SOFTBALL LEGEND SUE ENQUIST JOINS LOUISVILLE SLUGGER® TPS® FAMILY

LOUISVILLE, KY (November 28, 2011) – Louisville Slugger® TPS® is making some serious noise in fastpitch softball. It started with the “mean sounding” XENO bat, as players affectionately describe the loud and unique noise when a XENO crushes the ball.  Now it’s with the major announcement that the sport’s winningest coach has joined the Louisville Slugger family.

Sue Enquist, 11-time National Champion at UCLA and member of multiple Halls of Fame, is joining Louisville Slugger TPSFastpitch Softball as a consultant.  Enquist, who is also a motivational speaker and clinician, will collaborate with the Louisville Slugger TPS research and development staff on innovation, design and testing of bats, gloves, batting gloves, protective equipment and accessories.

            “Sue Enquist is one of the most highly respected people in the game of softball,” said Louisville Slugger president Bill Clark.   “We’ve admired Sue and had a desire to work with her for a long time.  We’re thrilled to have access to the knowledge and experience Sue brings to our Louisville Slugger TPS family.”

Enquist is equally excited to be part of the historic family-owned brand.

“Louisville Slugger is an American icon and has always been a great supporter of women and girls who play softball,” Enquist said, “I am honored to have a role in this great, historic, innovative and forward-thinking company.”

Caroline Howe, a former Division I player who heads up the Louisville Slugger TPS fastpitch program, says it’s been easy to see why Enquist was a successful coach.

“Sue is an amazing motivator.  She’s passionate about our game and pushes for excellence in everything she does,” Howe said. “Our TPS staff and I are eager to continue our new collaboration with Sue as we grow Louisville Slugger TPS fastpitch.”

Among Enquist’s many lifetime achievements, she is the first person in NCAA history to win a national championship as a player and a coach.  She was UCLA’s first All-American as a player where she had a .401 career batting average. 

In her storied 27 years as a coach at UCLA, Enquist had a career record of 887-175-1, for a remarkable .835 winning percentage.  She coached 65 All-Americans and 12 Olympians.  Enquist is a World Champion and a USA National Team coach and player. As a USA National Team coach, she helped prepare the Olympic Team for the inaugural 1996 gold medal run in the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

She is a member of the UCLA Hall of Fame, Women’sSports Foundation International Hall of Fame and National Fastpitch CoachesAssociation Hall of Fame.  She has been named National Coach of the Year and Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

Enquist is also an author, maker of more than 25 leading instructional videos, and former professional surfer.  She lives in California where she continues to surf daily.

 SUE ENQUIST BIOGRAPHY

• UCLA’S first All-American player, career .401 batting average
• UCLA softball coach, 27 years (retired)
• 11-time National Champion player & coach at UCLA
• First person in NCAA history to win a National Championship as a player and a coach
• 887-175-1 record (.835 winning percentage), NCAA Division I career record
• Was winningest coach among active softball coaches during her career
• Coached 65 All-Americans and 12 Olympians
• USA National Team:  USA World Champion & Pan-American Champion
• Member USA National Team Staff for’96 Gold Medal Olympic Team
• 17 of 21 years in the NCAA Championship Finals
• UCLA Hall of Fame
• Women’s Sports Foundation International Hall of Fame
• National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame
• 1,314 combined wins as a player and a coach
• Professional surfer

Rules Change Requires New Bats for All High School Players in 2012!

Louisville, Ky. – Every single high school baseball player in America will be swinging a brand new bat in the coming season because bats that were legal for play last year are not legal in 2012.  That means half a million teenage boys playing high school baseball all need to get new bats.  The mandate is making baseball bats one very hot holiday gift item this year. 

The change in bats comes after the National Federation of High Schools adopted the NCAA’s standard for bat legality, the Ball-Bat Coefficient of Restitution, or BBCOR, starting in January 2012.  The NFHS says the new standard ensures that performances by non-wood bats (aluminum, composite and hybrid) are more comparable to those of wood bats. 

THE IMPACT OF BBCOR BATS ON COLLEGE BASEBALL AND WHAT’S EXPECTED FOR H.S. BALL

Those who play, coach and follow high school baseball agree that the BBCOR standard will change the way the high school game is played.  All the proof they need is to look at how the new BBCOR bat regulations affected college baseball in 2011. The NCAA reports that Division I batting average, scoring and home runs per game in 2011 resemble the wood-bat 1970s more than they do recent years. Division I teams averaged 5.58 runs per game in 2011, well below the record 7.12 in 1998 and under 6 for the first time since 1977 (5.83), which was just the fourth season of the aluminum bat in college baseball. There were fewer home runs in college baseball in 2011 as well, with .52 per team per game compared with .94 last year and 1.06 in 1998 (the peak year for that category). Those numbers resemble the wood-bat days (.42 in the last year of wood in 1973 and .49, .50 and .55 in the first three years of metal).  Batting average in 2011 was .282, the lowest since 1976.  While hitting declined, pitching improved as earned-run average was its best (4.70) since 1980 (4.59).

“Waiting for a three-run homer to win the game in the eighth or ninth inning is mostly a thing of the past with the new BBCOR bats,” said James Sass, who is the Louisville Slugger® TPX® Director of Product Development. “Now, the little things matter most. The emphasis in high school baseball will be on line drives and ground balls instead of long-ball offense. Hitters will need an edge, and the right BBCOR bat is a big part of that edge.”

As holiday shoppers head to the stores or search online for gifts in the coming weeks, here are some tips from Louisville Slugger, maker ofthe best bats in BBCOR, to help moms, dads and high school baseball players pick the right bat:

Weight: Generally, bigger, stronger players prefer heavier bats. Smaller players benefit from lighter bats that allow faster bat speed.  Some players prefer a bat that is balanced, while others like one with more weight in the barrel.

Length: Longer bats give greater reach, so players can hit balls on the opposite side of the plate. But with longer bats may come heavier weight, and bat speed could be impacted.

Barrel Diameter: High school and college players are restricted to a maximum barrel diameter of 2-5/8.”

Bat Material:

·         Aluminum alloys of different types are used in today’s bats, each with different characteristics. The alloy is often a factor in the price difference among bats. (Louisville Slugger Omaha, Louisville Slugger Warrior, Louisville Slugger Armor)

·         Composite bats combine graphite, fiberglass and resin. Composite bats have a unique sound that some players prefer. (Louisville Slugger Z-1000)

·         Hybrid bats combine aluminum alloy with composite materials so that batters have the best of both worlds: an aluminum barrel with a stiff composite handle. (Louisville Slugger ExoGrid 2)

Feel: This may be the most important factor! The bat should feel comfortable to the hitter.  And no two hitters are exactly alike.  Every player has his own personal preferences when it comes to “feel.”

Sweet Spot:   Aluminum and composite materials can be engineered to create large sweet spots on bats.  Most players want a sweet spot that is as large as it can be.

 Get Your BBCOR Bat from Your Online Pro Shop Since 1995!

www.BattersChoice.com

Batters Choice joins the World of Sports Blogs

Today is the day that we enter into the blogosphere! We are always contacted via the phone or email with questions about all sorts of baseball, fastpitch and slowpitch softball rules, products, training techniques and the likes of all those types of things. In that vein, we will begin to offer a bit of advice and tidbits of information about your favorite pastimes of baseball, fastpitch and slowpitch softball. The timing of the posts may be fairly erratic in the beginning, but we will target to post about once a week.
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