Seconded on checking your league bat rules before buying anything. We've had situation where 2 and 5/8 barrell ok for our league, but needed 2 and 1/4 four a tourney we played. We bought a few cheaper but decent bats for the tourney to share with the team.
I've invested a lot of $ into this things over the years, but I've bought at a discount for all but one bat. Justbats is great insofar as returns and good selection. With warranty issues, the manufacturer usually requires the bat to be purchasesd from an authorized seller to get a refund or replacment. So buying one off Amazon (which I've done), even if it's cheaper, has some risks if not an authorized dealer. I've used the "got it as a gift" explanation as to why no reciept in regard to warranty issues, and that's worked.
Currently, my travel team playing 11u son has a 2015 mako (bought for about $190, or $100 off list) and a DeMarini C7 ($179, almost half off list). I don't feel a need to buy the new models, but buying in fall or early winter as new models are introduced can be a good time to look, because inventory is stil pretty high, but the prices start to come down. I'm a coach, so I will share the bats for other players if they like them, so it's not purely about investming in my kid.
I've bougt the Easton S3 (one piece alum), S2 (two piece alum head), and XL3 (one piece alum) all last year models around $100, all shared with team over the last few year. I think there is a difference, it's measurable but not huge. I like the composite bats now, and the makos are pretty popular with all the teams I've seen. My kid likes the Eastons.
That being all said, it's the kid swinging the bat.