Savannah bat company approved for WBC
SAVANNAH, Mo. (KQTV) -- Walkoff Wood (WOW) Bat Co. recently announced its logo will be on a big stage.
WOW started out as a hobby for now co-owner Trevor Moss who making bats in his garage for an adult wood bat league he played in around 2015. The brand eventually grew big enough that the St. Joseph Mustangs of the MINK league began using WOW bats in 2019.
Just before that, Moss took on a business partner, Kevin Kerns, who helped grow the brand. Since then, the two have shared that they've hit up many baseball fields in the area to see which level is best for picking up a WOW bat.
Even starting a High School wood bat tournament featuring multiple teams from the area, the proceeds went to benefit mental health support organizations in memory of Savannah High School AD Chad Dreyer.
Recently, Moss had a friend who introduced him to former Kansas City Royals player Christian Colon. At the time, Colon was serving as hitting coordinator for the American Association of Professional Baseball's Kansas City Monarchs.
Through that connection, Colon helped pro players get a chance to swing a bat from WOW.
"It was really cool to have access to those players, you know, get in there and talk to them, see what they like, to swing, make some bats for them," said Moss. "From that, we developed some really strong relationships with a few players."
One of those players was former Mizzou Baseball standout Robbie Glendinning, who is now set to take the plate in the upcoming World Baseball Classic for his home country of Australia with a WOW bat.
Moss shared that WOW bats are made to meet Major League Baseball guidelines, which helped them and Glendinning secure approval for using them in the MLB-run WBC. Especially when the player requested the bat company to go through the approval process for the upcoming tournament.
"I don't want to make it too big. We're not in the MLB. We don't have 100 MLB guys using our stuff. But it's truly the next step," Moss shared. "It shows that, hey, we have a really quality product, one that's better than what you can buy off the shelves at any big box store".
Moss said WOW is just happy for the opportunity for their bats to be seen on a bigger stage. He also shared that this achievement should help their company reach the MLB.
"If you put your nose to the grindstone and you work, you can be rewarded. Ultimately, you've got to pull all the right strings and meet the right people and do the right things," Moss shared of WOW's accomplishment. "But I fully believe if you're a good person, you're good people trying to do the right thing for the community, you're going to be rewarded."
