New to Slowpitch Softball

nutmegs

nutmegs

IDGAFOS
amace04 said:
If you can catch a baseball in higher levels I'm sure you can play just fine with a 12.5". I used a 12.5" baseball glove in the outfield for years and just switched to a 13" baseball glove. I wouldnt go any smaller than 12" though, even if you play infield. No need to go pick up a 14" or anything like that.
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I use a 11.75 infield and 12.75 outfield. Sometimes use a dw5 a2k for either. If you played minor league ball you'll be fine with a baseball glove.
 
Scotth36

Scotth36

Member
east bay j said:
FYI -To clear things up, Anderson made 4 different Nanoteks:

SP (11026) - one piece singlewall, not ASA approved, slight end-load
SPA (11027) - one piece singlewall, ASA approved, very balanced
SP Alpha (11030) - 2-piece singlewall, ASA approved, composite handle, singlewall balanced barrel
SP Omega (11031) - 2-piece singlewall, ASA approved, composite handle, singlewall endloaded barrel
All of these bats are extremely hard to find.

*Demarini Steels are all 2-piece bats including the new Steel (steel handle), older Raw Steel (steel handle), & White Steel (composite handle)
*The Corndog, technically speaking, would not be allowed since it is a 2-piece bat (composite handle, wood barrel)
*The Evil Protoype singlewall was kick-ass. Felt like a very endloaded Ultimate Weapon with smaller Anderson type knob. Too bad these never went into production
* Be careful when buying an Easton Salvo Scandium or Ronin as Easton does a terrible job of distinguishing bat characteristics within their line-up (I.E. the "Ronin" name includes the Ronin flex which is a composite bat and a Ronin ATAC Allloy which is the singlewall)
**Those 44/375 softballs will basically eat up any singlewall bat. If you are a heavy swinger be prepared to go thru them fairly quickly, especially the Ultimate Weapons, & Eastons. The Andersons will give you the best durability.

I would rate one-piece singlewall ASA approved bats as follows (just my two-cents):

#1 - Anderson Nanotek SPA (good durability, small sweet spot but when find it the ball goes far, balanced) - hard to find
#2 - Rip It REAP5 (best durability of all 1-piece singlewalls, good pop but not a lotta feedback, endloaded) - hard to find
#3 - Easton Salvo Scandium/L9 (average durability, good pop, very endloaded) - not produced anymore but can be found
#4 - Demarini Ultimate Weapon (poor durability, good pop, cheap, balanced ) - easy to find (new ones go for about $140, older ones <$100)
#5 - Anderson Flex 2018+ (do not buy any pre-2018 models, very durable, ok pop, balanced) - easy to find, still produced
#6 - Old school metal such as Ritch's Superior, TPS Powerdomes, Anderson Flextech/Pyrotech/KSP -harder to find
#7 - Easton Ronin ATAC Alloy (average durability, ok sweet spot, balanced) - easy to find (this bat just did not work for my swing)

Hope this helps
JJ
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Thanks JJ. Great information. I appreciate it. I'll probably be asking you soon for the best bats for competitive softball. I've only played 4 games and having inquiries about me playing in a competitive league. I told them give me a little time getting my feet wet here.
 
Scotth36

Scotth36

Member
dunkky said:
I may sound like an ignorant, I say cut this nonsense of single wall, double wall and go straight to at least A team and swing those hot utrip/asa bats and destroy those hard balls. I have faith in you man. In no time, you will make adjustments of 13 mile/hour what they call knuckle balls. Now is the time isn't it? all those conference teams are looking for fresh young talents during off season. go for it man, talk to harvey or helmmer or somebody. when you make it and they start to produce bats with your name on, don't forget about us with huge discount. lol
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LOL, you got it. I'll have to find a competitive league around Seal Beach, CA
 
MAT25MAT

MAT25MAT

Addicted to Softballfans
It would be a lot easier if you get the league bat list! Some single wall leagues let you swing the Easton z core and some of them don’t . Once you Get that list we will be able to give you 3-4 decent options. Also take what ever is said here with a grain of salt, because it is all about feel and what feels good to me may not feel good for you!
 
