[Bob Seger]

There's been a dramatic drop-off in offense in the Kentucky National Insurance/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament at Whitaker Bank Ballpark this year. Terrific pitching has something to do with it, but the biggest reason for fewer runs and hits are the less-forgiving bats. A new rule this season reduced the trampoline effect in the aluminum bats, making them more like wood bats. The numbers don't lie. In the 2010 state tournament, there 82 runs and 128 hits in the eight first-round games. In 2011, there were 96 runs and 127 hits. The totals decreased drastically this year to 44 runs and 67 hits.

"The bats are a little more dead," St. Xavier senior Andrew Willinger said. "Last year you could check-swing and hit a double in the gap. This year you check-swing and you'll ground out to short." Bigger, stronger players can still whack the ball out of the park, as the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Willinger showed with a home run against Mercer County on Monday. Henderson County's 6-4, 260-pound senior Avery Pitt also showed power, pounding a pair of doubles to the wall against North Oldham. Pitt said the new bats have "a little less pop, but a guy like me, who's got a lot of weight behind it, the ball still goes pretty far." North Oldham shortstop Connor Heady, a 6-0, 175-pound junior who's committed to play at UK, presents a counterpoint. He hit nine homers this spring after hitting none last year. "But for me, it was the weight room," he said. "I put on about 10 pounds. And I took lessons from (former St. X and Houston Astros player) Chris Burke. He really helped me with my swing. I've tried not to let the (new bats) play a mental game with me. I just go out and play baseball."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/06/07/22165...rylink=cpy

In my opinion it's not been so bad. If you know how to execute small ball stategies, to me it is just as exciting as the home run ball. It's hard for the other team to always expect the unexpected for 7 straight innings. I have had a good time watching our team whip up on a couple of high profile state ranked teams this year that we were huge underdogs in, that just didn't appear to understand that element of baseball.