Managers OK with move to wood bats

Amateur baseball managers from around the area are not surprised by the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association’s decision to require players to use wood bats in all levels of play next summer.

According a report by The Associated Press, the state commissioners approved the move during their fall meeting last month. The decision came after a survey of team managers around the state showed the majority favored going to wooden bats.

Class A amateur teams have already been playing with wooden bats and Class B teams had the option of using aluminum bats.

Dimock/Emery manager Ron DeGeest said he knew that the change was coming.

“I think it’s been something coming for a few years now,” said DeGeest, whose team won the Class B state championship in 2010. “It’s just been a matter of time of when they actually went ahead and made the change.”

He said that like with any change, there will be a transition period and it will take a little time to get used to the switch, but he doesn’t think that will have a significant effect on any of the players on his team

“I don’t think things are going to change that much,” DeGeest said. “Obviously it’s going to change the game a little, but my hope is the change will be for the better.”

Legion and high school players are also in the process of making the switch from aluminum to wood, and DeGeest said he felt it was only a matter of time before amateur baseball made the switch as well.

Delmont manager Scott Redd had similar reactions.

“I think it’s great,” Redd said. “I think its going to make the fundamentals of baseball more important. It’s going to be easy to adjust, but I don’t think the games are going to be exciting as people are used to because there won’t be as many homeruns.”

Both Dave Roth, the Parkston Mudcats manager, and Chris Marek, the Alexandria manager, said they weren’t surprised by the switch.

“I figured it was coming sooner or later, so I wasn’t really surprised it happened now,” Roth said.

Marek said the switch won’t have too big of an impact of the game, and that players should be able to adjust quickly.

“It changes the game slightly,” Marek said. “I would say as far as switching, it doesn’t really bother me. You have to just go out and play the game. None of us are good enough to say it will really make or break us, so we just have to go out there and play.”

DeGeest said he felt the switch was for the best.

“I think most of all they’re just looking out for everyone’s safety,” he said. “There’s going to be a few people who don’t like it, but I think it will just be a matter of time before everyone gets used to it.”

Tags: amateur baseball, sports, updates