east bay j

east bay j

The Polish Hammer
Scotth36 said:
Thanks JJ. Great information. I appreciate it. I'll probably be asking you soon for the best bats for competitive softball. I've only played 4 games and having inquiries about me playing in a competitive league. I told them give me a little time getting my feet wet here.
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That's a whole different beast. I play in a lot of singlewall leagues so I know a lot about singlewall bats. There are infinitely more options when it comes to the composite bats used in tournament play (by competitive I assume that's what you are talking about). Swing preference and league association (ASA vs USSSA) are gonna be the major deciding factors when it comes to purchasing a composite bat. You'll really need to figure out the following parameters to determine what works best:
League preference (ASA - 6'-12' arch pitches vs USSSA 3'-10' arch pitches)
Swing weight (lighter vs heavier)
Swing preference (endload vs balanced)
Bat handle (one-piece vs 2-piece)
Barrel length
Break-in (hot out-of-the-wrapper vs longer break-in period)
The list goes on
JJ
 
Scotth36

Scotth36

Member
MAT25MAT said:
It would be a lot easier if you get the league bat list! Some single wall leagues let you swing the Easton z core and some of them don’t . Once you Get that list we will be able to give you 3-4 decent options. Also take what ever is said here with a grain of salt, because it is all about feel and what feels good to me may not feel good for you!
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This is from the By-Laws for the League:
20. OFFICIAL BATS:
 ALL FULL COMPOSITE AND TITANIUM BATS ARE BANNED/ILLEGAL. This includes, BUT IS
NOT LIMITED TO, All Mikens, Easton Synergy, and Mizuno Techfire. This Includes ALL
MENS, WOMENS AND COED LEAGUES. Bats shall have a bat performance factor (BPF)
not exceeding 1.21. A bat with a composite handle is legal as long as the barrel is made
up of an alloy. Certified Bats for all City of Long Beach Coed Leagues: Men may use any
single wall, or half and half Bat (composite handle / aluminum barrel). Certified Bats for
all City of Long Beach Men’s Leagues: Men may use any single wall, double wall, or Half
and Half Bat (Composite handle / aluminum barrel). If a team is found to be in violation
of this rule, the player in question will be ejected from the game and a one (1) game
suspension will be assessed. The batted ball will be ruled an out and any base runners
must return to their original position on the base paths. ILLEGAL BAT ISSUES CANNOT BE
PROTESTED AFTER A GAME.
 
east bay j

east bay j

The Polish Hammer
Scotth36 said:
This is from the By-Laws for the League:
20. OFFICIAL BATS:
 ALL FULL COMPOSITE AND TITANIUM BATS ARE BANNED/ILLEGAL. This includes, BUT IS
NOT LIMITED TO, All Mikens, Easton Synergy, and Mizuno Techfire. This Includes ALL
MENS, WOMENS AND COED LEAGUES. Bats shall have a bat performance factor (BPF)
not exceeding 1.21. A bat with a composite handle is legal as long as the barrel is made
up of an alloy. Certified Bats for all City of Long Beach Coed Leagues: Men may use any
single wall, or half and half Bat (composite handle / aluminum barrel). Certified Bats for
all City of Long Beach Men’s Leagues: Men may use any single wall, double wall, or Half
and Half Bat (Composite handle / aluminum barrel). If a team is found to be in violation
of this rule, the player in question will be ejected from the game and a one (1) game
suspension will be assessed. The batted ball will be ruled an out and any base runners
must return to their original position on the base paths. ILLEGAL BAT ISSUES CANNOT BE
PROTESTED AFTER A GAME.
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Scotty,
This is not a one-piece singlewall ASA league as you stated earlier.

For COED you can use any singlewall barrel bat, 1-piece or 2-piece, regardless of the association (nowhere does it state ASA only). Best bet here is a Steel, White Steel if you can find one (these have a composite handle, singlewall metal barrel). Those Nanotek Alpha/Omega's would also work well as does the new Steel and Raw Steel.

For men's you can basically use any metal barrel bat, singlewall or multiwall, as long as there is no composite material in the barrel & its not made of titanium. You have a hell of a lot more choices here:
#1 Any older Anderson Techzilla (one-piece) or Rockettech (two-piece). I recommend anything prior to 2009.
#2 Anderson Techwraps as well
3# Any Demarini multiwall bat - Doublewall/Distance/ SF8
#4 Easton Z-core/ST1 Connexion
#5 Any Demarini Steel

There are a lott ofguys on here that can get you a great deal on a multi-wall bat as there are not as many of these leagues around these days.
JJ
 
Scotth36

Scotth36

Member
Great information. Thanks. I'll have to ask the coach to find out why he said the bats have to be one piece, non-composite, and single wall.
 
