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PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018.
Walton -area student aims to break new ground
Plate coverage
Mitchell Godkin, a third -year engineering student at the University of Western Ontario, has
successfully launched Leadbury Bat Co. out of his Walton -area home. Godkin, who grew up
playing baseball and riding motocross in the community, has seen tremendous results from his
custom drying process, improving both the strength and performance of baseball bats and is
working with local players to keep improving the brand and hopefully expand in the coming
years. (Photo by and courtesy of Paul MayneNVestern News)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Mitchell Godkin may be on the
cusp of a technological
breakthrough with his new venture,
Leadbury Bat Co., and a new bat -
drying method that is yielding
tremendous results.
Godkin is a third -year engineering
student at the University of Western
Ontario who has been working for
over a year at an internship with his
father's company, Nostalgic Wood,
which works with reclaimed wood
and focuses on flooring, furniture
and doors.
While working there for over 16
months, Godkin was charged with
developing drying processes with
the arrival of a new kiln. Once he
began working with the drying
protocols, a logging company
approached Godkin about custom
drying. Soon after, with the results
he was seeing, Godkin knew he
needed to get into the baseball bat
business.
"As the kiln tech guy, it was quite
a different process. I did research
and found that no one was using this
type of machine for drying baseball
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bats," Godkin told Paul Mayne of
Western News. "I got some bats done
up and got them to Western for some
testing. The initial results were so
exceptional I went back and said,
`I'm going to start my own baseball
bat company because I think I have a
pretty good product here."
Godkin said, in an interview with
The Citizen, that he was seeing
tremendous results in initial testing.
When comparing his bats to bats
widely used in the baseball world,
Godkin's demonstrated 20 per cent
more strength and even more flex.
With improved strength and flex,
Godkin's bats showed greater
performance and durability than
popular bats on the market, the two
most sought-after traits for any
product.
Godkin conducted the testing at
the General Dynamics Lab at
Western Engineering and he is still
working to improves his bats'
performance.
The custom drying process is
patent -pending, Godkin said,
meaning that he can't discuss the
details of the science involved or the
machine that's used, but he's excited
for what the future holds.
Godkin knew he would see good
results from the drying process,
thanks to the work he had been
doing through his internship, but he
didn't expect to see such a drastic
improvement and admits he was a
little surprised.
Godkin began producing his bats,
getting them in the hands of the
Western Mustangs baseball team,
along with the Orlando Baseball
Academy and the London Majors
and has seen increasingly positive
results. Just recently, in fact, the
Majors' catcher hit a grand slam and
a double off the outfield wall with a
Leadbury bat.
As an engineering student, Godkin
has done his best to manage growth
and ensure that quality control is
kept in place. He said that one of the
most common threats to a new
business is growing too fast, which
can lead to not keeping up with
demand or expanding too quickly
and putting out an inferior product.
He has been working to combat
that by only producing bats that he
knows meet his high specifications.
In addition, he is also trying to keep
control over who is using his bats.
Godkin says he likes to have a
relationship with the players using
Leadbury bats so he can work with
them and engineer the products to
ensure top-level performance for
those players.
In addition, he's using that
relationship to learn more about the
process and to constantly improve.
When one of his bats breaks, he's
asking players to return the bat to
him or at least send him a picture.
He wants to know where and how
the bats are breaking so he can try to
strengthen them if possible.
As for the wood being used by
Godkin and Leadbury, it's all maple
and ash sourced from the Huron and
Bruce regions. It's important,
Godkin said, to source local
materials for a company such as his.
In addition, he said that taking
control of the drying process, which
is what has made all the difference
with his bats, isn't something that
has been a priority for many of the
major bat companies.
Many companies, he said,
outsource their drying and don't take
control of the process. However,
with his engineering background
and emphasis on the wood -drying
process, he seems to have found a
breakthrough in the industry.
Godkin said that there has been
very little innovation in the world of
wood drying in the baseball bat
industry over the years. He told
Continued on page 7
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local heroes
33rd Annual
Citizen of the Year Award
Nominations Open
There are so many people out there who
do so much to improve their community.
This is your opportunity to show your
appreciation for all they do.
Each year a committee chooses an outstanding citizen from each of the Blyth and area and Brussels and area
communities to receive an award for contribution to the community. If you know someone you think should be
honoured, please fill in the form and send it in. You may attach a longer explanation of why you think your nominee
should win, if you like. If you have nominated someone before and they didn't win, we encourage you to submit again.
I nominate
as Citizen of the year for
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& area & area
I feel she/he deserves this award because
Nomination Deadline July 31, 2018.
Name and phone number of nominator
info@northhuron.on.ca Fax: 519-523-9140 Box 429, Blyth, ON NOM 1H0 or Box 152 Brussels, ON NOG 1H0