Information regarding the use of Wood bats in the NCBL
By-Law 4.19
(a) Wooden bats only to be used in Tier 1 starting June 1, 2007
(b) Wooden bats only to be used in Tier 2 starting June 1, 2008
(c) Wooden bats only to be used in Tier 3 starting May 1, 2010 (amended 2010 Spring Meeting)
(d) Wooden bats only to be used in Tier 4 starting May 1, 2011 (amended 2011 Spring
Meeting)
Wooden bat definitions:
June 4th, 2013 clarification sent to all team reps:
Legal
wood bats: To be legal, the core of a bat barrel must be made only of
wood. The barrel can be wrapped with a strengthening material (these
bats are commonly called composite bats) but the core cannot be
anything other than solid wood. Bats with handles made of composite
material attached to a wood core barrel are also legal. However, any
bat with a composite core running the length of the bat is illegal -
the barrel core must be wood.
June 14, 2013 guideline from ruling from protest committee:
A
legal bat is defined as made entirely of wood (ash, maple, birch,
bamboo, or other solid piece of wood such as hickory). Composite bats
are legal, as long as the barrel is entirely made up of wood or
engineered wood product that may include a thin polymer-based coating,
and that the handle be made up of wood or a composite material. The bat
may not contain any metal or alloy of any kind. Composite bats may not
exceed a -3 oz drop. All teams and players are responsible for ensuring
that they are using legal bats, and where questions arise, the teams
and/or players are responsible for obtaining approval of their bat from
the NCBL Commissioner or the Operational Committee.