Four Brands of Baseball Bats Were Tested to Determine Which

Four brands of baseball bats were tested to determine which bat allowed hitters to hit a baseball farthest. Eight different batters were thrown 25 pitches while hitting with each of the four bats (assigned in random order) . The average distance of the five longest hits using each bat is shown in the table below. The goal is to determine if the average hit distance differs for the four brands of baseball bats. $$\begin{array} { c | c | c | c | c } \text { Batter } & \text { Brand 1 } & \text { Brand 2 } & \text { Brand 3 } & \text { Brand 4 } \\\hline 1 & 307 & 315 & 300 & 275 \\2 & 310 & 317 & 305 & 285 \\3 & 335 & 335 & 330 & 302 \\4 & 325 & 328 & 320 & 300 \\5 & 300 & 305 & 295 & 270 \\6 & 345 & 350 & 340 & 310 \\7 & 312 & 315 & 308 & 300 \\8 & 298 & 302 & 295 & 288\end{array}$$ Identify the response variable in this experiment.

A) A batter
B) The brand of baseball
C) The average distance hit
D) The brand of bat