Batting Cages: General Info
Baseball Batting Cages
Softball Batting Cages
Hitting Memberships
Pitching Lane
Team Training Area
Lessons: General Info
Baseball Lessons
Softball Lessons
Team Training/Rentals
The Batting Cages
The cornerstone of our Baseball and Softball training is our Batting Cages. We have 5 separate batting stalls where batters hit into a common open area. Each batting stall is equipped with a baseball and softball pitching machine for a total of 10 pitching machines. Each machine is set at a specific speed. The machines are positioned about 42′ from home plate.
The cages are activated by tokens which can be purchased for $2.00 at the front desk. Each token is good for 20 pitches and works in any cage, for baseball or softball. Helmets and bats are available or you can bring your own. HELMETS MUST BE WORN IN THE CAGES.
The slowest machines are on the left and the speeds increase as you move left to right. Our cages are equipped with the softer balls so they will not damage those pressurized expensive bats. Wood bats are welcome.
The cages are open to the public on a walk-in basis and are available for rental in 30 minute blocks. When a cage is rented, it is not available to the public.
Batting Cage Etiquette:
- If people are waiting in line use only 2 tokens at a time then allow others to take their turn.
- Kick or toss balls back after each round (Don’t throw or hit).
- Wait your turn.
- hen people are waiting in line, no soft toss or instruction in the cage. Let others use it.
Batting Cage Safety:
- Helmets must be worn.
- Only one person in cage when machine is active.
- No switch hitting or crossing over plate when machine is active.
- Don’t go past the red line painted on the carpet.
- No practice swings outside the cage.
- Pay Attention.
- No one under 6 years old can use the cages.
Baseball Cages
Each of the 5 baseball pitching machines has an elevation control panel so the hitter can adjust the height of the pitch from inside the stall. The speeds for the pitching machines can accommodate players from Little League to Adults and are set as follows
Cage 1: 30 mph
Cage 2: 40 mph
Cage 3: 50 mph (72 mph 60’ 6” equivalent)
Cage 4: 60 mph (83 mph 60’ 6” equivalent)
Cage 5: 70 mph (94 mph 60’ 6” equivalent)
Since the machines are set about 42’ from home plate, the reaction time equivalent speeds at 60’ 6” are listed.
Softball Cages
Hitting Memberships
Hitting Memberships entitle the member to receive 12 free tokens each visit (limit of one visit per day). If the member wants to use more than 12 tokens in one day, they may purchase additional tokens at half price ($1.00 each, cannot be combined with other offers).
Hitting Members must abide by a few simple rules:
- Tokens received under this agreement are for exclusive use by the member and are NOT to be given to others.
- Memberships are for individuals only; not families, siblings, teams or groups.
- Tokens cannot be ‘banked’ (pocketed) for use after membership expires.
- Unused tokens must be turned in at the front desk before leaving.
- Hitting memberships are for hitting in the batting cages only. They do not include use of the pitching lane, the soft toss area or the basketball courts.
Violation of these rules will result in immediate forfeiture of membership without refund.
Six Month Membership: ONLY $165.00
One Year Membership: ONLY $310.00
Membership starts on day agreement is accepted by In the Zone and dues are paid in full. Family discount of $20 for second membership in family. Membership expires either 6 months or 12 months from start date.
Team/Organizational Discounts:
Get 6 or more individuals signing up from the same team/organization at the same time and get $20 off each membership. (Must identify organization and request discount when signing up).
This new membership policy is a big change from our previous policy. Memberships purchased before the effective date will be grandfathered and keep the old policies. This change was spurred by an increasing number of members abusing their privileges, primarily by giving tokens to non-members. The new pitching lane guidelines grew out of members feeling entitled to the area and got mad when the space was being rented or used for a class.
Training Areas
The Pitching Tunnel is available for rent and is a fully enclosed net measuring 65’ x 12’ x 12’. It is used for both pitching and live hitting. It can also be set up for soft toss and tee practice with space for about 5 stations. It is turfed.
The Training Area is a turfed triangular area next to the pitching tunnel that is normally used for Speed and Agility and VLET training but can be rented for small sided team drills. It is appropriate for Tee drills, soft toss, reaction drills and circle fielding drills. It cannot be used for live hitting. While using the Training Area, THE SAQ AND VLET EQUIPMENT IS OFF LIMITS. KIDS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY IN, ON OR WITH THIS EQUIPMENT.
The Pitching Tunnel and the Training Area are two separate areas and must be rented separately. There is a discount if a team rents both areas at the same time. Equipment and training aids that are available in these two areas include:
- Radar Gun
- Portable pitching mound
- Pitching rubbers on turfed mats
- L-Screen (with softball opening)
- Hitting Sock
- 2 regular hitting tees
- 2 Instructo-Swing tees
- 1 Five position tee
- Stick ball bat
- One arm bat
- Buckets of baseballs and softballs
- Wiffle balls – Baseball size
- Wiffle balls – Golf ball size
- Pitching balance beam
*Equipment must be requested in advance.*
Baseball and Softball Lessons:
The primary focus is to teach and practice proper fundamentals. At In the Zone, we feel that mastery of the fundamentals is essential for high-level performance at every level and should be emphasized at every workout. Athletes, no matter what level they climb to, never out-grow the fundamentals.
