Another newcomer to this year’s Bat Wars vendor alley was NV Baseball, manufacturer of custom fielding gloves for baseball and softball. The NV team did a great job working their booth and loved telling hundreds of players about their products. If you’re looking for custom-made team or individual high-quality fielding gloves, NV Baseball is the catch. Look for T3K and NV Baseball at all of the remaining stops this year.

“It’s great to have Legends returning this year as the ‘The Official Ball’ of Bat Wars,” said Bob Grey,  Softball Magazine’s National Promotions and Sales Manager. “The event uses roughly 1,500 balls at each stop on the road and close to 2,000 balls at the two Disney stops later in the year. Also returning this year is the Jugs pitching machine company. We are so fortunate, and for that matter, so are the participants, to have Jugs returning as the "Official Pitching Machines" of Bat Wars. At each and every stop, the Jugs machines serve up thousands of perfect pitches that allow the participants to concentrate on their hitting and stay locked in on consistent pitches,” continued Grey.

So you haven’t been to Bat Wars and you have just picked up your first issue of Softball Magazine? Let’s catch you up on what Bat Wars is all about and then we’ll talk about what happened.

Bat Wars is a softball junkie’s dream; that’s what we like to say around the office. Imagine a day where you can just show up and try all the latest and greatest softball bats and equipment for free. That’s right, free! You just show up, get in line, choose what bat or bats you want to take to the backstop with you and have fifteen perfect pitches to crush ball after ball out to the field. The best thing is, there is no limit. You can get back in line and try as many bats as you like as many times as you like all day. The Bat Wars Posse is on hand to help you in every way they can and volunteers shag the balls for you and reload the pitching cages while all you do is swing new bats. Need a break from eight hours of swinging? Not a problem, as the park is alive with all the manufacturers and vendors set up in an outdoor expo style, available to answer questions and pass along great deals you can only find at Bat Wars events.

So now that you're familiar with Bat Wars, let's get to the stars of the event and those are the bats. This year's event featured eight different manufacturers showcasing seventeen different models of softball bats. The starting lineup for stop number one had DeMarini Sports featuring the F2, the 375 and the all new Dark; Worth Softball featured their Wicked Composite, PST and Wicked Alloy; Rawlings Softball had their ACL Composite and Miken Sports featured the Freak and the Velocity II. Easton Sports featured the Synergy 2 and the Synergy+; Louisville Slugger had their Balanced & End Loaded Response available, while Mizuno had the Fury and the Crush for everyone to try. Toledo Sports Equipment is the bat rookie on this year's tour and featured two models, the Inferno and the Katana. Toledo's Katana, DeMarini's Dark, Mizuno's Crush, Easton's Synergy line, Miken's Freak and the Worth Wicked's were the most swung bats in the event. We forget sometimes that in certain parts of the country, some people may not have seen or had a chance to try out some of the models that have actually been out for the last four or five months. The Louisville Slugger Response is a good example, as they were released so late in the season last year that many players were getting their first shot at trying one. The same goes for the Mizuno Crush, which was released last summer and after strong initial sales, made the bat hard to get and many decided to wait until this spring to make their decision on which bat they wanted.

Rawlings ACL was the sleeper, with players picking it up two and three times before settling in on a weight. Many dragged their buddies over to the rack with the ACLs and made them swing them before the day was over. Durability was never an issue for any of the bats, all of them held up fine with thousands of swings put on them in one day. Interesting Bat Wars fact: The Inferno by Toledo was the only true single wall bat in the event and the DeMarini 375 is built to meet the new upcoming bat standards and work better with low compression to mid-compression balls. Both bats were hanging out with the composite gang and the multi-wall brothers all day in the event and each received very positive feedback and sales.

Speaking of sales, I wish I was allowed to tell you some of the prices on cleats, shoes, pullovers, gloves and yes, bats, that Footlocker.com was offering as Bat Wars specials right there on the spot, take it home. The day flies by and before you know it the Posse is breaking it down and packing for the next stop. The tear-down of the event has become a show itself, with spectators taking a break and watching a complete event disappear in about one hour.

"I need to say a thanks to Adidas," noted Grey. "They are a great sponsor to Bat Wars and they go to great lengths to dress the Posse out in gear for the events."
"I also need to thank the "Bat Wars Iron Man Team" run and organized by Brad Hazzard. They worked as Bat Wars Posse members all day, running pitching machines, working registration, driving the carts, you name it, they were part of the team," said Grey.
It was a great weekend in Lancaster and none of it would be possible without the teamwork it takes to promote an event of this magnitude. Jeff Campbell and The City of Lancaster, California, provided the support and the hospitality that really helps make the event the best it can be. Also, a special thanks to Frank Vega and the whole Southern California USSSA family for their help, support and for giving up one field for the day in the middle of the tournament.
With one in the books already this year, the Bat Wars Rollin' Road Show just gets better with each event and Cincinnati is just around the corner on June12th.

Look for some new additions to the Bat Wars bat lineup as new 2005 models begin to make their debuts at upcoming Bat Wars events. Be sure to stay up to date on the latest news and Bat Wars related information by logging on to www.batwars.com.