Youth Baseball in Portland

youth baseball PortlandBaseball is one of the most popular sports in the United States, so it makes sense that youth baseball in Portland follows that trend is is something that many young boys enjoy each spring. There are a number of different leagues available whether you are looking to play on a school team or a local AAU league. With the popularity of baseball, there are even several different leagues of youth baseball in Portland so that everyone will get a chance to enjoy the game.

Softball is also very popular with young girls so girls softball in Portland is also a great way to get out and enjoy the game. Again, whether you are looking for a school league or a local league, there are plenty to choose from. Practice and going to the batting cages to practice softball hitting is a great way to make sure you are ready for girls softball in Portland.

The popularity of baseball and softball is evident across the country and shows no sign of stopping. Youth softball is a great way to enjoy all that your community has to offer as well as enjoy a great game of baseball and softball. Both games are popular with kids of all ages, so finding a league near you that fits the level of play that you are looking for is easy and fun. Check out all of the local baseball and softball leagues near you today and get involved with youth leagues for fun for kids of all ages.

Softball Picthing Strategy & Softball Hitting

The most important weapon in a hitter’s arsenal of skills will be the hitter’s timing to match the pitch that is being thrown. This will be the factor in hitting a home-run or getting strike out in the game, which is also part of the reason there is always a warm-up area for the hitter to practice a few swings, while observing the pitchers throwing style. Softball Hitting lessons Portland already knows how important the timing is and will teach your child how to match the timing during game time.

Softball Pitching Lessons Portland teaches your child how to change the flow of the game, by confusing the hitter using different pitching speeds. After throwing fast balls at the hitter, the timing of your pitchers will be recorded down and they will be making an effort to latch onto that timing. A slow ball thrown at this time will cause the hitter to swing early and miss. It will also confuse the player making him forget about the previous pitches and mistime the timing of your fast balls. This destroys the hitters timing, and it makes the job of striking out that hitter a very simple task.

While the goals of both Softball Hitting lessons and Softball Pitching lessons are different. They will help your child understand how important the timing of Softball Hitting is. Sending your child to Softball Hitting lessons will prepare your child, when a pitcher is trying to mess up the timing of the swing. These lessons will teach the child, to pitch different types of balls, to confuse the hitter and destroy their timing as well. Once your child knows how to mix up the timings of his pitches, any timing that the hitter thinks he has remembered will go out the window. This only leaves the option of reacting to the pitch and swinging in hopes it connects.

The Bat Company Training Experts for Baseball and Softball

When your seeking the best training for your team contact The Bat Company in Portland. We teach techniques, concentration, and strategy in baseball and softball. Our programs meets individual and group training in all aspects of baseball and softball techniques. We are the experts in youth baseball and softball.

The Bat Company has Softball Pitching Lessons in Portland that focus on teaching pitching ,hitting, and playing techniques. Our instructors train your team player to win the game, and deal with adversity. We teach these techniques to beginners and advanced players. Some of the training focues on softball hitting lessons. Our staff member show players how to hit and learn mental concentration, as well. We can’t stress enough how important Softball hitting lessons are important in developing talented players. We teach the proper techniques in baseball hitting and softball hitting.

We always have baseball & softball camps and also have our own teams that plays in leagues. We have our own baseball league and teams that play professional baseball. The two baseball teams are Team U11 and U13. Our Baseball teams Portland for The Bat Team are very successful. Our baseball and softball instructors have years of experience in playing the game and teaching techniques to players.

Learn the techniques of softball and baseball for your team, by contacting the Bat Company for training. We know that learning defense techniques helps you to win ball games. This means that teaching your players all the right moves. When we teach players how to pitch we teach safety and consistent techniques. Instructors at the Bat Company bring an excitement for the game that helps develop success in students.

