Ball bats with reduced durability regions for deterring alteration

1. A ball bat comprising

a handle,

a barrel attached to or continuous with the handle along a longitudinal axis of the bat, the barrel having a barrel wall defining a hollow interior region of the barrel, and

a reduced-durability region positioned in the barrel wall, wherein the reduced-durability region includes:

two adjacent stacks of composite laminate plies, wherein the stacks are spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal axis to form a first gap therebetween, wherein the first gap extends to the hollow interior region of the barrel;

a first ring element positioned in the first gap between the stacks;

wherein a first bond between the first ring element and adjacent composite matrix material is weaker than a second bond between the composite laminate plies in each of the two adjacent stacks; and

a second ring element, wherein the second ring element is attached to the first ring element with a third bond that is weaker than the second bond.

2. The ball bat of claim 1 wherein the first ring element comprises a rigid or semi-rigid material.

3. The ball bat of claim 2 wherein the first ring element comprises a plastic material.

4. The ball bat of claim 1 wherein the first ring element has a cross-section that is oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

5. The ball bat of claim 1 wherein the first ring element has a cross-section that is oriented at an oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis.

6. The ball bat of claim 1 wherein the barrel wall comprises an outwardly facing skin facing away from the barrel.

7. The ball bat of claim 1 wherein the first ring element has triangular cross-section.

8. The ball bat of claim 1 wherein the second ring element is spaced apart from the first ring element, and wherein a composite laminate ply is positioned between the first ring element and the second ring element.

9. A ball bat comprising a barrel with a composite laminate, wherein the composite laminate includes:

an outwardly facing skin;

an inwardly facing skin;

a stack of composite laminate plies positioned between the outwardly facing skin and the inwardly facing skin;

a discontinuity in the stack, the discontinuity forming a gap in the stack;

a pair of appliances positioned in the gap, the pair of appliances comprising a first appliance and a second appliance connected to the first appliance with a first bond at an interface between the first appliance and the second appliance;

wherein the first bond is configured to fail under a first stress, a second bond between the appliances and the composite laminate plies is configured to fail under a second stress, a third bond between two of the composite laminate plies is configured to fail under a third stress, and wherein the first and second stresses are less than the third stress.

10. The ball bat of claim 9 , wherein the first appliance is a ring element.

11. The ball bat of claim 10 wherein a cross-section of the ring element is oriented at an oblique angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the bat.

12. The ball bat of claim 10 wherein a cross-section of the ring element is triangular.

13. The ball bat of claim 9 wherein the first appliance is further connected to the second appliance with a connecting element.

14. The ball bat of claim 13 wherein the connecting element is configured to fail at a lower stress value than the third stress.