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All About Originality: Ali Aguilar's Signature DeMarini Bat
Learn more about the Signature DeMarini CF Fastpitch Bat built for USA Softball's Ali Aguilar.
When USA Softball infielder Ali Aguilar steps into the batter’s box this summer, she’ll be swinging a custom DeMarini bat unlike any other.
Several different ideas and stories played a role in the designing of Ali Aguilar’s signature CF fastpitch bat. Her custom DeMarini features a barrel painted with the perfect blend of blue and purple, and she incorporated a floral pattern with cherry blossoms appearing up and down the barrel. Aguilar said the design was based on her experience playing in Japan, and she also took inspiration from her college campus in Washington.
“I played over there (in Japan), so the first time I went over, they were like ‘You have to see the Japanese cherry blossoms,’ and it was cool to see that in person,” Aguilar said. “Where I went to school at UW, our whole quad section had cherry blossoms.”
Tokyo, the host city of the 2021 Olympics, also played a role in Aguilar’s bat design, and the USA Softball infielder said she pulled from her Japanese heritage when deciding how to style her signature DeMarini CF.
“I’m a quarter Japanese,” Aguilar said. “And we’re going to Tokyo, so I felt it was a really pretty and cool idea to do for my bat.”
When Ali walked into the DeMarini offices with her USA Softball teammates in 2019, she was blown away by the table lined with barrels, each one painted a different color. She quickly gravitated toward the amethyst colorway, the perfect backdrop for her cherry blossom design.
“I remember walking in and seeing all those colors. I was like, ‘That’s pretty cool that we can literally choose any color,’” Aguilar said. “I had never seen a color like that, so I just thought it was really cool.”
Teammates, friends and the young players who Ali coaches have been quick to admire Aguilar’s signature bat. Since debuting the bat at practices this spring, Aguilar has fielded dozens of questions and compliments about the design. Aguilar said she can’t wait to see the bat in the hands of young hitters.
Aguilar’s custom features her signature on the barrel, a key detail that she never imagined when growing up on the softball field. The infielder loves that her bat is original and uniquely hers, and she adored seeing her name and autograph next to the DeMarini brand on the barrel.
“I would never think that my signature would be on a bat, so getting to see that was really cool,” she said. “Seeing DeMarini X Ali Aguilar, that part’s pretty cool too. I think it’s just really cool to have a unique bat. I’m all about originality.”
Follow along for more from Ali and DeMarini this year, and stay tuned in as USA Softball takes on the best competition in the world this summer. Keep up with Ali on Instagram @ali_aguilar1, and build your own custom bat at demarinicustombats.com.
