By ROBERT L. LEE

BAKER – “I was just trying to get a hit,” explained 14-year-old Joey DeStefano, after swinging and shattering his aluminum bat at a little league game Saturday.

DeStefano, a catcher for the St. John Parish Cobras, said the game was winding down and he hadn’t made a hit swinging the usual heavy bat, so he decided to pull out his personal, lighter bat and head up to the plate.

He claimed the bat had been tucked away for about a year and everything felt relatively normal when he struck the ball and took his first few steps toward first base.

Soon he glanced again and noticed a section of the bat’s barrel had travelled with the ball up to the pitcher’s mound and the remainder of the broken bat was still in his hands.

The awkward sight caught DeStefano off guard, slowing his run to first base, as he continued looking over at the bat. DeStefano was called out when the pitcher picked up the ball and made the throw to first in time.

“The ball went one way, part of the bat went one way and another part went another way. I couldn’t help but laugh,” said his mother Eileen DeStefano.

“It was hilarious, everybody in the stands was laughing.”

The umpire behind the plate said even he had never seen an aluminum bat break, despite the efforts players go through to crush the baseball.

Faye Noto, the Cobras’ team mom, said she has been attending virtually every game for the past 22 years and couldn’t believe her eyes.

“I told him that has got to be the hit of the season. When he threw the bat, he realized it wasn’t whole,” she continued. “He was running and looking back and the other part was by the pitcher’s mound.”

DeStefano said he plans to send a copy of the picture to the company which made the bat and hopefully receive a new one.