The purpose this year of the Carney Pirates, as stated from the very first orientation meeting, was to prepare excellent athletes for the higher level competition you would face this fall. All players got the benefit of being coached by two excellent, highly successful coaches, for an entire season, learning advanced hitting approaches and sophisticated game strategy from perennial winner Coach Rowland and professional level pitching techniques from one of the region’s finest, Coach Snyder, with both coaches overlapping in each area. Emphasis has been placed on the athlete’s development as a ‘complete’ player as well with resources regarding the enormously important mental part of the game being stressed and provided. These resources should be an ongoing consideration for players even after travelling down to your college - jump on the Carney Pirate website and review some of the articles in the Baseball Tips and Techniques link. Players consistently were challenged by the high level of competition, be it ODL where only the better teams swinging aluminum were scheduled, and who always threw their aces against the wood swinging Pirates; the Wood Bat National Championship where some of the most highly regarded players in America were opponents, and of course the Clark Griffith League where you competed effectively against players two and three years your seniors. Pitchers were able to keep their arms lively, throwing against top notch hitters, often against teams, unlike high school, where there were no ‘easy’ outs. Hats off to the coaches for providing pitchers numerous throwing opportunities without overusing them (check IP vs. games). All Carney Pirates pitchers are going to fall camp with fresh arms and a wealth of game tested experience. Carney Pirates hitters by swinging wood predominantly this summer, accrued all of the benefits that wood bat swinging provides. The growth of our hitters could be seen on the rare occasion when they twice swung aluminum and pounded the ball all over the diamond. Listed below are some of the numerous benefits of training with wood from articles as diverse as The New York Times to college coaches training seminars. Take a look and feel good about your accomplishments this summer;

“Here’s the bottom line. I recommend that every player use a wood bat for practice and drills. When it comes game time, break out the aluminum “magic stick”. When you use a wood bat for practice, you actually see your strengths and weaknesses. Doing this will help every hitter be more accurate with the sweet spot.”

Wood Bats Correctly Teach The Strike Zone. When you hit an outside pitch with an aluminum bat, you can very well hit it beyond an infielder even though you swung at a bad pitch. On an inside pitch, you can manage a flare-single over the 2nd baseman’s head. With wood you learn the strike zone and which pitches you should lay-off.

A wood bat will train you to hit with good mechanics and will tell you right away when you are dragging it through the zone with incorrect mechanics. The sweet spot is smaller and the barrel diameters tend to be smaller as well, so to be successful you start the hands early, select good pitches to hit and accelerate right through the ball with a flat, level swing. It just won’t let the bad swings turn into cheap hits.

Swinging wood for a period of time will build bat speed in the swing. Using a wood bat requires hitting the ball correctly for the ball to jump off the bat. The only way the ball jumps off the bat is if the bat is swung quickly, and the ball is hit on the “sweet” part of the bat. Most wood bats are top heavy and with repeated swinging, you will build bat speed.

Wood bats promote acute hitting vision – The barrel is smaller so a hitter has to see the ball better and follow it to the point of contact to achieve hitting success.

Carney Pirates, you are ready for the fall (just don’t go falling in love with the first gorgeous coed you meet, stay flexible, free, and focused - at least until you hit .300 or have a 2.50 ERA). Hup, hup, ballgame.