Players from Piedra Vista, and all other schools in New Mexico, play baseball with wood bats. That makes out-of-state games unique, as the opponent is just about certain to be playing with metal or other composite bats.
File photo by Julie Carlson
Comparing wood bats to metal bats produces mixed feelings and some interesting philosophies.
Only the high school baseball players in New Mexico and New York City are limited to wood bats. The rest of the nation swings away with aluminum.
Mike McGaha, Piedra Vista
Courtesy photo
Wood-bat coaches say they are willing to lose games they might otherwise have won to metal-bat teams because they are better preparing their players for the next level.
Mike McGaha, head coach at
Piedra Vista (Farmington, N.M.), told MaxPreps, "I hate to say it publicly, but I'm more interested in the next level (college and pro). If it's only about winning high school games, that's pretty empty. My goal is not to win high school games (he still has won four state titles). We do kids a better service to help them achieve their goals and be able to stay there.
"Our kids (graduates) come back and work out with our kids. It really has become a family. We just want to teach kids how to play. If it's not about the relationships, then it's really not worth doing."
Professional baseball players use only wood and even in college, where most teams use metal, the adjustment from wood to metal is much easier.
In his 32nd year as head coach at
Washington (New York City), Steve Mandl says, "I'm an old-school guy and I love real baseball, so I'm OK with wood. You're preparing these kids. Why would you want them to go backwards? (Even from wood to metal) the adjustment is much easier. Metal makes a lot of bad hitters into good hitters. My kids are more prepared with wood and when scouts come they don't have to speculate (how they would do with wood in the pros)."
One of the big advantages of metal - besides more power - is that a batter can get a base hit off the handle. With wood it probably would be a popup or at best a ground ball.
Steve Mandl, Washington
File photo by Denis Gostev
Mandl took his team to the first National High School Invitational in Cary, N.C.
"We used wood and everybody else used metal," he pointed out. "And we lost. Our kids hated me for that. A lot of base hits they got wouldn't have been hits with wood. Our kids were upset because we lost and we are not used to losing."
Sean Trotter took his
Farmington (N.M.) team to the Coach Bob National Invitational in Phoenix and returned home with a 1-4 record after facing teams with metal bats.
He noted, "We were in all but one of them. We competed, but it certainly makes a difference. I think to some degree it (metal bats) intimidated us. We're preparing ourselves to win (in the state tournament)."
Trotter pointed out, "The overwhelming majority in our coaches association favor wood. It leveled the playing field. We can pitch 70 mph and compete. Our games went from 21-19 to 4-3 and you've got to play defense. Runs are hard to come by and you have to be able to locate your fastball at 76 mph."
McGaha also sees numerous advantages with wood bats.
"It increases participation, because second- and third-tier kids can learn how to pitch," he stressed. "It makes the game more similar to college and pro games. The other thing, it makes kids learn how to bunt. My pitchers get seen a lot (by scouts) because they are commanding the ball instead of (throwing hard). I feel (wood) is an absolute benefit to high school coaches and players."
When metal-bat teams play in New Mexico, they have to use wood. On the flip side, when New Mexico teams play out-of-state teams and lose - which often is the case because they are playing high-quality programs - those losses hurt the seeding in their own state tournament because every game counts on the record.
McGaha concedes that those losses "prepare us for some adversity when we come home."
The Piedra Vista coach has lost to metal-bat teams, sometimes when he knew he would have won had both used wood.
Following a 13-10 loss to a metal-bat team during an out-of-state tourney, he was told by the winning coach that there was no way that team would have won had there been a level playing field.
Still, McGaha adds, "They (his kids) love it because it becomes a new challenge. They come back and tell people they beat someone with aluminum. It also is a built-in excuse (if they lose)," he laughed.
Washington High players took their wood bats to a national stage and found themselves at a disadvantage.
File photo by Jim Stout
