DeMarini Sports, Inc. is a manufacturer of baseball bat

Baseball bat

A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...

s and other sports equipment

Sports equipment

Sports equipment is a general term for any object used for sport or exercise. Examples of sports equipment include:-Exercise equipment:Examples for exercise include swiss balls, weights, equipment for the gym...

 headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The company is known for producing baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 and softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

 bats with innovations that provide enhanced hitting power.

History

Ray DeMarini founded the company in Oregon in 1989, introducing a "high-tech" softball bat. The company's 1995 introduction of double wall bats, and the increased power they provided, drew praise and propelled the company's success, but also prompted concern over bat safety. Sales surpassed 10,000 bats annually in the mid-1990s. Acquired by Wilson Sporting Goods

Wilson Sporting Goods

The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is a sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, and currently is a foreign subsidiary of the Finnish company Amer Sports....

 in 2000, DeMarini continues to research, design and build bats in its Hillsboro, Oregon facility.

Products

DeMarini’s Doublewall technology employs two independent walls to create a springboard hitting surface, extending the center of percussion along the length of the barrel. They also produce bats, such as the Nitro and Diablo, with a single wall. Most Demarini little league bats come in -11,-12, and -13 weight drop. Most senior league bats come in -8. All adult bats are sold as -3 weight drop. The most common bat is the CF4. This bat started as the F2.Other innovations include aluminum-carbon hybrid bats. The company is unlike many of its competitors, who produce bats abroad.

More than 150 college baseball programs use Demarini bats, including Oregon State University

Oregon State Beavers baseball

The Oregon State Beavers baseball team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the Pacific-10 Conference. They are currently coached by Pat Casey and assistant coaches Marty Lees, David Wong, and Pat Bailey. They play home games in Goss...

, the repeat College World Series

College World Series

The College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets,...

 Champions in 2006 and 2007. The 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 Division II and III championship teams also used DeMarini equipment. A 2005 headline in a New Jersey newspaper referred to DeMarini bats as the "Mercedes of baseball bats."

Among other bat producers, DeMarini has been involved in increased marketing to Little League Baseball players that has been met with criticism.