10/30/2026
It’s over.
Today is the last day for Level Up Batting Cages, and honestly, it’s a little hard to believe.
Six years ago, I started Level Up because I saw a need in our community.
There were facilities for club teams, but I wanted a place for everyone. A place for the kid trying to make the club team. For the rec player who had struck out in their last five at-bats and just wanted somewhere to get a few more swings in. For the player who loved baseball or softball but didn’t have a parent who could throw batting practice to them.
I wanted a place where you didn’t have to know somebody or belong to a certain team. You could simply click a button, reserve a cage, walk in, and work.
That’s also why having automated pitching machines was always important to me.
I remember once talking with a club coach who didn’t see much value in pitching machines. I explained that there are a lot of kids who don’t have someone at home who can throw them hundreds of pitches. Maybe they’re being raised by one parent. Maybe their parents work long hours. Maybe Mom or Dad never played the game. Or maybe life simply makes it difficult.
Those kids still deserve a place to work on their game.
One of my favorite Level Up memories captures exactly why I built this place.
A mom came in whose son was preparing for tryouts. She had never played baseball herself and didn’t really know how to throw. So she started taking pitching lessons from one of our coaches.
Not for herself.
She wanted to learn how to throw live batting practice so she could help her son prepare for tryouts.
I loved that.
She didn’t have the experience, but she had something much more important: she was willing to learn because her son had a goal, and she wanted to help him chase it.
That’s what I hoped Level Up could be. A place where someone with a goal had somewhere to go to get a little better.
Over the last several weeks, more than 50 people reached out interested in somehow keeping Level Up going. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to make that happen in our current location, and the building will be moving in a different direction.
I wish I could tell you Level Up was going to continue. I’m genuinely sad that it isn't.
But mostly, I’m grateful.
Thank you for six years.
Thank you to every parent who sat on a bucket catching pitches. Every coach who gave a lesson. Every team that came through the doors. Every kid who came in after a bad game and went back to work. And every young player who stood alone in front of a pitching machine, loaded another ball, and took one more swing.
I hope, in some small way, Level Up helped.
And I really hope someone finds a way to carry on the idea behind it, because there will always be kids who aren't on the best team, don't have the most resources, or don't have someone who can throw them batting practice.
They deserve a place to work on their dreams too.
Thank you, Spanish Fork.
It’s been a good six years.
