The Katana Jade minus-8 is Toledo Sports Equipment’s top fast pitch offering, a high-performance bat for college-level players based on the slow pitch model Katana Crimson. With its inner shell of aluminum and outer wall of graphite, it is designed to give the player the best of both alloy and composite technologies.
The Jade starts with a one-piece Toledo 9-Step heat-treated aluminum shell that runs the length of the bat. The proprietary 9-Step process allows for uniform barrel thickness resulting in a more consistent sweet spot. That shell is then covered with a weapons-grade fiber mesh. Toledo refers to this design literally as two complete bats overlaying each other – “a bat within a bat”.
Toledo adds an extra layer of “undisclosed” material between the two layers of the barrel – this step keeps the aluminum and fiber from sticking together and allows them to work independently, eliminating the need for break-in.
Finally, an integrated polyurethane end cap and ergonomic designed “Power Control Knob” are added to the ends.
This combination works together to provide performance and durability: the inner shell allows for a longer bat life; the aerospace fibers help increase the sweet spot by transferring the energy of the bat/ball impact across the entire composite grid; the polyurethane cap allows the bat to flex naturally, further extending the effective sweet spot.
It has a long barrel with a traditional taper and comes with a “Toledo Vibration Dampening System” to combat sting. It has a standard handle and synthetic “Anti-Sting” grip. It is available in 34”/26 oz, 33”/25 oz and 32”/24 oz. It is green and black with white and black graphics.
We hit the 34”/26 oz model.
Watch the top women in fast pitch play and you will notice that they often swing slow pitch bats. That is because slow pitch bats, while they are heavier, usually contain more technology than fast pitch bats. What Toldeo has done with the Jade is build a slow pitch bat and label it for fast pitch play.
Except for the weighting, the Jade is built exactly the same as the Crimson. Its performance is similar as well; in fact it can easily be used for slow pitch. That makes it better than a lot of conventional fast pitch bats right away.
This is the first bat that we have reviewed with both fast pitch and slow pitch hitters. Part of the reason it scored so well is that while it did very well with slow pitch players, it did unbelievably well with fast pitch players.
The slow pitch players found almost no difference between the Jade and the Katana Crimson (which most of them also hit): hitters were able to pull the ball and hit wicked line drives into the corners, then drop their hands and push soft, sinking liners to the opposite field, and then step up and hit the ball out of the yard – on consecutive pitches. Usually a bat is good for one of these chores and then can be used somewhat effectively by a good hitter for the other two. Most hitter know this and often carry more than one bat, choosing one or another depending on what they want to do at the plate. The Katana Jade feels like it was designed for all three jobs.
The fast pitch players were impressed with the feel, the sound and the large sweet spot. One, who plays in a men’s league, raved about its distance as well as its quickness through the infield – “I wouldn’t want to play third base against someone swinging this” he said. Another, who plays college softball in Texas, said she was going to ask her coach about changing from their current bat to the Toledo.
No one in either sport had anything negative to say about the Jade, though slow pitch power hitters preferred the weighting of the Crimson. The fast pitch players chose the Jade.
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