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It is a begrudged annual ritual for Montgomery County's boys — and girls — of summer: where to find proper practice space to train in winter.
Amid the county's dearth of batting cages, baseball and softball die-hards like Quince Orchard High School centerfielder Anthony Howard have geared up for springs past by chancing upon an unused school gym or empty warehouse, or by braving the cold to hit off tees and have a catch with dad.
After inking a lease and securing the financial backing of three friends who are silent partners, Derwood resident Steve Wood outfitted a warehouse near Olde Towne Gaithersburg with four fast-pitch "Iron Mike" batting cages, two hand-fed "jug" ball machines, Astroturf for fielding practice, a space for soft-toss batting drills, a pitching/catching line with a mound — even a video camera to analyze every hitch in a would-be slugger's swing.
Hands down, Howard's five sessions at The Dugout have the 17-year-old better prepared than ever for the upcoming season.
"You can get a lot of hacks in and do what you got to do," he said Saturday, emerging from a fast-pitch batting cage where he had uncorked a healthy helping of line drives under the watchful eye of Mike Toomey, a special assistant to the general manager of the Kansas City Royals who is at his Gaithersburg home between recruiting trips to Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Royals' spring training in Arizona next month.
With more than 600 hours of practice time booked since The Dugout opened last month, the response is what Wood was hoping for when he packed up his crystal and china shop in Columbia to chase his dream of bringing better baseball to Montgomery.
"It's not like a Chuck E. Cheese with parties; you come in here to work," Wood said Saturday amid the alternating ping of aluminum bats and the thud of 70-mph pitches walloping into safety pads.
The businessman in him paused, then rephrased.
"To come here on a date night, are you welcome? Absolutely. Has it happened? No," he joked.
The list of clientele has included high school squads and youth teams of the Upper Montgomery Athletic Club, the Germantown Athletic Club and the Montgomery Village Sports Association's Storm 16-and-under softball team.
And on Saturday, it included a handful of local baseball heavyweights like the Royals' Toomey and 2006 Magruder grad Matt Sweeney.
A prospect in the Anaheim Angels farm system, the third baseman is training at The Dugout to get back in shape after breaking his ankle in Spring Training last year. The last few weeks have been a far cry from the lengths he had to go to in other winters growing up in Montgomery.
"Last year I even worked out in some back-alley warehouse in Gaithersburg somewhere and just hit off the tee and did small stuff," he said. "That's why places like this are great. ... If you're trying to get better as a baseball player, you need to be in here."
To learn more about The Dugout, visit www.dugout
baseball.us.
