Spring training in full swing

Stingers' first baseman Troy MacCallum takes a swing at a tournament last year in Ohio 

It’s not Dunedin, Florida, where the Blue Jays go for spring training, but the Out of the Park Sports baseball facility works for the Scarborough Stingers.

On Jan. 5, 2013, Out of the Park opened its doors. The new facility is unlike any other facility of its kind. Scarborough coach Mike MacCallum likes that Out of the Park is locally accessible for the team, as they used to commute to Ajax for their indoor training.

“It just has a lot more room to do different activities,”MacCallum said about the new facility.

The Scarborough Stingers Midget AAA team is one of the teams that uses Out of the Park to get an early start on the new season.

“We start in early January and do a lot of work indoors just to get the muscle memory back in baseball form,” MacCallum said.

The Stingers use Out of the Park to work on fielding and hitting drills.

“Mostly it’s just working on getting the repetition down for fielding and hitting the ball,” MacCallum said.

Out of the Park is a 14,000 square foot indoor baseball facility, which has 50-foot ceilings, four batting tunnels, three pitching mounds and a 6,000 square foot infield area.

“Unlike any other indoor baseball facility it allows us to do things that others cannot,” Ryan McBride said, an owner of Out of the Park.

Stingers` third baseman Robbie Gennuso, 17, likes the batting cages at Out of the Park.

“During the indoor training I hope to improve my mechanics batting-wise,” he said.

Gennuso says he wants to also improve on his discipline when at the plate, by working hard in the gym during indoor training.

The Stingers are maximizing their advantage and using the facility to get back into shape before heading outdoors to practice. The ease of access helps them stay prepared for the up and coming season.

“We want to win the Toronto Baseball Association and get into the Ontario Baseball Association Championship (OBAs) and go from there,” MacCallum said. “We want to win a tournament or two and we want to show well in the Elimination Nationals in August.”

Gennuso said that as a team, their goals are to make it to the Ontario tournament and hopefully win it.

About this article

By: Madolyn MacCallum
Copy editor: Mark A. Cadiz
Posted: Feb 4 2013 7:00 pm
Edition:
Filed under: Baseball Sports
Topics: