FLORENCE, SC – Florence baseball enthusiasts now have a place to hone their skills seven days a week, rain or shine. The Florence Dugout, located at 1416 N. Cashua Drive, opened to the public in May and offers four lanes of indoor batting cages with the newest machines available, as well as swing analysis and catching and pitching drills.
Dugout proprietor William Hester, father of a young baseball player, said he began thinking about opening an indoor batting facility about a year ago after a conversation with a fellow baseball dad. “There weren’t any other indoor facilities in the area,” Hester said. “The closest were really Myrtle Beach and Conway. That’s not too terribly far from us, but we have a ton of baseball and softball teams right here and I knew they would love to have a local facility to use. You have a lot of kids that want to play and practice, but don’t have anywhere to go if the weather’s bad. Just like with the flooding last year, you had kids and parents that were paying a lot of money to play baseball but couldn’t play because of the rain.”
While researching the idea, Hester said he found the perfect location in a warehouse-like building on North Cashua that once housed an indoor gym. “It had the open floor plan, the lighting, the basis of what we needed,” he said. “From there, I was able to get a vision of exactly what I wanted.” In addition to the batting cage lanes, the Dugout provides access to pitching, hitting and catching mentors and coaches.
Walk-ins are welcome, and lanes rent for $20 for a 30-minute session, $30 for an hour-long session. Dugout memberships are also available. Team practices are free for members. For non-members, team practices are available for $10 per player and can be scheduled with 24 hours notice. The Dugout is also available for birthday party rentals.
The Dugout is open Monday – Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. Hours will be adjusted once school starts later this month. For more information, call William Hester at 843-319-5770.-This is from a Press Release.
