Our Experience

We spent two hours in the cage comparing the Sam Bat CD1 Little League bat to other high quality wood bats in the youth wood bat space. Several different hitters tried out the CD1 and we used the 29, 30 and 31 inch drop 5 full maple pro stock graded bats. We also hit with a two tone drop 6. The bats were brand new. We also read and reviewed our overall wood bats page.

(You may also find interesting: Custom Youth Sam Bat Reviews.

Our Recommendations

Sam Bat changed the professional game in the late 90’s by producing the first maple bat to be used in the MLB game. They convinced more than just a few big names (e.g. Barry Bonds) to deviate from the more popular brands and begin swinging their wood. They are the original Maple Bat Company and the original boat rockers that began a fire storm of non-household name wood bat brands finding their way into the major league ranks. Sam Bat bats continues their nearly 20 year tradition well into 21st century with guys like Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Braun who both takes Sam Bat bats to the plate regularly.

Sam Bat has taken that same level of craftsmanship and hard maple wood quality in their little league versions. That bat is the CD1. The CD1 is not a lesser made bat with cheaper wood when compared to the Sam Bat bats swung by the pros. Rather, the youth CD1 is the exact same quality of wood and craftsmanship found at the plate in an MLB—only smaller.

As such, we’d suggest to anyone looking for the absolute most out of their little league wood bat by way of performance and pure professional wood bat feel to put Sam Bat’s CD1 Little League youth wood bat on a very short list of options (Price Check @ Sam Bat).

Video Review

Sizes

The Little League Versions of the CD1 are all 2 1/4 inch barrels. They come in lengths of 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31. All are made of hard maple. The drops in wood bats are a little more difficult to pin down due the nature of wood—but a drop 5 is most common. Often, Sam Bat will release a short print run of a greater drop which they refer to as an ultralight. These can come in a drop 6 or an occasional drop 7. The only to way to find such is look at their site offering often.

The bats are most often found in an all black color with a silver logo. Often, Sam Bat has unique offerings and designs worth checking out on their site. For example:

The other comparable professional quality wood bat made specifically for little league is the Marucci line of youth barreled wood bats. We are often asked which line of bats are better and we often respond in kind: both bats have much more in common then they have in difference. Both are MLB quality cuts of wood that perform as well as you could hope for. Both come with the same degree of durability (which, if hit on the face grain, should be quite a while). Both are well crafted bats that have been hit by the best in the game.

Marucci, at first glance, may carry more versions in stock (like a flared knob, Birch wood options and a couple different turns). Both the stock CD1 and the stock Marucci youth bats are, at the time of this writing, at $79.99.

The Final Say

Sam Bat also packages a grip stick from Pelican. It is an all natural grip which is a must for hitters wanting the real wood experience. Of note, Sam Bat grip doesn’t leave the sticky residue on hands which keep uniforms clean and Mom’s happy. It’s definitely worth a try if your going the wood bat route.

As for the CD1, we are confident that anyone looking for the absolute most a youth barreled wood bat can deliver will be perfectly satisfied with the Sam Bat CD1 Little League bat. It’s a balanced swing with a knob designed to replicate the same feel as traditional aluminum or composite bats—which young ones may be more accustomed to. The CD1 is a solid hit whose power and consistency can’t be replicated by cheaper models. It’s made from the best hard maple in the world (they are from Canada after all) and spun at the same lathes which pioneered the maple bat game and first rocked the boat at the best levels in baseball.