The inaugural season of the BNA Bank Cotton States Baseball League North Division has been a learning experience for not only the college players, but for the league's front office and coaches.

For many of the college players, they had to learn how to hit with a wooden bat, which is a lot different to hit a baseball with than their regular-season aluminum bats.

"It took them about three weeks for the guys to make that adjustment to get used to the wooden bat," said Tallahatchie Rascals coach Chris Basil.

The CSBL North's front office had to make a few adjustments of its own, mainly with its scheduling of games. The league's officials quickly realized that weekday doubleheaders lasting late into the night wasn't a good thing for fans, players and coaches.

League partner Clark Richey also said the starting and ending date of the CSBL North's season will probably be changed to better accommodate the players. This year, the league opened up on June 1 and will wrap up this Saturday as the league championship series concludes.

Richey said there is not much of a break for the players who are playing this weekend and will be heading to school in the next week or two.

Tupelo Thunder assistant coach Brian Reed said the college pitchers need to rest a little bit in the summer, especially since their seasons started in February and fall practice can be pretty intense.

"They do need to get their work in," said Reed, a former University of Alabama pitcher, "but college coaches do not want a dead arm in the fall."

After playing four seasons of minor league baseball, Reed decided to give coaching a try. He soon realized from coaching in the CSBL North that managing an entire team may not be his calling.

"I'm more of a one-on-one person," said Reed, 28, who plans on teaching lessons and providing instruction for individual players.

He may also try to get into scouting, which is something Thunder head coach Shawn Hairald does for the Kansas City Royals.

Earlier this week, the two Thunder coaches discussed the wooden-bat learning curve of the CSBL North players.

Not as easy as it looks

"To have wooden bats in the league is a real eye-opener," Reed said. "It makes you appreciate the aluminum bats a little more, and realize how hard it is to make it to the big leagues."

In addition to it making it easier to get a base hit, a hitter would certainly appreciate an aluminum bat for its durability, especially when you can make contact with the baseball on any part of the bat and not have to worry about it splintering.

"One guy broke four bats in one night," Hairald said. "Although, one bat actually slipped out of his hands and broke when it hit the opposing dugout."

For a while, Reed said many of the league's hitters looked out of place when they swung the wooden bats, comparing it to him being on a kickoff team in the NFL.

According to Hairald, though, the CSBL North players have now gotten the hang of hitting with wooden bats.

"I think initially some guys were just absolutely overmatched," he said. "A lot of these guys figured out pretty quick that they can't swing a 34-inch bat. The 34 is too much of a beast.

"I brought a 31 inch bat with me and you though the guys won the lottery. They were like, 'This I can swing.'"

And being able to hit a baseball effectively with a wooden bat makes it that much easier to hit with an aluminum bat, according to Hairald.

If you can get in the habit of squaring the ball to the sweet spot of a wooden bat, swinging an aluminum bat will be like "using a loaded weapon," says Hairald.

"That's why some college programs use wood during the fall," he said.

Up next

This year, four teams made up the CSBL North Division and all four teams - the Golden Triangle Jets, North Delta Dealers, Tallahatchie Rascals and Tupelo Thunder - played their division games at the New Albany Sportsplex's Legion Field.

League partner Clark Richey said he is almost certain there will be another team, possibly two, added to the league next season.

"We're looking at at least five teams," Richey said. "We hope to have six.

"We have already worked out the schedule for five, but nothing is definite."

Even though the teams play each other at a single site, Legion Field, they have distinct regions or towns they represent. The places they represent serve as a focal point to draw sponsors and community support from.

"The two places we're considering the most to expand to right now are Ripley and Corinth," said Richey, who liked the fact that Ripley was right up the road from New Albany.

"We're thinking that since the Tallahatchie Rascals have the largest following and it's a smaller community buying in, we should be able to duplicate that success at Ripley."