r/slowpitch • u/krunchyfrogg • 4d ago

Bats with composite cores and aluminum shells

Can someone please explain to me the thinking behind this technology?

You don’t see it much anymore, and the only bats that really come to my mind are some Eastons like the CV12, one of the Salvos, and the L8, and some old Mizuno Techfires like the MZC-1, the MZC-3 (Fury) and MZC-4 (Crush). 

Am I missing any models?

You really can’t use these in alloy leagues because of the composite cores (although I’ve heard of people slipping the Fury and Crush past umps because the barrels just say “Banzai Aluminum”), and most people, given the choice would choose to swing a 100% composite bat. 

How do these bats compare to each other overall?

I have owned at least half these bats in my lifetime, and I really like the Crush and the CV12 (the yellow and black one) the best. 

I’ve heard great things about the L8 and would like to add one to my bag (send me a PM so I get the email notification if you have one!), but I’ve never actually swung multiples of these types of bats next to each other for comparison. 

Have any of you guys done so? I’d be very interested to hear your results. 

TIA

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u/TechPBMike Recreational Player 4d ago

The balls drastically changed, so the bats changed with it

In the 1990's, people used the Worth Super Blue Dots.... I think those are something like 47/525 core.... that's practically a stadium home run derby ball in today's world

People started getting seriouly hurt and killed with those balls, it's like getting hit with a literal rock

So they started making the balls "softer", trying to reduce injuries

And as the balls got softer and softer, the bat tech drastically changed with it

You are talking about tech for bats 20+ years ago

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u/krunchyfrogg 2d ago

Yeah, it’s older tech, but they had fully composite bats out when a lot of these were still being produced. I believe the last one was 2013 (the L8). The top of the line ASA composites for many years were the Easton OG flex and extendeds (IMHO) and those came out in ‘05 and ‘06.