Scotth36

Scotth36

Member
I just sent an email to the coach and he said...
Yes they are illegal. No 2 piece or any composite. Must be single wall
 
east bay j

east bay j

The Polish Hammer
Scotth36 said:
I just sent an email to the coach and he said...
Yes they are illegal. No 2 piece or any composite. Must be single wall
Click to expand...

Looks like that applies to your Senior league, 55 and older. I still do not see where it states an ASA bat is required?
 
MAT25MAT

MAT25MAT

Addicted to Softballfans
I guess those aren’t the league bat rules then? Me reading that makes me think it is just a non composite league! But I guess your coach know different! Not to be a pain but ask him if the actually have an approved or non approved bat list.
 
Scotth36

Scotth36

Member
I think I'll do that just to make sure. Why would they post those rules and say it's different. Makes no sense.
 
Scotth36

Scotth36

Member
I'm trying to find the Rip It Reaper 5 bat the east bay J suggested. Is it a composite bat? Is there a different one?
 
east bay j

east bay j

The Polish Hammer
R
Scotth36 said:
I'm trying to find the Rip It Reaper 5 bat the east bay J suggested. Is it a composite bat? Is there a different one?
Click to expand...

Rip -It made a number of versions of this but only a couple are singlewall (are you starting to see a trend in bat manufacturers labeling-haha):
Rip-It REAP2 = composite ASA
Rip-It REAP3 = multiwall (one-piece) ASA
Rip-It REAP4 = multiwall/composite (one-piece) not ASA approved
Rip-It REAP5 = singlewall (one-piece) ASA
Rip-It REAP6 = multiwall (one-piece) ASA
Rip-It REAP8 = singlewall (one-piece) ASA

REAP5 & REAP8 are the one-piece ASA approved singlewalls. I thought the REAP5 was way better than the REAP8. These will also be really hard bats to find
JJ
 
east bay j

east bay j

The Polish Hammer
MAT25MAT said:
I guess those aren’t the league bat rules then? Me reading that makes me think it is just a non composite league! But I guess your coach know different! Not to be a pain but ask him if the actually have an approved or non approved bat list.
Click to expand...

I looked up the bat rules and they vary depending on the type of league (City of Long Beach Adult Softball):
COED = Woman can use any metal bat (singlewall or multiwall), men can use only a 1 or 2 piece singlewall--no composite or titanium allowed
MENS ONLY = Can use any metal bat (singlewall or multiwall)--no composite or titanium allowed
SENIOR ONLY (over 55) = Can only use one-piece singlewall--no composite, titanium or multiwall allowed

Devil is in the details.
JJ
 
hitless45

hitless45

Addicted to Softballfans
Looks like you guys created the confusion when op clearly stated singlewall one piece, he knew/knows what he can use..lol
 
MAT25MAT

MAT25MAT

Addicted to Softballfans
hitless45 said:
Looks like you guys created the confusion when op clearly stated singlewall one piece, he knew/knows what he can use..lol
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Not really when the op posted the bat rules from the league it contradicted what he originally said! So why make him swing garbage when he could have other options!
 
jkwoody22

jkwoody22

League ball huer
Email the league director and ask him about a DeMarini Steel, that would end the confusion, not the coach, but the league
 
Rooster210

Rooster210

P-Pumpah #1
Hiltz said:
Jesus, just get an old one-piece singlewall at a thrift store.

We're two pages in trying to help an ex-minor league baseball player pick a bat to use in a rec league. It's probably not going to really matter.
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What this guy said^
 
Joker

Joker

Well-Known Member
Hiltz said:
Jesus, just get an old one-piece singlewall at a thrift store.

We're two pages in trying to help an ex-minor league baseball player pick a bat to use in a rec league. It's probably not going to really matter.
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Just look at the people responding. The normal group of idiots
 
Scotth36

Scotth36

Member
LOL. I appreciate the feedback from everyone. I don't know too many competitive ball players who wouldn't want to be able to use the best equipment available (within reason - cost). I've played in a couple games and used a teammates bat and he said "you really need to get your own bat". I took that as he wasn't too happy I borrowed his bat. It's a bat but obviously some people are very protective of their stuff. I went to ****'s and all they had was fast pitch softball bats. I'll see if I can find a bat on the trading forum.
 
sleepin4matty

sleepin4matty

Management Material
chances are he was worried you're gonna break his bat. It's colder now and bats generally don't respond well to sub 60* weather, especially singlewall
 
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