Matt La Belle wants to put an end to the use of composite baseball bats in the Marmonte League and, perhaps, the entire CIF-Southern Section.

The Simi Valley High head varsity coach cites safety concerns as his No. 1 reason for proposing the ban during Friday’s CIF-SS Baseball Advisory Committee meeting.

He plans to introduce the same plan during next week’s All-Marmonte League discussions.

Multiple Marmonte coaches have confirmed to The Acorn that they are in agreement with La Belle’s decision to eliminate the controversial bats.

“It’s an absolute major issue, and I don’t think it’s been handled the right way,” La Belle said. “I’d hate for something to have to happen before we make a rule. We’re trying to be proactive.”

Composite bats, often made from carbon, glass and Kevlar fibers embedded in a plastic resin, are stronger and lighter than their metal counterparts and, tests have shown, produce greater velocity on batted balls.

They are also much easier to alter than metal bats.

Through a process called “rolling”—where pressure is applied to the bat by a pair of machine-aided rollers to help make it more flexible and possess a greater sweet spot—composite bats can add measurable distance to hits and make the ball come off the barrel at an even greater speed than normal.

“It’s like having a bat on steroids,” La Belle said. “It’s cheating.”

According to La Belle and Thousand Oaks head coach Jimmy Stueve, tampering with any bat is illegal under National Federation high school baseball rules.

Prior to the 2010 college baseball season, the NCAA banned composite bats. In a statement released last July, the NCAA said the swift action was necessary to “protect the integrity of the game and to enhance the safety of the student athletes.”

In the last few weeks there have been grumblings throughout the Marmonte about the use of composite bats, some of which, allegedly, may have been rolled or tampered with.

Stueve said composite bats that have been rolled make a distinct sound, “like someone hitting a wet newspaper,” he said.

Zach Miller, head coach at Westlake, agreed with La Belle and Stueve that the use of composite bats in high school baseball is a safety concern for all coaches and players.

As far as rules and regulations go, Miller said he’s looking for consistency from the high school game to college ball.

“If they’re not allowed to use the composite bats in college, we shouldn’t be doing the kids a disservice and setting them up for something they can’t use later,” Miller said.

“If they’re not legal in college, they shouldn’t be legal in high school, either.”

Altering a bat for greater performance at the plate is the wrong way for a player or team to go about the business of improving on the diamond, Miller added.

“Everyone is looking for an advantage,” he said. “I still think you’ve got to hit the ball right, hit the ball square. Now, will (one of those bats) give it a few extra feet? Probably. They might get some extra distance.

“But if someone is going to be out there cheating the game, they’re going to get caught. It’s wrong to cheat the game and go against the baseball gods.”

Agoura skipper Dennis Reitz said he wasn’t aware of any recent bat-altering incidents in the Marmonte, adding that he’d only heard of rolled bats being used in beer-league softball games.

“No matter what happens, players are always, always going to try to find an edge,” Reitz said.

“Be it steroids or the muscle builders that they had in the locker room when I played, players will always look for an advantage that’s an easier, softer way than actually working their (backside) off—and that’s a shame.”

Reitz and Stueve are strong proponents of eliminating composite and metal bats entirely and going exclusively to wood bats, like the major leagues have.

Stueve, who also coaches the Conejo Oaks in a wood-bat collegiate summer league, said moving to all-wood or wood composites will improve the sport in a variety of ways.

“Wood bats level the playing field for the pitcher,” Stueve said.

“The pitcher can throw a pitch in on the hands and the batter isn’t likely to hit a double down the line. If they’re using a wood or wood composite it’ll probably just be a dead ground ball or a little popup. It also shortens the game and lowers a pitcher’s pitch count because fewer guys are getting on base.”

On May 5, the Associated Press reported that a California legislative committee had advanced a bill that puts a two-year moratorium on metal bats in high school baseball.

The bill was constructed following a March incident in Marin County where a 16-year-old pitcher spent several weeks in a coma after being hit by a batted ball off a metal bat. The bill now goes to the state Senate for review.

“The Marmonte League, being one of the elite leagues in the country, should be at the forefront and should set an example for everyone else,” Stueve said.

“We should say, ‘Look, we have talented hitters. We have talented pitchers. We’re going to use wood bats and put the safety of our kids first and also put the game ahead of trying to hit as many home runs as we can.’ We can make it a safer, better game.”