26 inch bat for hardball?

[pezman41z]

My son is small, 42" and only 40 pounds. He will be 7 in April so has to move up to machine pitch (7 and 8 year old). In that league they use a hard ball. I have a 27/15 he has been practicing with but I really think its too long for him to handle. Any bat shorter then 27 inches is labled Tee Ball. Is there a 26 inch bat on the market that is not a tee ball bat? If not can you use a tee ball bat with a hard ball without it denting? If there is one that anyone knows can hit a hard ball please help. There is a Stealth and Catylst 26" tee ball bat but I am sure they are just using the name and the quality can't be good because they are under $30.

[2ManyBats]

Back when my boys were just starting we had an Easton Zcore 777 alloy.
Nice bat drop -12.5 ... got to be very popular with the players.
I see the Catalyst has a 26" and 25" drop is -12.5 for both $39.99 @ batwarehouse.com

Good Luck

[stlbats]

My team used a 25" and 26" bat last fall in pitching machine with a regular baseball. They will not dent. We used Easton Stealths mostly. Orange/silver, around $30 bats.

On a side note, I think it is Combat that makes a composite T-Ball bat. I saw it on a bat website, but I cant remember which one and I dont have time right now to find it. I believe it was on backorder until April and was about $40 or so. Had the same graphics as the B-1. You should be able to search and find it. They had it in a 26" model. If I get time to find the site, I will post it for you.

thanks

[pezman41z]

The Combat -14 teeball bat says not for pitched balls. Its probably so thin it will dent. I guess I will get either a Stealth or Catalyst. Anyone with experience hitting hardballs with these? I know the mt older sons had Copperheads in Tee Ball and when they moved up they dented big time.

[coachscotty]

I'm not sure about T-ball bats denting with a hard ball because in our league we use a hard ball for t-ball but anyway check your league rule book because a lot of leagues won't allow you to use a bat marked "T-ball" in any thing above T-ball. My son is close to the same size at age 7, 50" and 50lbs I got him a 27" 13.5oz Louisville Dynasty and he can swing the fire out of it. He had a 28" 15.8oz Easton and it was way to big. The 27" length won't hurt his swing if the weight is light enough. However I think I saw a Louisville Warrior at 26" somewhere online.

[PC Smasher]

Based on my experience I would highly recommend that you NOT use T-ball bats for machine pitch leagues. My son is 7 and it is our 1st year of machine pitch (39 mph @ 42ft) and he has cracked BOTH of his bats he used last year in coach pitch. In our coach pitch league we used soft baseballs and in the machine pitch league we use hard balls and we have been practicing with the machine for about 3 weeks and both bats cracked. These weren't your typical $20 T-ball bats either; both retailed between $40 to $60 (I bought them on clearence). My recomendation would be to buy a 27" 14 oz. and teach him to choke up on the handle. I am probably stating the obvious here but it will rememdy the situation and in the end you won't dent or crack the bat and it will last a couple of years so you end up saving money.