The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- February 15, 1999

New Jersey, Wisconsin conferences modify positions on baseball bat issue

The uncertainty surrounding the baseball bat issue in Division III recently gained some clarity with announcements by two conferences.

The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), which had adopted bat performance standards that prohibit members from using or competing against teams that use nonconforming bats in 1999, modified, albeit slightly, their respective positions.

The NJAC, which became the first NCAA conference to adopt a wood-only standard, reaffirmed its position for all contests, but noted that it "reserves the right to modify this position at any time during the season if further evidence, testing and/or information regarding bat safety becomes available." Conference schools may only compete against other institutions that follow the same standard.

"If a metal-bat manufacturer comes out with a three-prong bat that meets the 94-miles-per-hour standard, we would look at it," said Glenn Hedden, president of the NJAC. "But basically, our position has not changed."

The same cannot be said for the WIAC.

The WIAC, which prohibited member schools from using or competing against teams using bats other than wood, wood composite or metal bats meeting the "three-prong" standard, modified its position to permit member schools to compete against teams using nonconforming bats under specific circumstances.

Specifically, conference members will be required to seek an agreement with previously scheduled nonconference opponents to use only those bats permitted for conference play. However, should an opposing institution not agree to the request, conference members are requested to give consideration to canceling the game.

Conference members are permitted only to use wood or wood composite bats, or those metal bats that meet the three-prong standard (as established by the NCAA with an effective date of August 1, 1999) for all games.

"We're trying to avoid (playing teams with metal bats) as much as we can without having our schools cancel games," said Gary F. Karner, commissioner of the WIAC. "At the same time, we feel that if our schools get into a situation where they are going to experience any kind of financial penalty or any other penalty that they can play somebody with a two-prong bat.

"Are we 100 percent protected? Absolutely not. We feel we've taken a reasonable position. Basically, we went to the edge of an extreme position and took a step back."

Karner noted that conference members are required to include a stipulation to use only those bats permitted by the conference in any games with nonconference opponents that are still in the process of being scheduled or contracted. Further, the conference plans to lobby the NCAA to require the mandatory use of such bats in all Division III games and, in the absence of such a requirement, encourage coaches and athletics directors to voluntarily adopt similar standards during the 1999 season.

"We're going to do the best we can to provide for the safety of our student-athletes given the information we have and the conditions and limitations we face," said Karner.