Facility Features

Batting Facility Feature: The Yard – Lexington, KY

Outfitting a 15,000 square foot indoor baseball facility in Lexington, KY

When the state of Kentucky and the sport of baseball are in the same sentence, there is generally one thought. While everyone knows about the bats, The Bluegrass State has also produced many elite baseball players – making an indoor baseball facility a natural fit.

In Lexington, Nick Williams has opened The Yard baseball facility to help these players train all year. The Yard opened in 2017 after Williams worked with Keith Burke from On Deck Sports. Williams had not heard of On Deck Sports prior to working with us, but was provided with the contact information of facility owners in his area to see what our facility team was capable of. After visiting these facilities and speaking more with Burke, Williams decided to work on a full indoor facility build out.

We worked with Williams on a 15,000+ square foot facility that features artificial turf fields, custom batting cages and equipment – all from On Deck Sports. “It was certainly a pleasant surprise when I could get everything from On Deck,” Williams said when asked about the convenience of our one-stop facility supply shopping experience. “The ability to get 99% of what I needed from one-stop combined with great customer service and friendly staff all played a role in my decision.”

We provided the yard with eight batting cages and a multisport field that all used our custom shell net batting cage design. This allows for the highest level of versatility and safety in The Yard. The batting cages have sliding divider curtains, allowing Williams to open the cages for fielding work or other sports such as lacrosse, soccer and more – making The Yard a multisport indoor facility.

This did not come without some challenges though. “This was an interesting project,” Burke said when asked about The Yard. “There were a lot of columns that ran through the facility, so I had to dictate the size of the field and cages around them. Some of the cages had to be smaller than we would have preferred but we were able to accommodate the number of cages needed.”

This custom batting cage design and versatility was very appealing for Williams. “It is certainly an important part of supplying options to my customers,” Williams said when asked about Burke’s batting cage and field design for his facility. “Batting cages can be constrictive and the opportunity to slide the cages back and utilize the entire turf area will be a great asset.  The ability to slide back the cage netting had always been a thought in my mind but Keith provided some insight on how easily that would work and the minimal cost difference and it was a no-brainer in the end.”

Aside from the cages, Burke selected PM34 padded artificial turf for The Yard. It is the most popular turf for indoor sports facilities – providing a soft feel, realistic bounce and protection thanks to its polyethylene yarn and 5mm foam padding. This makes it an ideal turf for baseball & softball facilities or multisport complexes.

“I installed 15,000 square feet of turf and needed something that players could slide/dive on without risking injury but was still cost effective when considering the constraints of being a start-up business,” Williams said when discussing the turf options Burke laid out. “The turf, at the suggestion of Keith, fits both of those needs.  It has held up perfectly so far and the limited play I have seen on it thus far leads me to believe that I went the right direction.”

Along with the sports netting and artificial turf, Williams was able to get a full supply of equipment from us. He stocked his facility with ProMounds Portable Pitching Mounds, Iron Mike pitching machines, Atec pitching machines, the Batting Mat Pro, Premium L-Screens as well as lacrosse and soccer goals for multisport training. The ability to get this equipment along with the netting, turf and installation services was a big factor for Williams and Burke when outfitting The Yard. The one-stop shop for Williams’ facility left him very happy with the results – allowing him to bring a terrific training facility to the athletes of Lexington.

“I would not only suggest On Deck Sports to other facility owners I would encourage that they use On Deck and I would also invite them to come check out my facility,” Williams said. “I fully plan to utilize On Deck Sports again.  From their knowledge to their customer service to their one-stop shopping – it just makes sense.  I’m certainly a satisfied customer.”

The Yard – Lexington, KY

117 Westhampton Drive

Lexington, Kentucky, KY 40511

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