SummerHeat Tournament returns to baseball tradition
Switch to wood bats takes game full circle
BY JOHN CANNIZZARO Correspondent
The Fair Haven SummerHeat Tournament returned to the roots of baseball by switching to wood bats for this year's tournament.

Jake Faber, of the Millstone Mudhens, uses a wood bat during a game against the Fair Haven Diamonds.

"There is a general movement in the baseball community about going back to wood bats," said tournament co-director Mark Kelly. "Wood bats enhance and highlight the technique that is needed to be a good hitter."

The tournament was started eight years ago, but this is the first year that players were required to use wood bats. The SummerHeat Tournament took place from June 25-28 at the Fair Haven Fields complex and included age groups ranging from under-8 to under-15-16. Each team was required to pay a fee to enter the event and to supply a dozen baseballs.

The entry fee for the tournament was $450 per team and there was a three-game guarantee for each team. First-place teams received team and individual trophies, while second-place teams received one trophy for the entire team.

The SummerHeat Tournament was only open to town-affiliated teams and all of the players on a team were required to be from the same town. The tournament was community friendly and had local sponsors, including Athletes Alley, the Fair Haven PBA and the Fair Haven Yacht Works.

Above: The Millstone Mudhens' Adam Block races to first off a bunt against the Fair Haven Diamonds 1 in the Fair Haven SummerHeat Baseball Tournament on June 27. Left: Millstone's Zach Turner tries to earn a hit.

The SummerHeat Tournament also renewed its partnership with the Jersey Shore Bat Co. for this year's tournament. The partnership was started last year and encouraged SummerHeat directors to switch to a wood bat tournament this year.

"We're both traditionalists," said Kelly. "The partnership is young and it is re-educating people about wood bats and the tradition of the game."

The Jersey Shore Bat Co. was founded in 1998 in Freehold. The owner, Vic Yuhas, started out making wood bats for his son and never intended for it to be an actual business.

In addition to making individualized custom bats, Yuhas is also making bats for entire teams. Although his business is flourishing, Yuhas has said he wants to keep the business small because he likes giving his customers personal attention.

He showcased his collection of bats at the SummerHeat Tournament this past weekend.

The partnership allowed both parties to establish a local connection and to stay involved with the community.

"We wanted to do business with local companies and we were referred to the Jersey Shore Bat Company," said Kelly, adding that Yuhas' ideas and capabilities have encouraged the revival of wood bats in the baseball community.

Not only did the tournament bring the local community together for a weekend of baseball, it brought back some of the game's rich tradition as well.

In a nod to baseball tradition, wood bats were used for the first time this year at the Fair Haven SummerHeat Tournament.