By: by Mark Toma
KENNESAW, Ga. – Although the official start of practice is less than three weeks away, the Kennesaw State baseball team is enjoying the opening of the new Indoor Hitting and Pitching Facility this week, as individual workouts have been thriving at the temperature controlled building.
“This has been a long time coming for both the baseball and softball programs and it has been well worth the wait,” said head coach Mike Sansing. “This facility is invaluable for the success of our teams and I am excited for our student-athletes to have a facility in which they get to work on a year-round basis.”
The 3,500 square foot facility boasts two natural dirt mounds, and two hitting tunnels that can also be converted to 8-10 private hitting areas for batters to hit off a tee.
“We built the mounds during holiday break,” added Sansing. “We felt it was extremely important to have actual dirt surfaces so our pitchers could emulate game conditions.”
“Everyone is really proud of this facility,” said pitching coach Kevin Erminio. “The coaching staff worked very hard on the mounds and we can’t wait to work with our student-athletes in this facility. Another plus is that you feel like you don’t have to miss days early on since we have to put them on a schedule, especially with the pitchers. We are limited with practice time so it is good that we now have a place they are able to come to and work out at whenever they want.”
The stand-alone facility, which stands directly behind the center field fence at Stillwell Stadium, is equipped for team workouts as well as individual hitting and pitching sessions.
“Right now it is really cold outside so this facility allows us to stay on schedule,” said Kennesaw State right-handed pitcher Jordan Dean. “With the cold weather it wasn’t always easy to stay on our specific programs, but with this facility it makes your routine easier to maintain. I also like the dirt mounds, they are as high a quality or better than some of the mounds we throw on during the regular season.”
The Owls open up the regular season when they host Liberty in a three-game weekend series. Opening Day is set for
Friday afternoon
Feb. 19 at 4:00 p.m. at Stillwell Stadium.
