Broken Stealth.

[wallyball]

My boy just broke an Easton Stealth. It's about a 2" long crack and it's below the sweet spot by about 3". I take it the bat is junk. Has anybody else had a problem with these kind of bats? Luckily we are in our last tourny for the year so I have until next year until I have to replace it. I just don't know if I 'm gonna get another bat like this one. It's a composite bat which I thought were supposed to be very durable. Any kind of advice would be appreciated.

[Hookem74]

There are many different types of cracks...hairline, stress, spiderwebbing and lifted!

One thing to understand about "cracks" it doesn't mean the bat is dead. Hottest bats are indeed cracked ones, if there is a decline in hitting performance than she is a goner. Hit on the opposite side of the crack.
Depending on what type of crack (Horizontal or vertical on barrel) the bat may very well have plenty of life in it. I've seen cracked composites with 200-1000 hits put on them and still going strong.

Stealth's are known to develop "stress cracks" which won't effect the bat at all, I would have to see a pic to tell you what kind it is.

If it's under warranty, call Easton customer service and see about getting an alloy model as a replacement. It shouldn't be a problem as with any brand most of the companies will work with you in fixing the problem.

As far as durability, composites are fairly new to the baseball world and I honestly believe its a big problem partly due to the bat companies poor design and misuse by the owners.
Biggest problem I see are kids treating these bats like alloys, using them in cold weather,batting practice,cages(dimple balls are the 1# reason for so many composite breaking),etc...composite bats were design for "game use" only!

One thing with composites, it will either break within the first couple of months (bad batch) or last for a few years. Here's one thing no one will tell....Composites were designed to last one full baseball season which is about 800-1000 hits!

A 2-piece design bat will always be less durable than a one piece!

[glgto]

I think that Easton has their bats made in China now. So they are getting what they pay for and your cost get higher and the one that loses in the end is the buyer. I have heard of alot Stealth breaks this year and that Easton will only give you one replacement? That is heirsay though.