Baseball Equipment Buying Guide
To ensure the safety of all the boys and girls that participate in Cary Youth Baseball and Softball each year, we recommend and require certain equipment to be used at certain levels of the league. We hope this can help act as a guide for choosing what equipment to buy for your child/children before each season. Shirts, socks and hats are supplied to all boys and girls participating in CYB. This leaves pants/shorts, shoes, bats and baseball gloves as items for you to consider: Pants: Pants can come in a few colors, but white are the most common. The traditional style (3/4 leg) is the type of pant worn by most players, but full leg pants are certainly welcome. Shorts: The girls’ softball teams wear shorts instead of pants. Some coaches will ask that the girls buy a certain color to match their uniforms. All other girls should wear navy blue shorts. Most athletic shorts come down to mid thigh or to the knee. CYB does prefer that the girls do not wear “short-shorts”. Sliding Pad (Softball Only): To prevent injury to the girls while running the bases and sliding, a sliding pad is REQUIRED for all girls. This is basically a knee pad, but come in a couple of sizes. The smaller sliding pad covers only the knee, while the larger style covers the lower thigh and upper calf area as well. Either is fine. Try both and see which is most comfortable for your child. Protective Cup (Boys only): Although this is only REQUIRED for boys that play the CATCHER position, it is recommended for all boys at all positions on the field. Shoes: All baseball and softball shoes have one unique feature to look for that makes them different than soccer shoes: the toe cleat. Baseball shoes have a toe cleat at the very tip of the shoe that soccer shoes do not have. This helps players get better traction in quick starts where sudden movement occurs. Look for this when purchasing shoes. Metal cleats are not allowed in the younger leagues. They are allowed in the Pony and Colt baseball leagues only. Baseball/Softball Gloves: Here, the most important thing is comfort. A child with a small hand will obviously wear a different glove than one with a larger hand. It is important that the child can squeeze the glove closed without difficulty. Buying a glove that is too big can prevent this and can make catching the ball very difficult for your child. Softball gloves ARE different from baseball gloves, as they have a deeper pocket for catching the larger softball. Make sure to look for this if you have a daughter purchasing a new glove. If your child plays the catcher position, a glove is provided to each team with a full set of catcher’s protective gear, and purchasing a catcher’s glove is not required. Purchasing one, though, will allow your child to practice with it at home and become more comfortable using it. The one item that has the most rules governing it and its use is the bat. This is also the item that most parents have trouble buying because they do not know or understand these rules. Please go to the next page for a complete breakdown of these rules.
Bats: Baseball and softball bats have become very advanced in recent years. Rather than wood, most children use aluminum bats. These too have progressed, and new alloys have allowed the bats to become bigger while becoming lighter in weight. This makes it very easy for a child to swing a bigger bat, but also causes a concern for safety. Being able to swing a big bat that easily can cause a ball to be hit with such speed that a young child playing in the field may not have time to react and avoid the hit ball. To prevent these types of injuries, CYB has placed certain restrictions on bats in each league. When buying a bat, there are 2 very important items to pay attention to: barrel size and the bat’s “drop”. • A bat with a barrel diameter of 2 _” or larger is considered a “big-barrel” bat. In the younger leagues, these bats are not allowed at all. In the older leagues, big-barrel bats are allowed but with restrictions on the bat’s “drop”. A bat with a barrel diameter of less than 2 _” is not considered a big-barrel and has fewer restrictions. The drop is the difference in the bats weight when compared to its length. For example, if a bat is 30 inches long and weighs 20 ounces, it has a drop of -10. A 32 inch bat that weighs 27 ounces has a -5 drop. This number (the drop) is very important to look at when buying a bat, as the rules regarding this change as the child moves up into older leagues.
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Let’s go over the rules for each league. Pinto: No big-barrel bats are allowed. All bats must have a barrel of 2 _” or less. restrictions on weight or drop are enforced on small barrel bats. No
Mustang: No-big barrels bats are allowed. All bats must have a barrel of 2 _” or less. No restrictions on weight or drop are enforced on small barrel bats. Bronco: Big-barrel bats are allowed, with a restriction of a -5 drop. If the bat has a barrel of 2 _” or more, the bat must have a drop of -5 or less. See the definition of a bat’s “drop” above. All other bats with a barrel smaller than 2 _” have no weight restrictions. Pony: ALL bats MUST have a drop of no more than -5 ounces, regardless of the barrel’s diameter. A bat, regardless of barrel size, with a drop of -6 or more would not be allowed. On the other hand, a bat with a drop of -3 would be considered less of a drop and would therefore be allowed. Colt (and all High School baseball): All bats MUST have a drop of no more than -3 ounces, regardless of the barrel’s diameter. A bat, regardless of its barrel size, with a drop of -4 or more would not be allowed. Wood Bats: Wood bats are allowed at any age level and do not have restrictions. However, bats that are corked, hollowed out or altered in any way to make them lighter in weight are not allowed in any league. Softball: Softball bats are far less complicated and have far fewer restrictions. CYB simply requires all softball bats to be NSA (National Softball Association) approved. The requirements for this include that no bat may exceed 34 inches in length, cannot exceed 38 ounces in weight, and must be labeled with “Official Softball” on the bat. That label indicates that all other technical specifications have been met.