The Herald-Zeitung

A new, indoor training center is “pitcher perfect” for baseball or softball players looking to get away from the area’s cold winters and torrid summers.

After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, and nearly 10 years with Apple Inc., Daniel Ferrel of San Marcos decided to turn his passion for America’s pastime into a full-time career.

This past September, and after a two-year search for the right location and building, Ferrell scored a career-making homer when he opened Extra Innings, part of a 35-strong franchise first established in Boston more than 12 years ago.

“I’m very proud to say Extra Innings–New Braunfels is the only premier indoor baseball and softball training facility in Comal County,” Ferrel, 34, said. “With year-round practice facilities, nearly a dozen professional instructors offering various clinics and our nationally-recognized pro shop, we are set up to be a complete ‘one-stop shop’ for everything baseball and softball.”

Housed in a 15,500-square-foot building, at 2405 Lifehaus Industrial Drive just off Farm-to-Market 306, much of the facility is taken up by a total of eight, netted and artificially turfed “batting tunnels.”

One tunnel is mainly reserved as a timer-operated batting cage, while the remaining seven are multi-use, retractable tunnels, allowing players of all ages and skill levels to work on their pitching, hitting and fielding.

“Each tunnel is 70 feet long, 15 feet wide and 22 feet high, which allows the true flight of most every possible hit,” said Scott Larsen, general manager and lead instructor at Extra Innings.

Larsen, a New Braunfels resident, is a former player at the University of Nebraska whose team won the first Big 12 tournament championship in school history.

As well as the tunnels, Extra Innings has a specialized circuit training area where the art of hitting is honed.

“It’s a small area, but this is where hitters are made,” Larsen said. “I remember hearing Pete Rose say that even as a professional, he still hit off a tee more than 300 times a day.”

It is all about repetition, and about swinging, swinging and swinging the bat some more, he said.

“This gives our instructors the real ability to see a player swing on a consistent basis,” Larsen said. “In turn, they will work with the player on correcting any possible issues.”

And, while the pro shop is big enough to meet the needs and price ranges of players of all ages and ability levels — including the ability to custom fit any size team — Extra Innings also has a private area where friends and family members can enjoy birthdays or other private events.

“We are an all-year-round facility where the game never ends,” Ferrel said. “Of course, we are an important place for those seriously focused on improving their skills, but Extra Innings is a very family-friendly place where parents and children can come to for a relaxing and fun evening out.”