2019 Bat Policy Announced for Baseball Divisions
As many returning families may know, the youth baseball bat industry underwent a significant change in 2018 with the introduction of the USABat Standards. During last season, the OYO Board board took a conservative approach of grandfathering many previously permitted baseball bats into the OYO leagues for the entirety of the 2018 season. At the conclusion of the 2018 Fall Ball season, the OYO Board made an additional modification to the OYO baseball bat standards.
Effective for the 2019 season, for Super Major, Minor, Rookie, and Junior Rookie baseball divisions, bats with the USABat certification may have a bat barrel of up to 2-5/8 inches in size. Any bat NOT displaying the USABat certification may not have a bat barrel exceeding 2-1/4 inches (e.g. bats with the BPF 1.15 or BBCOR .50 certification).
The OYO Board believes this rule change will allow for families to continue to utilize bats that have always been allowed at OYO while also allowing for the use of USABats with a larger barrel size, which there are more of in the marketplace for this 2019 season.
This decision was based on the observations of a number of board members and coaches who observed the USABats in action last season. If you have any questions regarding this change in baseball bat rule for OYO for the 2019 season, please contact an OYO Board member.