08/26/2022

Stinger Missile 2 Bat Ban | Resources, FAQs, & More

On August 10, 2022, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics, announced that the 33” Stinger Missile 2 BBCOR Baseball Bat (BBMSLE23) was decertified and banned from use in games at the collegiate level. More recently, on Thursday, August 25, 2022, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) followed suit and put out a statement saying, "Since the Missile II no longer has the BBCOR designation, effective immediately, this bat (33" length Stinger Bat Company Missile 22 aluminum bat) should be considered a non-compliant bat pursuant to NFHS Baseball Rules 1-3-2d and 7-4-1a."

As of August 26, 2022, all other sizes are still certified and the Stinger Missile 2 ban does NOT impact sizes 31, 32, or 34.

What does this mean for you? And, what do you need to know? The Bat Experts at JustBats discuss the recent disallowed baseball bat from NCAA & NFHS, recommended replacements, and next steps.

Here are some initial resources to learn more about the ban:

Stinger's Official Update
NCAA's Official Statement
NFHS Official Statement
The banned baseball bat: 33" Stinger Missile 2 BBCOR Baseball Bat (BBMSLE23)

Here is Stinger’s official statement:

As always, it is our mission at Stinger Sports to make baseball more affordable by creating products with top performance at reasonable prices. When creating the Missile 2, we aimed to create a bat with optimal performance and close as possible to the .500 BBCOR limit. Unfortunately, there were a few 33" bats in our production that tested barely above this limit resulting in this decision by the NCAA to decertify the 33" model. We are committed to making this right for all of our valued customers by offering a full replacement credit for qualified purchases. We assure you that we are working diligently to get this resolved and get a top-performing Stinger Bat back in your hands as soon as possible.

To recap, at this time, the 33” length has been disallowed in NCAA and NFHS-sanctioned play. The reason, as stated above, is that the bat failed the proper test and was above the .500 BBCOR limit.

What is BBCOR, you ask? Click here to learn more about the certification.

So, key takeaways of this recent news:

Stinger's Missile 2 baseball bat has been banned by the NCAA AND NFHS, but only size option 33”
Stinger has the right to appeal this decision

If you are impacted by this situation, as the bat carries a full twelve (12) month manufacturer's warranty, you must go directly through Stinger for an exchange or voucher. Here are your options:

Contact Stinger to exchange your bat or return it for a voucher.

With all of that said, here are JustBats recommendations for potential replacements:

What do you think of the decision? Are you affected by the Stinger Missile 2 ban news? Follow JustBats on social media and send us your thoughts. Also, if you’ve been impacted and have any additional questions about the next steps and where to go from here, our Bat Experts can help! Give us a call at 866-321-2287, email experts@justbats.com, or you can click here to live chat. Don’t forget, we’re JustBats and we are here for you from Click To Hit!