have the Crush name back around. Should be a hit for Mizuno in 2018. The bat is a different beast altogether but it's packed with performance we expect with the continuations of the Nighthawk Slowpitch lines.
Side note: There was a sample 13" Pro Select H-Web Softball Pattern glove kicking around as a demo. Didn't realize I never got a pic. Damn sweet piece of leather that I hope sees production. Quality and a proper size for the 12" ball. And it was sexy as hell in the black and brown.
jhitman
Well-Known Member
Great review....just one question unless I missed it, what softballs were you hitting?May as well share with the 'Muricans what I posted up on the SFO forums for us Canucks....
Had the pleasure of test driving the 2018 Crush last night with some Mizuno staff & players. (ONLY UTRIP BATS - No ASA or Dual there)
Big shout out to TacoTime, Mizuno and Playball Academy Canada for the fine evening and hosting.
Great facility and space for winter training. Rumour has it there will be some Slo Pitch BP nights coming up there being organized and I strongly advise contacting them for details if you are in the Cambridge/KW area itching for winter swings. Nice roomy facility and fun to swing in. Enjoyed the night and practice a lot.
The bat is something completely new and different. Shorter barrel than the previous Nighthawks for sure. Spec says 12" - Which is accurate for hitting surface, but the taper to handle seems a little longer than some other 12" barrel bats by a little bit. Visually to me it reminded me more of 12.5-13" set up and I took to the balanced model the most.
Slightly mid-loaded feel like Balanced 17 Hawk for me, perfect. The End Load model had a nice substantial End Load like last year's Hawk in my opinion.
Very stiff handle matched with a barrel that seemed to get a nice softer feel very quickly as the night went on. Tested 275 out of wrap and dropped down to 250 pretty quickly with a few rounds into each. Signs of a hot bat with a quick work in process. My kind of twig.
The feel was very nice, good blend of soft barrel and stiff handle and a nice pop on the ball. Every time I jumped back in for a round, the bat seemed hotter and better. Just kept getting better and better the more we hit it.
Whipped great through the swing and "zone" - Felt I had a good flip through impact with this one.
Surprisingly very forgiving barrel for its size. Big sweet spot for its size. Whatever tech they carried over from fast pitch for this one is proven. Certainly not a dime sized sweet spot like other 12" I can think of without dropping names... I expected to have poor consistency as usual with 12" - Typically nice hot hits and really cold mi****s - But instead I found consistency like I've come to expect with my 14" big sweet spot bats. Interesting, makes me want to revisit this bat again soon and compare more.
Had a nice crack to it that seemed a bit louder than what I was used to with Mizuno in the past, while not having an obnoxiously loud ping or glassy sound, it actually had a sound that echo'd a bit in the facility when we pure'd it. Always nice to have an audible crack with a nice hit. In comparison I found the 17 Hawks quiet in that department.
Grips seemed to be the same as the 2017 Hawk - Which is a good thing IMO.
The look of these is a winner. Love the Orange and it's great to have the Crush name back around. Should be a hit for Mizuno in 2018. The bat is a different beast altogether but it's packed with performance we expect with the continuations of the Nighthawk Slowpitch lines.
Side note: There was a sample 13" Pro Select H-Web Softball Pattern glove kicking around as a demo. Didn't realize I never got a pic. Damn sweet piece of leather that I hope sees production. Quality and a proper size for the 12" ball. And it was sexy as hell in the black and brown.
Jayfehr23
Extra Hitter
jhitman
Well-Known Member
Thanks. Pretty much all we use here are the 52's with the exception of 1 league that is an open 50+ draft league which is run independently. With all the different companies manufacturing new bats with new technologies I'm always interested in the new releases. Haven't swung a Mizuno in many years so maybe this can be an under the radar bat for 2018.
Last edited:
52/300 - Mix of Worth Hot Dots 52/300 and some Louisville 52/300's
Which is all the more promising that the bat dropped 25 points in little time hitting these. Looks like they got something in Miken/Worth and Easton Flex line country here.
Not super surprising as the Nighthawks were good too in that regard. Even better if you worked them with a bit of 40 & 44's. I would assume this one would be no different.
I really liked the way this one snapped around and popped the balls we game almost exclusively up here.
We had radar data too, the big guns of the event having no problem getting 95+mph ball speed and into the 100s with these pretty much fresh out of wrap. Not every bat will produce this when that fresh.
For the mere mortals like myself in the 80 to low 90 ranges for a fresh bat is pretty damn solid. That's usually what I'd be putting up with a worked in gamer.
Conclusion is, i'd have no problem putting this bat in play and enjoying it. With due work it will hang with the top choices. It swings and hits with a great feel at impact and through the zone.
Will be interesting to get them outside and comparing them with downrange distance later next spring for sure. In the past with due work, my observation has been the Nighthawks, Flexes, and Miken/Worth bats all hang together albeit take different stages of work in them to get there. The slouches are the LS for me, no matter what between the excess handle wobble flexing and stiff barrel it never performs well for me and I hate the feel. Demarini made a stride to catch up with the Newbreed, but I found the sweet spot significantly smaller than other 12" including the Crush line and the feel underwhelming to me.
Right now, I feel like I have 3 bats and they're too similar to each other. One has to go and become something different to hit, 2 are just good matches for my style of play and must stay. I think Crush just took that title for #3. I am really intrigued to see where a lot of work and patience into this one will go.
Which is all the more promising that the bat dropped 25 points in little time hitting these. Looks like they got something in Miken/Worth and Easton Flex line country here.
Not super surprising as the Nighthawks were good too in that regard. Even better if you worked them with a bit of 40 & 44's. I would assume this one would be no different.
I really liked the way this one snapped around and popped the balls we game almost exclusively up here.
We had radar data too, the big guns of the event having no problem getting 95+mph ball speed and into the 100s with these pretty much fresh out of wrap. Not every bat will produce this when that fresh.
For the mere mortals like myself in the 80 to low 90 ranges for a fresh bat is pretty damn solid. That's usually what I'd be putting up with a worked in gamer.
Conclusion is, i'd have no problem putting this bat in play and enjoying it. With due work it will hang with the top choices. It swings and hits with a great feel at impact and through the zone.
Will be interesting to get them outside and comparing them with downrange distance later next spring for sure. In the past with due work, my observation has been the Nighthawks, Flexes, and Miken/Worth bats all hang together albeit take different stages of work in them to get there. The slouches are the LS for me, no matter what between the excess handle wobble flexing and stiff barrel it never performs well for me and I hate the feel. Demarini made a stride to catch up with the Newbreed, but I found the sweet spot significantly smaller than other 12" including the Crush line and the feel underwhelming to me.
Right now, I feel like I have 3 bats and they're too similar to each other. One has to go and become something different to hit, 2 are just good matches for my style of play and must stay. I think Crush just took that title for #3. I am really intrigued to see where a lot of work and patience into this one will go.
It was a pleasure to finally meet in person and take some hacks! Had a blast, thank you guys for inviting me out to the event. Some great hitters there last night and great to watch and take notes from some of the best we have playing in Ontario.