Riverview resident Cameron Vigh, a Hillsborough Community College baseball team player, practices hitting pitches at D-Bat Southshore.
D-Bat Southshore, a great practice, training resource for ballplayers
By LOIS KINDLE
If anyone in your household is into baseball or softball, there’s a 15,000-square-foot facility in South Shore designed to help them practice and sharpen their batting, fielding, catching and pitching skills – all in the weather-perfect comfort of indoors.
D-Bat Southshore features 10 state-of-the-art batting cages, a HitTrax baseball simulator, pitching machines for baseball and fast or slow-pitch softball, retail pro shop and a full range of services for both children and adults: memberships, camps and clinics, cage rentals, lessons, weight training, birthday parties, youth group nights, family fun nights and more.
And now that summer’s here, it’s offering a variety of opportunities for young ballplayers (ages 8 to 12) to keep them challenged in a safe environment, doing something they love with up to 14 others their own age. These include fun camp and baseball or softball skills clinics. The cost is $250 per child per week. Discounts are available for members, and sponsorships are available for businesses or individuals who’d like to help families needing a financial break.
Riverview resident Cameron Vigh, a Hillsborough Community College baseball team player, practices hitting pitches at D-Bat Southshore.All summer camps are from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. After-care is available until 6 p.m. for $20 per day per child. Here’s the schedule:
D-Bat Southshore Fun Camps
May 31 to June 4
June 7 to 11
July 26 to 30
D-BAT Southshore Baseball Summer Clinics
June 21 to 25
June 28 to July 2
July 12 to 16
Aug. 2 to 6
D-BAT Southshore Softball Summer Clinics
June 14 to 18
July 5 to 9
July 19 to 23
To register your child, visit https://linkjar.co/DbatSouthshore. For more information on a sponsorship and its benefits or details on any camp, call 813-645-2228 between 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends or email jacob@dbatsouthshore.com.
D-Bat Southshore is at 351 30th St. NE, Ruskin, next door to Jubilee Gymnastics in the South Shore Corporate Park. Tours of the facility are available upon request.
About the owner
D-Bat Southshore is owned and operated by Jacob Collier, a seventh-generation Floridian.
The Apollo Beach resident never had an interest in baseball until about five years ago, when his 7-year-old son joined East Bay Youth Athletics and began playing the sport. By the next season Collier said he was hooked.
“I used to hate baseball,” he said. “I thought it boring; it was like watching paint dry.”
Now he can’t get enough of it.
Collier invested $500,000 to open D-Bat Southshore in December 2018. At one time, he had close to 300 members, he said, but then the pandemic hit, and that number dropped to less than 200. Now it’s back to 250 and climbing.
He wants to see more and more men and women, boys and girls take advantage of all his company offers.
“People of all ages can improve their skills, learn to be more disciplined and become better players and teammates,” he said. “And we’re happy to see so many area senior softball league players coming to practice.”
***First-time visitors are invited to mention this article and get 75 free swings on D-Bats’ pitching machines.
