OK, I have much to discuss after playing in the Rocky Mountain Classic tourny in Loveland this past weekend. Bats and balls.
The fields are 310' all around, but seem to play shallower most of the time. Usually this place is a launching pad, and HRs come with extreme ease. This past weekend was a different story. We started at 5 PM Friday, and it was mid 90s and humid out. No wind. Everything was simply stagnant. To say that the Pro M felt dead/mushy was an understatement. In all the tournies I've ever played in Loveland I don't think I've ever hit such mushy, lifeless balls. These things weren't going ANYWHERE. A lot of the local teams struggled badly hitting. Tons and tons of flyouts well short of the fence. I play on a good C team, and we went 1-2. Our hitting was nonexistent, and we hit 7 HR total in 3 games. That is absolutely appalling. I had 1 HR in each game, and I felt like I had to earn them.
As bad as the balls were, I think the bats played a factor here as well. My team (and most other CO teams) aren't really used to 240 bats. The 240 bats are noticeably deader than 220s. Guys who are used to hitting bombs and gaps could do neither. All their hits would seem to fly in slow motion and die in an OF's glove. Honestly, the way the ball was flying reminded me of Viera. There were plenty of very low scoring games played. Things improved somewhat late in the evening, but it was just brutal playing in the middle of the day. I used 2 Junos, an MR1 that tests at 275, and an MR2 that tests at 265. Both seemed to hit about the same. Neither is remarkably hot, but will still send a ball adequately if the sweetspot is found with some spin.
Now, back to the Pro Ms. All the balls I saw used in this tourny were from the same batch/lot (BN). They were not what I'd consider good Pro Ms. The covers weren't super tight, and the cores seemed to be mushy even when the balls were brand new. Hitting these balls was a chore. There wasn't much feel, and velocity off the bat was lacking. I'd go as far as to call these balls "pillowy". Distance was terrible, and they wouldn't penetrate. We had a very slight breeze blowing in as we played all 3 games, and the Pro M would just seem to parachute down after dying limply in the OF. The last time the Rocky Mountain Classic was played in Loveland we used ZN classic Ms and they were light years better than this current iteration of Pro Ms.
Many of the veteran conference teams out there did fine. They were still hitting plenty of HRs.
Conclusions: Between the 240 bats and the dead Pro Ms, hitting a HR in USSSA has suddenly gotten harder. Unlike some of the earlier batches of Pro Ms, these latest ones seem to be badly affected by heat. HRs can still be hit, but you have to mean it. No accidental ones.
If they use this same batch of Pro Ms in Viera for worlds I think there will be some comically low scoring games. Especially B and above, where 240 bats are required.
ULTIMATE CONCLUSION: There are HUMUNGOUS differences in ZN Pro Ms. I've seen very, very good ones, and almost ludicrously bad ones, like this past weekend. Depending on which batch ball you get, you could be easily dropping bombs or struggling to reach the warning track.
