The New Catalyst for 2012

Its good to be back! After the craziness of the holiday season and subsequent depression of having to return to work in early January, it has been a while since CSB(CanadianSlopitch Blog) has had a chance to get around to posting.
I apologize in regards to this as I hope that the info we provide is well received and to a certain extent ...needed..
Today I wanted to post my take on the new 2012 Catalyst bats from Louisville Slugger.
 These are a "rebirth" from a couple of years ago with the the yellow funky design denoting the
Balanced version and the red design being the End Load Version.
I have to admit I am a bit biased towards these models as I have an older version that I really have had good luck with in the past.
My older balanced version, in my opinion, is one of the best cool temperature bats available as it is durable but still has some great "pop".
Anyways enough about the past, I had a chance to hit with the "Batmen" before Xmas and swung both the older version against the new release of the Balance Catalyst.
Here is what we found:
The new version has good "pop" as well as a cleaner more bat-like "smack" then their popular cousins, the Z1000.
The feel is stiff, but it gives very good shots over the first 50 hits.By the time we had about 150 hits the bat was opening up nicely
Now this was done in the cages , but the 5 of us were able to judge fairly well against the old version and last years Salvo in termsof ball flight and speed off the bat.
It performed better than the older version(it should) as it seemed to be a bit lighter in the 27 oz than the older version, kept up to the Salvo but fell short in velocity as the Salvo was well worked in.
Neverless, this is a good bat with a good upside of dependability.
 This bat isn't for everyone as it is a solid , dependable weapon that keeps it's pop in the cooler temperature, but it isn't flashy as the new releases.
It is going to fill the gap for this year as it is old U-trip approved only but the early buzz on the new demos(see link below) are going to keep the Louisville Slugger brand growing with the Z1000, the Catalyst  and a rumored new NSA Canada Bat in the fall of 2012....Look out Slo Pitch World, Louisville Slugger is back!

http://forums.softballfans.com/showthread.php?t=1124388