Hitting Philosophy

We all love the game of baseball, and most players’ favorite part of the game is hitting. Most players’ primary goal is to become a better hitter. There is always room to improve this part of your game. You will never have to worry about making it on to the line-up card on game day if you are consistent and know how to make good contact. There are so many different opinions and philosophies on hitting that there is just not one right way of going about it. If there were, then everyone would do it. With The Bat Company Lessons, you will be encouraged to take in all advice and examine different philosophies and approaches. We will focus on the good advice, and work on getting rid of the bad. How do you know when you have received bad advice? I have caught many games and diagnosed many swings throughout my baseball career as a player and a coach. All great hitters have certain common fundamentals in their swing. I will teach those fundamentals and we will use those as stepping stones to build your swing. There are five basic elements in a swing:

1. Stance

2. Coil/Load

3. Stride

4. Hip rotation/Power point

5. Follow through

With The Bat Company Lessons, we will find a swing that works for you. We will carefully analyze your strengths and weaknesses as a hitter to help you build a successful swing, and give you knowledge and confidence that will carry over to game time. Hitting lessons will help you improve your batting average and power as well as provide tips on how to be mentally tough. The most important thing to recognize above talent, skill, and knowledge is to have a strong work ethic. Hard work and dedication to the batting cage is the only way to become the best hitter you can be.

See you in the cage,
Scott Ackerman


Catching Philosophy

Catching Philosophy

In my opinion, catching can be the most important and demanding position on the
baseball field. In my instructional classes, I will teach all the aspects of catching fundamentals and controlling a game.
Things you can look forward to learning:

  • Proper blocking technique
  • Learn to block ball down the middle, outside, and inside
  • Two types of blocking (knee replacement and ankle roll)
  • Anticipation of breaking balls
  • Foot quickness
  • Raking the ball in
  • Different types of footwork
  • Glove to ear transfers
  • Arm positions and grasp
  • Pop-ups
  • Plays at the plate
  • Proper fielding of the bunt
  • Home to first footwork
  • Backing up first base
  • 1st and 3rd situations
  • Calling a game
  • Recognizing hitters swing
  • How to handle your pitching staff
  • Running the defense
  • Controlling the running game
  • It allows you to feel more comfortable in the squat position
  • It allows you to block balls with proper form and quickness
  • Gives you extra quickness on footwork throwing to second base
  • Prevents injury and soreness
  • Jump rope for quickness
  • Core exercises for strength and quickness
  • Leg exercises for leg strength and flexibility
  • Finding a comfortable and effective squat for you
  • Learning two types of positions (runner on and no runner on)
  • Proper foot alignment
  • Proper arm, elbow, and glove placement
  • Learn how to have soft, but firm hands
  • Proper glove position for your pitcher
  • Giving a good target
  • Proper body position
  • Framing (getting borderline strikes to look like strikes)
  • Giving the umpire the best look at the ball
Let’s get to work,Scott Ackerman

Fast pitch Softball Pitching Tips for Beginners

The popularity of fastpitch softball is on a rage. After getting included in the Olympic games from 1996, more and more people are coming forward to try their hands and show their skills in this game. If you are new to this game, then you should follow the below mentioned tips to be a great player of this game.

Stick to the Basics

The first thing you will come to know from softball pitching lessons is to stick to the basics or to follow the coaching manual. When you are a rookie to this game, you should not try to do anything flashy or extravagant. Instead, you should look at, what the coaching manual is asking to do.

Have a Formidable Defense

Softball pitching lessons will teach you to be a defensive player first. Once you make sure that there is no loophole in your defense then you can attack. No matter how good pitcher you are, but if your defense in not proper then you will be not counted as a good player.

Stay Fit

If you want to be a fast-pitch player, then you don’t have to spend energy like baseball teams. However, softball hitting lessons will teach you how to stay fit, so that you can give more than 100%, every time you go to play a game.

Great Footwork

The better your footwork, the better softball player you are. Softball hitting lessons will teach you how to make your footwork legal according to the softball rules and once you make your footwork legal, then you have to work on that to make that better.

Mental Strength

Physical strength is not enough to be a great softball player. You need to be mentally tough to emerge out as a winner in a softball game. You may have noticed the winning baseball teams and their strong mentality. You have to mentally tough as a rock.