Bat Rules
As of the 2018 baseball season, PONY (along with several other little league organizations across the country) are adopting a new bat standard. The new standard is the USA Baseball “USABat” certification. USABat approved bats will all have the USABat symbol on it. (See below.) Additionally, any bat with a BBCOR certification on it, or any wooden bat is also allowed. Thus, the bottom-line rule for Carmel Youth Baseball is the following.
Any bat used must:
- Have the new USABat “USA Baseball” symbol (below) on it,
Or
- The BBCOR symbol (which is rare – this symbol is only for heavier (-3) bats, so only a few of our oldest players will be using these bats),
Or
That’s it. No other bats will be allowed.
When buying a bat: You must make sure it has the USABat Certified symbol on the bat.
It looks like the above symbol.
Please do not confuse the above symbol with the old USSSA symbol. Bats with a USSSA symbol are not allowed. Only bats with the new USABat symbol.
For more about the new USABat standard, see here: https://usabat.com/about/
For a specific list of all approved bats, see here: https://usabat.com/
Note that the rules on bat size have not changed.
Specifically, CYB bats can be up to a maximum of 2 & 5/8 inches in diameter. Smaller diameters (e.g. 2 ¼ inch diameter) are allowed. Bigger diameter bats (e.g. 2 ¾ inch diameter) are NOT allowed). Again, this size rule is not a change from previous years.