Goodbye 'Ping': New Style of Bats Expected to Impact High School Baseball

There is an unfamiliar sound being heard on baseball diamonds across the Southland this summer.

The traditional “ping” coming from an aluminum bat hitting a baseball is being replaced with what sounds more like a wooden bat meeting ball.

The Illinois High School Association is switching to a different style of bat—from “BESR” standard to the new “BBCOR” standard—effective January 1, 2012. Many teams playing summer ball are using the new bats—which are a closer approximation to wooden bats—to prepare for their use in the spring.

BBCOR and BESR are standards used to judge the liveliness of bats. In simplistic terms, the BESR—Ball Exit Speed Ratio—simply measured the speed of the ball once it left the bat. The BBCOR—Bat-Ball Coefficient of Restitution—is different in that it tries to quantify the “bounciness” or “pop” off the bat by measuring the force of the bat on the ball.

The IHSA hopes to have aluminum bats perform more like wood to reduce the “trampoline effect” that in recent years sent balls flying, whether or not they were hit squarely on the barrel.

The NCAA adopted the rule this past season and saw offensive power numbers drop considerably, most notably during the College World Series in June. Batting average, home runs and subsequently pitchers’ earned run averages were all down considerably this year from recent years. The College World Series also saw its first complete-game shutout in five years.

Many high schools started preparing for the adjustment by using the BBCOR bats during summer league play.

“If it is for the safety of the players, I think it is fine, but it will be a different kind of game,” Stagg coach Matt O'Neill said.  “For a team like us that doesn’t mash the ball, I think it will help us out.”

For teams that didn’t hit many home runs with the old bats, playing with the new bats might give them an advantage. O’Neill’s Stagg squad and Tinley Park fall into that category.

“We don’t hit home runs,” Tinley Park coach Brian Gibbons said. “There will be more of a focus on bunting, defense and throwing strikes, which fits right into what we do.”

For teams such Providence and Sandburg, which hit the cover off the ball this past spring, it might be necessary to change their approach.

Then again, some of the hitters in the Southland seem to capable of hitting with just about any type of bat.

Some players have been using wooden bats with their travel teams this summer to help prepare for the new bats.

“I hit with wood on the weekends so I am kind of already used to bats like this,” Sandburg catcher Dan Rizzie said.  “Making the switch to BBCOR is not going to make much difference to me.”

But some people are convinced that the game will focus more on pitching and defense with the new bats, and teams are going to have to manufacture runs.

“Offensively, the game is going to be focused on getting on base any way that you can,” Lincoln-Way Central coach Sean Bieterman said. “If you are going to wait around for the three-run home run, it is probably not going to happen.”

Knights pitcher Matt Doherty had a banner summer on the hill, pitching deep into games and not giving up more than three runs in each outing.

“The ball is not bouncing and coming hard off the bat like it used to,” Doherty said.  “The ball used to carry to the outfield, now it is dying out there and not carrying as much.”

Bieterman knows how important it will be for Doherty and the rest of his staff to be in control on the mound if the Knights are going to have success next spring.

“For the pitchers, it will be important to throw strikes. You can’t walk guys and you have to play good defense,” Bieterman said.  “If your pitching and defense falls apart, you are going to be in trouble.  You are going to see more scores like 3-1 and 4-2, not 9-8.”

Fans who are entertained by the home run might have to start focusing on teams’ strategic approach on offense. And get used to a new sound of bat meeting ball.

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