@brokenbat - A friend of mine uses LW special reserve bat. He discussed with Anthony from LW team and he suggested a slightly harder pressed bat might work well when u r using a mix of cheap and good quality balls. He has been using it for almost two years now and it still going strong.
SoCal T20 leagues generally buys balls from Pakistan - AS & CA. These are generally a hit or miss in terms of quality. 40 over games they get the balls from Hammer cricket and they are very good. Irony is that Hammer balls are made in Pakistan by the same vendors ...