By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
It's a question New Hampshire baseball coaches seem to be answering with more frequency: Should aluminum bats be banned at the high school level?
Those in favor of wooden bats say the ball exits the barrel of an aluminum bat faster than it exits a wooden one and puts fielders in greater jeopardy. They argue that it's a safety issue.
Others suggest that there's no proof aluminum bats put players in more danger than wooden bats, and maintain that it would be too expensive to switch to wood because a large number of bats would be broken each season.
Certain leagues throughout the country have a wood-only rule, and high school players in North Dakota will not be allowed to use aluminum bats beginning with the 2008 season. In New Hampshire, where the baseball season is scheduled to begin this week, aluminum bats are still allowed, however.
"Using wooden bats isn't cost efficient," Winnacunnet coach Mike Daboul said. "(High school players) are going to break wooden bats because they're not strong enough to hit with wood.
The argument that cites cost as the main reason to use aluminum bats may be less convincing than it once was, since aluminum bat prices continue to climb. Exeter coach Kevin McQueen said it's not uncommon to pay $300 for a good aluminum bat, while quality wooden bats can be purchased for less than $50.
Newmarket coach David Adam said many players buy their own bats anyway.
"Just about everybody on our team does," he said. "I haven't even brought our bat bag to practice. I'd love to see all wood, but I haven't heard any talk about switching."
The debate made headlines in New Hampshire newspapers two years ago, when Timberlane's Jeff Green was struck in the temple by a ball hit with an aluminum bat while he was pitching batting practice. He suffered a fractured skull and was flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.
McQueen said in recent years bat manufacturers have taken steps to make aluminum bats safer.
All bats used during high school games in New Hampshire must be approved by the National Federation of High Schools. To gain NHFS approval a bat must have no more than a minus-three drop, which refers to the differential between a bat's length and weight. A 30-inch bat, for example, must weigh at least 27 ounces.
The NFHS also conducts tests to determine ball exit speed ratio (BESR), and have a limit for how fast a ball thrown at 70 mph can exit a bat. That limit is currently 94 mph. All bats used in high school games must carry the BESR certification.
"As long as both teams are using the same kind of bat, it doesn't matter too much to me," McQueen said.
Hockey: UNH Lands Local Recruit
Paul Thompson, a standout hockey player who is in his senior year at Pinkerton Academy, will begin his collegiate hockey career a little earlier than expected.
Thompson was scheduled to join the University of New Hampshire program in 2008, but UNH coach Dick Umile said that timetable was recently moved up by a year. Thompson, a senior, had planned to play junior hockey next season, but is now expected to be part of UNH's 2007-08 team.
The decision came shortly after center Trevor Smith, UNH's leading scorer last season, gave up his final two years of eligibility to join the New York Islanders' organization.
Thompson is a 6-foot, 210-pound forward who played for the Eastern Junior Hockey League's New Hampshire Junior Monarchs last season. He collected 45 goals and 38 assists in 44 regular-season games and was named the EJHL's Player of the Year.
Boys Tennis: All eyes are on Concord
Concord lost four of its top six players from last year's undefeated team, but history tells us that any conversation about the top tennis teams in Class L this year has to start with the Crimson Tide.
Concord went 17-0 and beat Keene for last year's Class L title, which was the program's eighth state championship in the last nine years. The victory over Keene improved Concord's record to 144-1 since May 18, 1998.
Max Berger was Concord's biggest loss. He played in the No. 1 position for each of his four years and graduated with a 62-4 record in singles play.
