Monday, November 30, 2015

New indoor facility run by former UIS pitcher targets softball players

Springfield has a new indoor facility for softball and baseball players to work on improving their games.

Buck Fastpitch Academy, 1200 N. Bradfordton Road, held its grand opening Nov. 21. The facility is run by Tina Buck, a former NCAA Division II softball pitcher at the University of Illinois Springfield. The academy is now accepting new clients and offers batting cage and pitching tunnel rentals.

Buck said she decided to open her academy after noticing a need locally for this type of facility for softball players. It's a need she said arises from the fact that softball is a growing sport and that there aren't enough indoor facilities available for the thousands of players who want to play the game year-round to keep their skills sharp.

"This is going to give people the opportunities to play all year round so that when they do play the Chicago and St. Louis teams and they travel south, they're able to still compete at that level, being able to get more reps in throughout the year," Buck said.

Buck was featured by The State Journal-Register on November 29, 2015.

Read the story online.