Posted by: DKN (d_nitta@sbcglobal.net) on Thu Apr 24 23:25:33 2008

Junior used a 32 -10 for little league and a 32 -8 for travel ball when he was 12. He was
85 pounds when he hit his first little league home run. Fence was 205 from home plate.
He also had one of the top batting averages in the league. After he hit his first home run,
some of the other smaller players would come up to him and tell him that if he could hit it
out they also had a chance of hitting one out. At the end of most all star practices the
players would have hit the ball hard contest. You would be allowed to hit until you missed
or fouled a strike or did not hit the ball hard. Generally the same player 5'9 160 lbs would
win. Junior did win a few and during one session put 7 in a row over the fence. Junior
likes bats that are balanced and does not like end loaded bats which the stronger kids
seem to prefer. When he first started playing a coach told him length was more important
than weight since length determines plate coverage. Junior now weighs 126 and swings a
33 -3. He leads his JV team in batting average and slugging. He seems to be hitting
better than ever right now and is really focusing on loading his back leg, using his hips
more and getting a good push off his back side to increase his bat speed. Next year he
moves to the Varsity field which is 330 down the line, 365 in the power alley and 390 in
center. Almost all the JV fields do not have a fence and he has hit only one ball all year
that may have been hit hard enough to get out in left center so he knows he must work on
his bat speed if he wants to hit one out.