Casting a solid aluminum bat that leaves a good impression (Success/Fail)

I wanted to cast a aluminum bat since I started thinking about metal casting, and now that I have all the necessary tools and materials I can do exactly that. Because of the big flask I used sodium silicate bonded sand instead of using green sand. I made a huge mistake by making the grooves on the handle recesses, that created a weak spot in the handle and that’s where the bat failed. I’ll have to fix the pattern. Here’s where I learned everything about sodium silicate bonded sand casting: