INDIANAPOLIS --- The Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), the United States national governing body for softball, announced today that the model bat FPC305 Catalyst manufactured by the Hillerich & Bradsby Co., Inc. (Louisville Slugger) has been added to the ASA non-approved bat list. Since the NCAA uses the ASA bat standard, the FPC305 Catalyst will no longer be allowed for play in regular season or NCAA championships.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) also use NCAA rules; as a result, the bat has also been banned from play in the NAIA, NJCAA and the NPF regular season and championship. The bat is not approved for use in ASA Championship or National Federation of High School (NFHS) regular season and championship play.

"We regret to inform you that after compliance testing, the FPC 305 Catalyst has been determined to fail to comply with the ASA Bat Performance Standard,” Marty Archer, General Manager of the Louisville Slugger Baseball/Softball division said. “We acknowledge full responsibility for this situation. Please visit our Web site, www.slugger.com, to learn more about our efforts to deal with this situation.”

In order for a bat to be used during NCAA regular season or championship use, bats must bear the ASA certification mark and not be listed on the non-approved bat list. Institutions with the non-approved bat in their inventory are advised to immediately and completely discontinue use of the bat. Results and statistics from games when the bat was used prior to December 1, 2005, including the 2005 national championships, shall stand.

The non-approved model is one of several with the Catalyst name. The FPC305 Catalyst is used primarily in the fastpitch game, particularly among collegiate power hitters. It is easily identified by its optic yellow base color with grey screen writing. Other catalyst models share the optic yellow or green base color but the blue or red screen color differentiates the legal models from the newly declared non-approved model.

It is the responsibility of NCAA softball coaches to print the ASA non-approved bat list each Monday. The non-approved bat list can be found at: www.softball.org.

About the NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 360,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 49,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. For more information, visit www.ncaa.org.

About the ASA
The ASA is the largest softball organization in the world, servicing over 250,000 teams and four million participants annually. The ASA hosts more than a 100 national championships in fastpitch, slowpitch, modified and co-ed play and millions of recreational league games follow ASA rules and are officiated by nearly 40,000 ASA trained and certified umpires. In addition, the ASA has been a leader in testing bat/ball collision speeds, setting performance standards and certifying equipment.

Annually, the NCAA and the ASA partner to host the NCAA Women’s College World Series in the ASA’s Don E. Porter Stadium in Oklahoma City. The NCAA has also adopted the ASA Bat Certification Standard. All bats used in games governed by NCAA playing rules (NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, Cal-NJCAA, NPF and AFA), all NFHS governed games and ASA Championship play must meet the bat performance standard, bear the ASA 2004 Certification Mark and not be on the non-approved bat list.