Titanium Bats Under Review

The National Federation of State and High School Assn. is close to giving approval for high school baseball players to use titanium bats.

The organization’s rules committee met Thursday in an emergency teleconference to discuss authorizing use of titanium bats that the National Federation has banned for more than 10 years. A decision could be announced today.

“The science and technology has changed,” said Elliot Hopkins, director of educational services for the Indianapolis-based National Federation.

High school umpires in Southern California have been preventing players from using titanium bats this season even though the bats were labeled as “high school approved.” It led to calls of complaints from parents who paid more than $250 for some of the bats. Bat manufacturers have also lobbied for approval of the titanium bats.