The South Dakota High School Baseball Association’s decision to switch to wood bats for this season has already caused a dramatic change in the game.

“It puts the game back the way it should be,” Wagner/Avon/Lake Andes head coach Jeff Sand said about the switch to wood bats. “It teaches kids that they have to play defense to win games. It’s also a nice safety feature for the kids.”

It’s no secret that the ball doesn’t travel as far off wood bats compared to the metal bats that the SDHSBA has used in the past. Many teams have noticed lower scoring games due to less pop off the bats.

Mount Vernon/Plankinton/Woonsocket Head Coach Derrion Hardie said that last season in his team’s first three games, the Outlaws averaged nine runs a game. Through three games this season, the team-high for a game is only eight runs, and the Outlaws are averaging just five runs a contest.

“It becomes a pitcher’s game again with wood,” Hardie said. “You can’t just be a swinger; you have to be a hitter.”

Hardie, who serves on the board of directors for the SDHSBA, said that he has been very pleased with the switch.

He also said that many kids have been excited.

“The kids really do like swinging the wood bats,” Hardie said. “They really can tell the difference that it’s making. They have a lot more focus and discipline both in games and in practice.”

Hardie said that before the association made the switch, it surveyed coaches from around the state and wanted to get sufficient input from the membership before making a decision.

Hardie said about 75 percent of coaches were in favor of the switch to wood bats.

Brock Sundall, head coach for Chamberlain/Kimball/Lyman, said that at first he was not for the move, but he eventually came around. Initially, he was leaning toward use of BBCOR (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution, a standard measure of metal bats used in the NCAA).

The association’s decision to move to wood bats was sparked by the fact that for high school competition, BBCOR was named the new standard for aluminum bats. BESR (Ball Exit Speed Ratio) had previously been the standard for high school and college. Since the aluminum bat standard was changing, the association decided to consider aluminum and wood.

Mitchell Head Coach Luke Norden is one coach who is OK with the association’s decision. He said if the association had stayed with aluminum bats, the standard could change in a couple of years and everybody would have to buy new bats again. With wood, that won’t happen.

“It was a smart decision,” he said.

Gary Kortan, head coach for Bon Homme, was another coach who did not want to see a change.

“I was opposed to it from the beginning,” he said. “If (metal bats) are still good enough for college guys, then why should our 15- and 16-year olds be any different?

“I think it’s going to take the fun out of the game for most kids.”

The change in bats has not only affected players and coaches, but also those who sell bats.

Jim Johnston, owner of Harve’s Sport Shop in Mitchell, said he has spent a lot of time with customers trying to explain all the rule changes.

“It’s been a learning experience for both us and the consumer,” Johnston said.

Wood is wood?

With the move to wood bats, players and coaches now have to decide what bats they use.

The SDHSBA website states that for 2012, teams must use wood, wood composite, bamboo or laminate bats.

“Some people will say, ‘well, wood is wood;’ no it’s not,” Hardie said.

Johnston said at his shop, they have maple, bamboo and composite bats. There is a 90-day warrantee on all bamboo and composite bats.

“We’re pretty honest with people,” Johnston said. “I realize maple bats feel better, but they could break the first game and you’re out of luck.”

Johnston said that most teams have purchased bats that come with the 90-day warrantee.

“Most of the bats we’re swinging are wood composite,” Norden said about his Mitchell team.

Sand said the team from Wagner/Avon/Lake Andes has purchased several different styles and allowed the kids to use what they feel most comfortable with.

“We have a mix,” he said. “It’s up to the kids to find one they like. It’s just trial and error to find which bat is for them. As a coach, I don’t try to sway them one way or the other.”

Kortan said that his Bon Homme team purchased several bats, and he only allows the players to use the maple bats during games.

“In practice, we only let them us the composite bats,” he said. “The maple bats provide you with more pop, but at least we know with the composite we aren’t going to have the extra cost.”

Cost

The jury is split as to whether the switch to wood bats will cost teams more money than in previous seasons.

“Some teams probably overspent,” Hardie said. “We didn’t go out and spend any more than what we normally would.”

Johnston said that although he has seen bat sales increase, he doesn’t believe that the cost has been any different.

“Since it’s the first year of both high school and amateur baseball going to wood bats, we’ve seen an increase in bat sales,” he said. “But now we’re selling $70 or $80 bats compared to $200 or $300 metal bats.”

He said fewer kids are sharing bats than in the past, due to the fact that kids don’t want their buddies breaking the bats, something that was not a fear when metal bats were used.

Norden feels that if the bats are being used properly, the use of wood bats can save teams and players money.

“The cost is going to balance out,” he said. “If you buy the right wood bats, it might actually be cheaper in the long run.”

“Wood is a little better on the pocket book,” Sand said. “For the price of what you’d pay for a nice metal bat, you could get five wood bats.”

Kortan said he believes the use of wood bats is an added cost.

“We spent $700 and most of the bats have warrantees throughout the summer,” he said. “We’ve never charged kids to play, but this year we charged because of the cost of the wood bats.”

Sundall said that as long as composite and bamboo bats have 90-day warrantees, the cost shouldn’t be a problem.

“If you were forced to swing just wood, than I would see it as a major issue,” he said. “But with the composite I don’t see it as a cost factor.”

With the season under way, a few coaches said they have seen a few bats break. However, with so many teams purchasing composite bats, they have been able to get replacements.

“We’ve had a few bamboo bats and composites come back,” Johnston said.