Jared Smith and Ryan Engroff have shared a passion for baseball since they were kids. They’ve taken their love for the National Pastime to a higher level with Victus Sports, their Blackwood-based company that makes bats for more than 100 major and minor leaguers.
Victus clients include Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees, Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles and Placido Polanco of the Miami Marlins. Swinging a maple Victus PP27, Polanco smashed a homer for his 2,000th hit when he was with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2012. The bat’s next stop: the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Even better: On Fan Appreciation Day, the Phillies gave away postcards of Polanco getting his milestone hit, the company’s “V” logo clearly visible on the bat barrel.
The partners started Victus, the Latin word for conquer, because they and investor/CEO Gregg Balin of Ocean City were unhappy with the bats they used when playing in amateur leagues. “We felt we could make a better product,” says Engroff, 28, who, like Smith, 27, lives in Gloucester Township. Launched in central Pennsylvania in 2009, Victus moved to Camden County in 2012 to tap into the South Jersey/Philadelphia market.
Victus combines computerized machinery with hand craftsmanship to offer bats in maple, ash or birch. “We look for clear straight-grained wood without imperfections,” says Smith. (“Using the best wood,” the Victus website claims, “can add 15 or more feet to a driven baseball.”) Under Major League standards, bats must have straight grains of at least 20 inches—from the handle to the logo. Engroff says Victus aims to exceed that standard to ensure its bats are more resistant to breaking.
Victus sells its bats through its website (victussports.com) and in area sporting goods outlets. Youth bats are $55; adult bats range from $70 to $98.
CORRECTION: This story incorrectly described the company’s history. Jared Smith and Ryan Engroff founded Victus in 2012 with Allan Donato, co-founder of DS Wood, a Pennsylvania bat manufacturer where Smith and Engroff had worked as volunteers.