Batting range helps baseball players polish their game

Extra Innings Las Vegas offers training technology and fun for everyone, from 6-year-old T-ball fanatics to professional baseball players.

“Our real base of clientele is 7- to 12-year-olds just starting out, but then technologically, we have the same stuff that major league players train on,” co-owner Lee Vinocur said. “We offer something for everyone.”

He and his wife, Donna, have two boys, ages 6 and 9, who are among the facility’s biggest fans.

“Our youngest one loves this place and wants to work here,” Donna Vinocur said.

“He gets mad when he has to go to school,” Lee Vinocur said of the boy.

The Summerlin family opened the southwest-area baseball facility Feb. 21 at 7200 Montessouri St., Suite 190, near Rainbow Boulevard and Warm Springs Road.

The site features 24-foot ceilings and 70-foot tunnels. Two of the tunnels are set up for digitally enhanced baseball simulation and one for softball. These are not old-school mechanical pitching machines. A computer kiosk allows players to select a digital image of a life-size player who appears to pitch baseballs on demand.

“It’s actually a simulation of someone on the mound pitching that speed,” Donna Vinocur said, “and their coach can be outside the cage giving them any type of pitch they want.”

Players can select who they want pitching — a teen, a younger child or an adult. They can pick the pitch, too.

“You get to pick any pitch,” Lee Vinocur said. “Fastball, curveball, changeup, slider. It goes to eight different pitches and goes from 40 to 100 mph.”

The Vinocurs also offer Hit Trax simulation batting.

“It’s an analytical tool, and it’s also a game,” Donna Vinocur said. “The kids will come in and tell us what baseball field they want, and their field comes up. So if they want to hit at Fenway, Fenway will come up on the video. They’ll take their swing, and it will tell them analytically where they hit the ball inside the virtual Fenway or any park.”

“You can do it in any park you want,” Lee Vinocur said.

Donna Vinocur added that players are rewarded on screen with graphics and cheers.

“A family can play a six-inning game,” she said. “And they can have the thrill of baseball without actually being in the outfield.”

The couple plan to offer team training, training tunnel rentals, a circuit training area, player and coaching clinics, spring and summer break camps and birthday and team parties. They’ve signed on trainers such as former high school coach Bobby Colello and Division 1 softball pitcher Lily Williams to offer group and individual instruction.

They cater to softball players, too.

“We found that softball is an underserved market, so we made sure to pay attention to that right from the beginning,” Donna Vinocur said. “So our retail shop carries both softball and baseball gear. We can order any baseball or softball item. If there’s something out there we don’t have, we can certainly get it.”

Stocking the 15,000-square-foot retail pro shop is part of why the couple chose to sign up as the first Nevada franchise of Extra Innings instead of starting from scratch.

“You name the brand, we get it over there,” Donna Vinocur said. “We also do team uniforms and spirit wear, and because we’re a franchise, we’re able to match big-box stores. Our prices are competitive with them.”

The business also has a heat press to personalize uniforms.

Lee Vinocur said that while many facilities such as theirs are run by ex-pros organizing and training club teams, he and his wife prefer to welcome all participants.

“We wanted to be kind of like Switzerland — open to everybody,” he said. “Come in. We don’t have ulterior motives.”

Pricing ranges from $12 for a half-hour in the circuit training area or $15 for 15 minutes in the basic simulator range to team training rental packages with two tunnels and three circuit training areas for $115 an hour. Discounts are available for MVP members who pay a $22.95 monthly membership fee.

The facility is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, visit extrainnings-lasvegas.com or call 702-331-5270.

Contact View contributing reporter Ginger Meurer at gmeurer@viewnews.com. Find her on twitter:@gingermmm.