Wanted: Baseball sluggers, high-school age and younger, to participate in the Indian River Baseball Boosters’ long-distance hitting contest at the new high school on Nov. 11.
Twenty bucks gets hitters in the door, but more money generated through pledges will ensure new baseball equipment and tools for the upcoming season and for a time to come.
It will be Indian River’s first hitting contest, even though Baseball Boosters President Mike Casale has run this fundraiser with his Indian River Grizzlies travel team in the past.
“It’s something different,” said Casale. “The kids enjoy it a lot. You get those 13-year-olds out there and they’re all trying to beat each other to hit the farthest.”
Casale’s Grizzlies ran the long-distance contest two of the last three years and Indian River’s big bopper, David Roe, reigns as the dinger champ. That isn’t an easy task, because of the competition and technique involved.
Roe said he likes going last because then he knows just how far he has to hit it, which may be a good strategy because there are a good number of batters that can put the ball on the moon.
“Bryan Lynch is a guy that puts all his body into the ball, and when he hits, it’s gone,” said Roe.
Hitting a round ball that’s moving, with a round bat, as far as possible isn’t easy, but Roe is sticking with his strategy.
“For long-distance hitting, you need to have more of an upper-cut swing so the ball will sail more,” said Roe. “One year at the Pyle Center, I thought it [a homerun ball] was going to hit the trees.”
The contest has four divisions: U-11, U-12, U-13 and high school, and the top three will have their names inscribed on the trophies. Each participant get 10 outs — just like the Major League Baseball homerun contest at the All-Star game. And their longest hit will be marked.
For those who can’t quite get the ball out of the park yet — don’t fret. There will be an opportunity to win other prizes as well. Casale is currently working with local business to donate subs and pizza to those who drop their ball into a number of marked targets.
“Some of these kids would probably rather have a 2-foot sub than a trophy,” said Casale.
No matter who wins a trophy or food, everyone wins because the money collected through pledges and entry fees will go to buy equipment for Indian River’s baseball program.
Casale had a surplus last year for his travel team, so he rewarded Indian River with an indoor pitching mound and a switch-hitting rubber dummy that teaches pitchers to pitch inside.
“In the past, we’ve had to use real batters but they tended to get gun shy and the pitchers wouldn’t throw as hard,” said Varsity Baseball Head Coach Howard Smack, who first saw a pitching dummy, like the one they purchased, three years ago at Caravel.
“Basically, at this level you can’t throw the ball down the middle of the plate,” said Smack, “even if you throw 90 miles per hour. Our pitchers have to hit the low spots.”
The switch-hitting rubber dummy has helped with location but the college-regulation polyurethane indoor pitching mound has also helped tremendously, especially with so much inclement weather in March and April.
“The indoor mound teaches pitchers that leg motion you need,” said Smack.
The pitchers were well taken care of but players have to be able to hit, too, so the baseball program also bought a multi-positional batting tee to help batters with their outside hitting.
“The tee makes the kids aware of what they should be looking for,” said Smack.
The equipment bought last year aided the Indians on their stellar year, but teams can always improve and the program will do everything to ensure they maintain their success.
“We’re looking to buy another pitching machine,” said Smack. “We have a good one now but the goal is to set up a batting cage with two machines. We’re also looking at buying an indoor net so guys can get extra practice — especially with the amount of inclement weather we have.”
Depending on how successful the fundraiser is, the team will try to buy baseball jackets for the both teams. If there isn’t enough for both, the program will buy jackets for the varsity squad and work their way down.
To register for the contest or pickup a pledge form, contact Mike Casale at (302) 732-6288.