The workshops will feature personalized instruction and drills that will stress proper technique while building muscle memory.
Each workshop is designed as a stand-alone instruction and practice session. Players can attend any one of the sessions, all the sessions or any combination.
Baseball Lessons
Baseball Pitching Lessons*:
Each pitching session is 30 minutes in length and will be limited to just 2 players per session. They will be held on the following dates and times:
Mondays: Oct 15, 22, 29 and Nov 5 (2012): 4:00-4:30 and 5:30-6:00
Thursdays: Nov 8, 15, 29; Dec 6 and 13 (2012): 5:30-6:00 and 7:00-7:30
*PLEASE NOTE: In order for instructors to focus attention on the players and their pitching skills, pitchers need to bring their own catcher.
The cost for the pitching lessons is $30/session. If you pre-register and pay for 4 or more sessions, the cost is only $25/session.
Baseball Hitting Lessons:
Each hitting session is 50 minutes in length and is limited to 9 players per session. They will be held on the following dates and times:
Mondays: Oct 15, 22, 29 and Nov 5 (2012); 4:35 to 5:25
Thursdays: Nov 8, 15, 29; Dec 6 and 13 (2012); 6:05-6:55
Please note: Hitting lessons do not normally include any rounds in the batting cages. We focus on mechanics and feel this can be taught more effectively doing Tee drills and soft toss.
The cost for the hitting workshops is $20.00/session. If you pre-register and pay for 4 or more sessions, the cost is only $16/session.
Registration:
You must pre-register and pay to reserve your spot. Walk-ins will be accepted only if space permits.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellations must be made 48 hours in advance in order to avoid a 50% cancellation fee.
The primary instructor might not be available for the make-up sessions and there might be more kids in the session than outlined earlier in this brochure.
Private One-on-One Lessons available:
$30 for 30 minutes or
$55 for 1 hour.
Contact Steve to schedule
Primary Baseball Instructor: Rich Freiler
Coach Freiler has been coaching baseball for over 30 years at virtually every level from T-Ball to senior legion and High School. Rich currently coaches for Palmer Legion.
Softball Lessons
Softball Pitching Lessons
The pitching lessons will be limited to just 3 pitchers per session. Lessons are approximately 45 minutes in length and will be held on the following dates:
Dates: Sundays Oct 14, 21, 28; Nov 4, 11, 18, 25; Dec 2 and 9 (2012)
Times: 12:00, 12:45, 1:30 and 2:15.
*PLEASE NOTE: In order for instructors to focus attention on the players and their pitching skills, we require pitchers to bring their own catcher.
The cost for the pitching workshop is $30/session. If you pre-register and pay for 4 or more sessions, the cost is only $25/session.
Softball Hitting Lessons
Each hitting lesson is 55 minutes in length and is limited to 9 players per session. They will be held on the following dates and times:
Sundays: Oct 14, 21, 28; Nov 4, 11 and 18 (2012).
Time: 3:00-3:55
Please note: Hitting lessons do not normally include any rounds in the batting cages. We focus on mechanics and feel this can be taught more effectively doing Tee drills and soft toss.
The cost for the hitting workshops is $20.00/session. If you pre-register and pay for 4 or more sessions, the cost is only $16/session.
Registration:
You must pre-register and pay to reserve your spot. Walk-ins will be accepted only if space permits.
Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations must be made 48 hours in advance in order to avoid a 50% cancellation fee.
The primary instructor might not be available for the make-up sessions and there might be more kids in the session than outlined earlier in this brochure.
Private One-on-One Lessons available:
$30 for 30 minutes or
$55 for 1 hour.
Contact Anne at 610-799-3078 to schedule
Primary Softball Instructor: Anne Lutz
The varsity pitching coach at Northampton Area High School in 2009 and 2010, Anne was a 3 sport athlete at Verona High School in NJ, Anne pitched her softball team to 4 straight conference, county and state finals while setting records for most wins (36), No-hitters (4), and ERA (2.31). Anne continued her career at Muhlenberg College. She won 22 games and posted a 2.63 career ERA while pitching No-hitters against Albright and Widener. Batting clean-up, Anne led her high school team with a .397 batting avg. At Muhlenberg, Anne started in left field when she wasn’t pitching and compiled a .351 batting avg.
Team Training Rentals
Various areas can be rented for team training including one of the basketball courts. Renting the whole court is the only way baseball/softball can be played on a court. You cannot rent half a court for baseball or softball practice nor can you just walk out and start playing catch. For safety reasons, we cannot have basketball and baseball going on at the same time in the same area (a kid chases a long rebound into to the path of a thrown baseball—not a good scene).
A typical team practice session could be: Batting Cage Rental with 3 kids rotating through; Pitching Lane Rental with pitcher and catcher working out; Court Rental with rest of team doing fielding drills.
