PUHI — Isaiah Poloa was ready for an adventure when he showed up for batting practice Thursday afternoon at the Batters Up Indoor Batting Cages in the Puhi Industrial Park.
“We can’t go traveling with all this COVID-19,” said Isaiah’s mother, who settled down to watch the activity outside the batting cages. “When he comes here, he thinks he’s in Disneyland.”
Trevor Christensen operates the indoor batting cages located a stone’s throw from Mark’s Place, at 1639 Haleukana Street. The cages are open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday and Monday hours are arranged by reservations, between 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Stalls are available to rent in 15-minute increments up to an hour, thereafter by the half-hour, up to two hours. Rental fees are based on the cage rental, not per person, and team rentals can also be arranged.
“We welcome all skill levels,” Christensen said. “There are four lanes with automatic pitch-and-coach, pitch baseball and softball. Usually, this is reserved for youngsters 5 years and older. But we have T-ball tees so the younger kids can get in practice, too.”
Christensen said there has been a steady stream of users since he opened the facility two months ago.
“We’ve had some senior softball players coming,” he said. “We also had some girls softball teams. But the busiest time is in the afternoons when the kids get out of school. We even have one player, Jai Hashimoto, whose parents signed him up for an hour of hitting practice once a week.”
Christensen said having a batting cage as an option for young people to do something other than being in the house has been something he dreamed about for a long time.
“I wanted to do this from the start,” he said. “But there wasn’t any place that was suitable. We were looking to expand Bad Hats, a custom apparel company, and found this place that allows us to build on Bad Hats and have an indoor batting cage next door.”
Patrons visiting the facility must wear shoes — no cleats are allowed. They are welcome to bring their own equipment or opt to use the helmets and bats available at Batters Up.
In addition to providing an indoor batting cage, Christensen said they invested in a Hit Trax simulator which allows a batter to get technical data on hit metrics in real time.
“We’ve already got it paid for and ready to ship,” Christensen said.
“But there’s the COVID-19, and we’re just going to have to wait until it passes so the installers are able to come and put it in.
“This Hit Trax is also good for times like the pandemic where coaches are able to have home run derbies and even play a real game against the machine.”
To schedule a rental call 320-7766 or email battersup808@gmail.com.
