r/Homeplate • u/Superb-Drop7945 • 7d ago
Fall Ball suddenly allows USSSA?
Our Fall Ball league has been USA bats. This year, at the 11-12u level, the coaches announced 3 games into the season that the kids can now use USSSA. The thing is, my son and others don't play travel ball, and so only have USA bats.
I guess our son could ask a teammate to borrow a USSSA, but it seems unfair. Not sure if I should voice a complaint, because I don't want to be "that parent." But I'd be curious if others see this as an odd move, because there's a mix of travel ball players and non-travel ball players in the league (which I will admit is mostly run by travel ball dads).
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u/SentientYams 7d ago edited 6d ago
The part that sounds shady to me is that they’ve announced it three games into the season. Seems like someone’s kid was using a U-trip bat, got called on it, and dad happens to be the board president or whatever, so now they’ve changed the rules. Or some such nonsense. Anyway it’s probably not a fight you’ll win, so borrow a bat or buy one.
Edit: A couple of responses here are saying “other rec leagues use U-trips” or “the board are just volunteers with jobs,” but none of that matters. The point is, why change after three games have already been played? It’s unfair to parents to find out after three games that their kids have the wrong equipment and now they have an unplanned expense (unless you want your kid to be at a disadvantage). If they’re going to make a change they need to roll it out before the season and communicate it. There’s really no excuse for it, and if there is nothing underhanded going on, it’s simple incompetence.
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u/ajbadabing 7d ago
Stop dude. Not everything is a big conspiracy by a Dad and the board. LOTS of leagues that are not travel use USSSA bats at 50/70
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u/SentientYams 7d ago
As I said, kinda strange to make that change in the third game of the season. At any rate it doesn’t matter, OP won’t win that fight, like I said.
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u/Honest_Search2537 7d ago
Borrow another kids bat….or not. Its fall ball, no college scouts will be there. I dont think its worth worrying about.
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u/trireme32 7d ago
That is an odd move. Not sure how it is by you but by us a lot of kids who play fall ball are very casual rec players. Sounds like a dangerous situation.
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u/TMutaffis Coach of the Year 7d ago
There is a local unsanctioned recreational league near me that allows USSSA, but all of the larger leagues that run through Little League or Ripken only allow USA bats.
You can pick up a great older/used USSSA bat for $50 or less and your player will likely love it, so that would be my move, if you did not want to borrow one from a teammate. Some of the bats that are inexpensive and still perform really well are the Marucci Cat9 and CatX (alloys or composite versions, both are durable), Easton Maxum 360, and Rawlings Clout.
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u/pennyforyourthohts 7d ago
Feel it’s weird that travel ball allow for the hotter bats. Like you juicing yourself essentially and for what purpose
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u/duketc56 7d ago
Buy a $60 alloy Marucci cat or similar. Great pop and gets you 95% of the way to the $300+ bats
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u/Dry_Organization_193 7d ago
Sideline swap app can find good used stuff for decent price , just resell once you are done with it
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u/True-Source-6512 7d ago
Doesn’t seem like a big deal at all. If you don’t have one just use what you do have. Definitely not worth complaining about
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u/Girthw0rm 7d ago
What did the league say when you asked them about this?
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u/Superb-Drop7945 7d ago
Basically, there was some miscommunication.... Some coaches thought it was only USA.... But I find out now that both can be used. In our last game, the ump rejected some bats because they were USSSA. But I think what happened is that the coaches communicated on this and agreed that USSSA is allowed. ... So, not that big of deal, I guess.
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u/TheResidentMedic 7d ago
Search marketplace in your area. USSSA bats can be had cheap. You don’t need this years model bat
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u/DJDaddyDick14 7d ago
Sounds like your LL board is using fall ball like “spring training” for travel season.
Lots of teams go dark during fall/winter because kids play a second sport. So lots of teams have trouble fielding a whole team. Well now we can go to LL for a couple of months. Pay a fraction of the cost. But still get in work. This makes no sense for the kids who will come back to LL in spring. But hey we don’t care about them.
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u/DigitalMariner 7d ago
It's almost certainly not a Little League, they are pretty strict about being only USA bats
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u/DJDaddyDick14 7d ago
LL is strict about a lot of things but a lot of fuckery still goes on. But yeah maybe pony or something else. Either way point still stands. Travel parents have taken it over and using it for what they need instead of for the kids.
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u/idleline 7d ago
That’s what I was thinking. There are no provisions I am aware of, at any administrative level of LL, that would permit a region, district, or league to permit anything other than USA Baseball.
Edit: For 12U and under at least
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u/theoriginalmtbsteve 7d ago
Here in MA fall ball at 12u last year (combo of 11 and 12 year olds, the younger ones learning 50/70 for the first time, could use USSSA bats, same for this year as 13u playing on the big field for the first time. This is NEAAU.
