In conjunction with USA Baseball and its other participating national member organizations, PONY Baseball adopted the USA Baseball bat standard (USABat) on January 1, 2018. Except for -3 (BBCOR certified), all other 2 1/4" and 2 5/8" barrel bats with a minus factor of (-5, -7, -9, etc.), must be USABat certified with the USABat licensing stamp on the bat in order to be used for league and tournament play. PONY will now allow the use of 2 1/2" USABat certified bats as well. Read the official news release here.
Tee ball bats are not required to undergo lab testing to receive approval under the USABat program. However, to be approved for play, tee ball bats must carry the USA Baseball mark accompanied by the following text: "Only For Use With Approved Tee Ball Bats." If you already have a tee ball bat you would like to continue using, all you have to do is purchase a USA Bat sticker directly from USA Baseball and place it on your bat. You can purchase a USA Bat sticker, click here. Tee ball bats manufactured after the new rule was adopted will already include the USABat Baseball mark.
To find out more about the USABat standard click here. To find PONY's official approved bat list, which is in accordance with USABat, click here. You can access the complete 2020 USABat Guide here.