New England Baseball Journal

28NEW ENGLAND BASEBALL JOURNAL November-December 2020 Subscribe today at baseballjournal.com/subscribe TRAINING Putting in these strict clean- ing protocols is one way to re- spect everyone's situation dur- ing a COVID-19 pandemic that's become quite political. Another way? Three strikes and you're out. Per the Powerhouse Sports website, a suspension from one month up to an indefinite amount of time is in play if a player breaks protocol three times and does not adhere to these rules. Montville, who played colle- giately at Maryland and South- ern New Hampshire, in the Cape Cod League and in the Can-Am League, opened the 7,500 square foot facility in November of 2018. It o¦ers baseball instruction for pitchers and hitters, plus weight training equipment, and has be- come a popular afterschool des- tination for high school players in the region. As for Kennedy and his crew at CT Baseball Academy, similar precautions are in place. Hand sanitizers, spacing out the play- ers, and making sure that the equipment used is wiped down in between workouts are all things being done to prevent the potential spread of the virus. Kennedy's facility has eight batting cages and six pitching tunnels with full size mounds, a total of 20,000 square feet. One of the big challenges, Kennedy notes, is not necessar- ily the players trying to get in the work, but rather from an op- erational standpoint. Kennedy says that instead of working with a full team at once, workouts are limited in capacity so he might be running the same drills and coaching the same points four or five di¦erent times a day rather than at once. While it can be challenging for coaches to bring that same energy each and every time that they're coaching the same points, Kennedy says it's an ad- justment, but it's all about per- spective. "For me it's about feeling lucky that we're doing it and helping kids," Kennedy said. "I played minor league baseball and had a short career, but at the end of the day, giving back to kids and seeing the smile on their faces when they're getting better or the older guys putting them in situations to succeed, whether it's the college level or even their high school teams. For me, that's the motivation." From a baseball perspective, it's obvious why the players need to get in the facility and get work done, to get better as a player. However, improving as a player isn't the only benefit of getting to show up to the facility. "We've got a ton of great feed- back from parents about how this is an outlet for them and a place where they felt comfort- able and they felt safe and still enjoy their training, enjoy life and get away from the depress- ing side of all this," Montville said. And, come this winter, that's exactly what these facilities hope to be. @Ian_Vescera feedback@baseballjournal.com Connecticut Baseball Academy/Facebook Powerhouse Sports NH/Facebook Connecticut Baseball Academy in East Hartford (above, bottom left) covers 20,000 square feet, but it's not able to accommodate full teams at once due to social distancing. New Hampshire's Powerhouse Sports will suspend memberships of those who don't work within its COVID-19 guidelines. Indoor Continued from Page 26

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