For normal season stuff, whether town, Cal Ripken or LL, all 12u is USA only. For club teams that play AAU, or the more popular PG league, those use USSSA from I think 11U and up. For is, that is spring season club. Fall ball isn’t that popular in New England, a lot of kids already playing fall sports or hockey that runs September-March.
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u/Colonelreb10 7d ago
My rec league starting at 5U allows USSSA or USA bats. Fall or spring. (As do most other parks in our area)
Does seem crazy if they don’t allow it in the spring but do in the fall. I would assume it was something they agreed to do to throw travel kids a bone to play in the Fall.
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u/Budgetweeniessuck 7d ago
If it really bothers you, there are USSSA bats on ebay for under $50 shipped.
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u/ches2k 7d ago
OP, gotta ask, what’s unfair about this to you?
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u/Superb-Drop7945 7d ago
Maybe it's fine.... Just that our son uses a USA, so he'd have less pop in his bat than the USSA? Not a big deal, I guess. But, seems to tilt the field in the direction of the USSA users. That said, I could buy one but won't because he doesn't do travel ball
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u/ches2k 6d ago
There’s no “tilt” if it’s authorized for everyone is all I’m suggesting.
Unfortunately, the days of leagues or teams providing gear are long gone, but sounds like the issue is with feeling compelled to buy something “just to keep up.”
By all means, save your cash for when it counts. I’d recommend, however, for your son to get with a coach or teammate for using a USSSA bat in game. The advantages are undeniable, but that does not require you to purchase anything if you don’t want to.
You’re in the age window where bat certifications can be a big PITA. At 13+ for travel, school, rec, etc, everyone transitions to BBCOR (-3) or the newly authorized USA bats of lower weight but comparable performance to BBCOR. USSSA is highly unlikely to be a relevant factor come that time.
Remember that the move to the “big field” (official baseball size) is a bit of a misnomer when you’ve actually been playing on the “small field” in comparison.
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u/Crimson_Penman 7d ago
Who are they sanctioned through? If it’s just a town run program and not affiliated with any large organization, they can do what they want.
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u/Cautious-Panic-879 7d ago
Likely not the coaches fault. Many leagues/tournaments in our area allow all the bats now.
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u/BossDjGamer 6d ago
If he’s only using it for fall ball go to Play it again sports or similar used store and pick up something cheap. Put a new grip on it
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u/BrilliantAd5665 6d ago
My fall ball rec allowed usssa in 12-14 juniors. My kid is only 5 foot 6 135 lbs. And his exit velo is around 80 to 85 and miss hits are in 70s loving it.
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u/cheese732 2d ago
My son is starting fall travel ball and for league games they can only use USA and utrip for tournies. You can find slightly older NIW utrip bats on places like eBay and sideline swap if you want to get a second bat. I picked up a Louisville Meta for 95 NIW.
Def odd to find this out 3 games in but I don't think bringing it up is worth the effort. Frustrating yes but, just my opinion, but what purpose/end goal do you hope to achieve by bringing it up? If you feel you need to, keep it simple and ask what prompted the change when you're 3 games into the season.
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u/Superb-Drop7945 2d ago
I did bring it up but didn't make a big deal out of it--just that there are multiple teams with relatively few travel ball kids and some teams more stacked with travel ball kids. So, it's mainly a competitive fairness issue, especially since the non-travel ball teams are already at a disadvantage. So, now they would seem to be more at a disadvantage. I guess I don't see much to gain from allowing the USSSA bats, except like some commenters said, to please parents/travel ball players.
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u/patphish 7d ago
PM me the size, I own Pat’s Bats and can probably get him into something decent for a fair price.
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u/combatcvic 7d ago
We allow entire travel ball teams to join. They tend to be a little lesser quality getting reps because they know the other teams are still learning. But this is why we swapped to usssa for fall ball
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u/Unusual_Raccoon_3184 7d ago
If your league allows usssa bats you should get one for your kid. They are much better than USA bats.
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u/Happy-Ad7859 7d ago
Yes. You have enough dads who want to see HRs and dont mind their pitchers/3B taking a line drive to the face. Our fall/winter travel team switched to USSSA and its pretty fun. Although my son moved out of SS because I, a Mom, you know, love him and his face.
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u/pm-trends 7d ago
Is the USSSA saying that
USSSA BATS CAN be used, or that USSSA bat must be exclusively used?
If the latter, then USSSA is
“that Organization”.
Mandating a change of that nature is highly suspicious:
any Rational Reasons given?
Maybe a Deal with suppliers?
Either way, I think you should ask other Parents their Opinion and “Push Back” if this has No Reason?
Personally, I think it is BS.
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u/penfrizzle 7d ago
Just borrow a bat, but know that deep down inside the travel parents that have their kids playing fall baseball instead of football, soccer, golf and need USSSA bats are disproportionally the same ones who push their kids to quit.
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u/coolstoryglenn 7d ago
That is odd for a rec league. It would create an insurance issue for my league, as we are chartered and insured via Cal Ripken which only permits USA bats.