ST. CLOUD -- This week in our "Behind the Scenes" series on WJON, we warm up at the Acceleration Baseball Center and see how they develop young baseball players.

Baseball is America's favorite past time and for Augie Rodriguez he wanted a place to share his passion with young athletes.

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"We're here to accommodate anyone who wants to get better at baseball or softball," says Rodriguez.

Through a collaborative effort of Rodriguez, Gary Posch and Joe Sexton  (owners of the St. Cloud Rox) and Rachel Larson, they started up the facility so young ball players had a place to practice during the offseason.

"The idea came up by seeing all the snow over the winter and saying we needed a place for young men and women to hit," says Rodriguez.

The Acceleration Baseball Center is at 20 McLeland Road in St. Cloud, and provides a year round facility where athletes can go to enhance their skills.

The facility offers coaching in nine aspects of the game from meeting rooms, workout facility, speed and agility, hitting and pitching.

"We have nine batting cages with pitching pockets that helps a pitcher to have several opportunities to throw a ball in a square and work on accuracy," says Rodriguez.

He says they also plan to host after school programs to help young athletes grow on and off the field.

"Your goal has to be successful and sometimes getting that degree helps you get a little more push in life," says Rodriguez.

Rodriguez says he hopes the facility will grow the passion he has for the game with other in Central Minnesota.

"That's what my dream is, for every kid to fall in love with the sport and if they choose the sport of baseball or softball, what they learn here will pay off in the future," says Rodriguez.

Acceleration Baseball Center will be open Monday through Friday 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and hopes to be fully operational by October.

A new indoor baseball facility is ready to help enhance your young ball players skills (Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
A new indoor baseball facility is ready to help enhance your young ball players skills (Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
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