Players taking their cuts at new Westlake cages

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SWING FOR THE FENCES—Viewpoint student Jacky Farrow, a Westlake resident, practices with instructor Mike Burgmeier, a softball coach at Simi Valley High, at Boost Your Average cages. Perhaps “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” will be replaced by “Take Me Out to the Indoor Batting Cages.”

With the opening of Boost Your Average, an indoor coinoperated batting cage and coaching facility at 2326 Townsgate Road in Westlake Village, baseball and softball players can practice all year-round.

Bryan Gagnon, owner of Boost Your Average, wanted to build a batting cage for every type of ballplayer.

“It’s 50 percent for boys, 50 percent for girls,” said Gagnon, 43, a Westlake Village resident who grew up in Agoura.

“I’m trying to fill a niche that wasn’t there before.”

Four automated lanes have two pitching machines, one each for softball and baseball. There are also five other coaching lanes and a 4,000-square-foot practice field for team workouts.

The 15,000squarefoot facility once housed Rusnak Porsches and other luxury vehicles, Gagnon said.

Kelly Kleinman of Westlake brought his sons, Cato and Casey, both 7, to hone their skills at the cages.

“It’s the best indoor facility I’ve seen in Southern California,” Kleinman said.

“The kids love it. It’s going to be a great facility for training future players. This area is a hotbed for baseball talent.”

Cato and Casey, who played on the Westlake Shetland All-Star team that went 24-2 this summer, had fun playing.

“I like practicing pitching,” Casey said, “because I have a curveball.”

“I like that you get to hit,” Cato said.

The pitching machines range in speed from adult soft-toss to pitches in the 70 mile-per-hour range—which equates to 90 mph fastballs on the 42-foot lanes.

Mike Burgmeier, an assistant coach for Simi Valley High’s softball team, thinks the cages will be beneficial.

“Kids need a place to train,” said Burgmeier, a batting instructor at the facility. “You can learn everything here then go out and execute outside. All the development takes place here.”

Burgmeier is the general contractor who helped build the cages for Gagnon.

“Youth sports are so competitive now, every sport is so specialized. Every aspect of that sport is specialized,” Burgmeier said.

“If you want to compete, you need a coach—and a specialty coach.”

The Simi Valley assistant also appreciates how Boost Your Average caters to boys and girls equally.

“Girls always get the short end,” he said. “There’s always funding for football and baseball.”

Gagnon’s daughter, Madison, has enjoyed taking advantage of the cages during the summer.

“I’ve got to hit here every day almost,” said Madison Gagnon, a sophomore-to-be at Westlake High who played varsity softball for the Warriors as a freshman.

The cages, which opened on July 17, are even attracting other sports, Gagnon said.

“Lacrosse and soccer teams are interested,” he said. “People are slowly trickling in.”