Perform another experiment ...
As soon as the ball leaves bat make sure you capture the impression it leaves on the ball and Bat.
Try to relate it to Energy consumed by the Ball in making the impact of felt.
It will knock of atoms of the Ball and Bat.
You will find that not all the material went to cover the trajectory and some of the Bat also went on for a ride on Ball.
Once done make more corrections to find the final shape of the Ball and Shape during the impact.
Repeat the Experiment to find out if the shape , size and energy content consumed by the ball impact remains exactly the same or is different.
You will need identical Balls and Bats to do so.
If the Balls and Bats are of the same material then it will be difficult to measure.
Repeat the experiment atleast 20 times.
Hope you will be ready with your theoretical predictions to compare the outcome.
I guess you have enough technology to make this observation and measurements.
I think you should discover something new.
