SARATOGA SPRINGS — Ever watch Aaron Judge crack a fly ball to the Yankee Stadium short porch in right field and think to yourself, “hell, I could do that”? Well, it’s time to put up or shut up.
A baseball and softball training academy that allows kids and adults alike to practice hitting, pitching, and fielding is coming to Saratoga Springs. D-BAT, which has about 160 locations around the country, is opening its first facility in New York State at 30 Gick Road this summer.
Franchise owner and general manager Adam Britten said the 18,000-square-foot academy will include 13 cages; three industrial-sized pitching machines that can hold hundreds of baseballs or softballs; Rapsodo, a ball launch and flight monitor; Pocket Radar guns that measure pitch speed; and HitTrax, a system that provides real-time stats and performance metrics.
“You can use HitTrax for basically any ballpark. You can put in Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium, and you’re actually simulating hitting at those ballparks and it shows your distance and everything else with almost spot-on accuracy,” Britten said.
Although D-BAT academies attract kids across different age groups and levels of play, parents and older folks are welcome too. A parents’ lounge with four TVs will allow adults to take it easy while their kids train. And if you’re getting up there in age but still want to crack a few dingers, you can do that too.
“We’re really excited to provide an outlet for not just kids, but for adults,” Britten said. “It is more than that demographic of 6 to 18 year olds. You get 3 year olds to 75 year olds.”
Although the academy focuses primarily on baseball and softball, the space can also be used for lacrosse, field hockey, flag football, and other sports.
“I have cricket, I have cornhole leagues; all these leagues are reaching out because there’s a need for indoor space,” Britten said.
That need was obvious to Britten, a Saratoga native who has been heavily involved in youth sports throughout his life. He’s the president of Saratoga Battle, a basketball program with 150 kids, and he’s the assistant coach of the Saratoga Central Catholic varsity basketball team.
“I grew up in these programs along with my brothers, and my dad was always a coach, so it kind of comes second nature,” Britten said. “But there’s never been a facility like this locally big enough to support rain delays, the eight months of winter we get. Kids aren’t playing baseball year-round like they should, like they are down south or in the midwest.”
Britten plans to open up shop this summer and is already giving potential customers tours of the facility. For more information or to keep tabs on the academy’s progress, visit www.dbatsaratogasprings.com or follow the company on Facebook and Instagram.
