NATCHEZ — Trinity baseball standout Jake Winston reserves the right to quickly change his opinion about a new requirement in high school baseball.

If he’s pitching, he loves the new bats. If he’s batting, he hates them.

Starting this season, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) began requiring all high schools in the United States to switch to BBCOR-approved bats. And Winston said he’s definitely feeling the effect, on offense and defense, since the ball’s not coming off the bat as quickly or traveling as far.

“Offensively, our team lost a few starters from last year, so our lineup’s not as strong, so we’re going to have to play more small ball,” Winston said. “It’s definitely not coming off the bat as fast. There’s a noticeable change as far as that goes.”

But when he’s pitching, Winston said the bats provide him an advantage.

“With the change, it’s a slight relief knowing it’s not coming off the bat as hard, but you still have to work hard on the mound to get them out,” Winston said. “The batter’s going to have a challenge as well, though. Everyone’s still getting used to them.”

Prior to this season, bats were certified according to a formula known as BESR, or Ball Exit Speed Ratio. Both BESR and BBCOR — Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution — are used to regulate a bat’s “trampoline effect,” or how quickly a ball “jumps” off the bat at contact. In hopes of making the game safer, the NFHS switched over to BBCOR, the same formula used to regulate college bats.

Natchez High School head baseball coach Skip Golding said he believes the main reason the change was made was to protect high school pitchers. Since the new bats make the ball come of the bat slower, it gives pitchers time to react to a pitch coming right at them.

“They’re 60 feet, 6 inches away,” Golding said. “And they couldn’t deaden the baseball anymore like they deadened softballs, so they put BBs in the head of the bat to slow down bat speed.

“High school athletics is all about protecting the players with the new football rules and baseball rules. It’s just going to be harder.”

This means a player has to be really strong and swing really fast to hit a home run with the BBCOR bats, Golding said.

“I saw a guy playing for Terry (High School) hit a ball that should have hit the armory the other night,” Golding said. “(Derrian Johnson) caught it 10 feet from the fence.”

Since the NFHS controls what rules state associations like MHSAA or LHSAA have to follow, Golding said schools across the country have no choice but to make the switch.

“If you’re going to be a member of that association, which you have to be, you have to use those,” Golding said.

Player reactions

At least one local hitter isn’t too fond of the change. Adams County Christian School’s Christopher Perry is currently mired in a slump because of the adjustment to the new bats, he said.

“They’re like swinging and old bat that’s dead,” Perry said. “It’s horrible. It’s like swinging a broomstick.”

Perry said the “sweet spot” on the bat is half the size of the BESR bats, and not near as much power is generated from swinging the new bats.

“People’s averages and home run (numbers) will be a lot different,” Perry said. “Some people won’t have trouble, but I am.”

Perry isn’t the only local player that’s not enjoying the transition. Cathedral High School’s Austin Chauvin said he’s definitely seeing the effect of diminished power in the bats.

“Usually, balls that I’d hit over the right fielder’s head or into the gap don’t make it to the fence now,” Chauvin said. “They’ll be caught, like regular fly balls.”

Chauvin also said he definitely agrees with Perry’s sentiments.

“I hate them, too,” Chauvin said. “I think they took the home run out of baseball a bit, unless they have a shorter field.”

As a pitcher, Winston admitted there is a little bit more comfort knowing he’d have more time to react to a batted ball flying right at him.

“When a guy steps into the batter’s box, I already know if they can hit or if they can’t,” Winston said. “Last year, it did cross my mind a few times that a ball could come back to me and threaten my career. I’ve been hit in the leg quite a few times, and it didn’t feel too good.”

And not every local hitter is opposed to the new bats. Natchez High School catcher Davion Ward said he actually likes the BBCOR bats better than the BESR ones. Ward said the new bats force him to think more about squaring up on the ball and get a solid hit instead of just trying to swing for the fences.

“I think last year’s bats had more pop, but this year’s bats help me get the bat on the ball more,” Ward said. “You have to hit it dead on if it has any kind of chance to go through the gap. You have to have a nice powerful swing to get one out with these bats.”

Ward even compared the BBCOR bats to wooden bats.

“The feel is the same when you hit them,” Ward said. “You have to hit the ball hard with the wooden bat also. The only difference really is that one is made of metal.”

But Perry said the general consensus of the people he’s talked to is that the bats are not being received well, even outside the Miss-Lou.

“We know a few people that play for Central Private (in Zachary, La.), and they said they don’t hit near as well with the new ones,” Perry said. “They said they’re having a hard time to adjust to them.”

Coaches’ reactions

Vidalia High School head coach Kale Davis also said that from talking to his players, the bats aren’t being well received.

“There’s nothing we can do about it, but the kids, they don’t like them,” Davis said. “It’s just an adjustment to deal with. Everyone’s playing with them.”

Davis also said a major part of the adjustment is the fact that the old bats had been used by his players for so many years.

“They grew up using the old bats,” Davis said. “And even with the change they made, on the 21st of February, one of the (BBCOR) bats was deemed illegal, the CAT5 33-inch bat. They said it didn’t meet the NFHS specifications. There’s still a lot of trial and error.

Cathedral baseball coach Craig Beesley said the adjustment hasn’t been as big for his team, since the Green Wave doesn’t rely on the long ball as much to begin with.

“We struggled offensively early, but I think that was more due to a lack of game time,” Beesley said.

“Power hitters are probably affected more than anyone else, but outside of Chauvin, we’re more gap and line drive-type hitters. We have seen a difference, but not as major one as I was expecting.”

Beesley also said his team hasn’t had to change its offensive approach.

“Contact hitters are still putting it in the gap, but it hasn’t affected our game plan. If a bunt situation arises, we’ll still bunt. It hasn’t changed that mentality.”

Davis, however, said he expects most schools’ offensive approaches to change because of the lower offensive output.

“Small ball is going to be a big part of the game,” Davis said. “A lot of coaches will find themselves playing small ball, getting the ball in play, advancing the runner and getting runners in when you can.”

No use complaining about it

Even though everyone’s being forced to adjust, Winston said the basics of baseball aren’t going to suddenly see major changes.

“The bats are a change, but you’re still playing baseball,” Winston said. “You still have to hit and run and everything. You can’t get caught up on the bats and blame things on them every game. The other team is using them, too.”

When it comes to power hitters, though, Golding said they’re going to suddenly become a lot more rare.

“If you see a kid hit six or seven home runs this year, he’s a darn good hitter,” Golding said.