Hit Machine Baseball

Introducing HitTrax Biomechanics

BLACK FRIDAY SALE..... 3 month, 6 month and annual memberships are 15% off today ONLY! Must notify us at sthornehitmachinebaseball.com and have check dropped off by Monday, We are changing baseball at Hit Machine, ask abut our new Biometrics hitting analysis through Artificial Intelligence.....it's a brand new feature of HitTrax and pretty amazing! Check out video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12lpt-8E958

Introducing HitTrax Biomechanics We’re excited to announce the official release of HitTrax Biomechanics – the next level of analysis for hitters - now available in Hit...

Slight change, we are running our Speed and Agility class as a 6-week training on Sundays only. This will lead right into Velocity training. Class is Sunday nights starting December 3rd and is $90. Please reach out to Shane at [email protected] to secure your spot!

Get Ready!!
SPEED, AGILITY and STRENGTH Training is BACK!!
We are super excited about the baseball specific agility, strength and speed training program that Mike Ruppel and Brandon Magee will AGAIN be providing at Hit Machine (details below). Our response on this training has been fantastic, kids work very hard and the impact is easy to recognize. This is an 8 - week training program, which will lead up to the Velocity Training in Mid-January. A lot of work went into designing / tweaking the program by Mike and Brandon, can't wait to see the players reap the benefits again!
Times: There will be (2) sessions each night (Player attends one). Session #1 One from 6:15 - 7PM, Session #2 is 7:15 -8 (may modify slightly based on responses / conflicts)
Days: Twice weekly. Sunday and Thursday nights!
When: First nightly session is Thursday November, 17th
Who: 7th Grade - high school.
Class size: Each session will not have more than 10 athletes. This is first come. first serve. This will sell out fast. * We are already more than half full.
Cost: Training for all 8 weeks/ twice a week is $175 ($150 if you were in class last year). Even if you miss some classes due to other sports or commitments, this is still a great value. We know of at least 10 kids that reached out to sign-up already, so limited spots remain.
How to sign-up: Just send me an e-mail or text, bring check to first training. [email protected] or 630.501.8074
Details:
Doesn’t matter the sport, everyone wants to be fast, strong and agile. Unfortunately, not everyone is, but everyone can surely develop the skills to compete at a higher level. This comes down to a few key principles, and it’s not just about running a faster baseball 60 yard dash. At Hit Machine’s speed and agility training for baseball players, we will develop position-specific speed and various techniques to get players more explosive. We are going to develop their techniques so they can run faster, react quicker and be more explosive on the field. Here’s a brief outline:
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1. Basic Topics on Speed Training
2. The Warm-up
3. Linear Acceleration
4. Lateral Acceleration
5. Lateral Change-of-Direction
1. Basic Topics on Speed Training
Getting Fast is First about Getting Strong – The more horsepower a baseball player has, the more force he is able to put into the ground to get his body moving quickly. We can teach running mechanics all we want but if there is limited power being put into the ground on each stride it’s pointless.
On the other side of the coin, it’s not an “all-in or all-out” concept. There can also be a danger in training only max strength without understanding the total picture of the baseball player standing in front of you.
2. The Warm-up
A thorough warm up is what sets the athlete up for a productive training session or game. We’ll go over the steps involved in the warm up and movement prep protocol that all of our baseball players should go through at the beginning of every speed session.
Being explosive and running (and stopping) quickly can be very taxing on not only the muscles and joints, but the central nervous system as well. It is imperative to perform a proper warm up for speed training:
3. Linear Acceleration
Linear acceleration means getting our center of mass moving as quickly as possible moving forward. I It obviously relates to many sports, but is best put to use on the baseball field in the form of base running, stealing and in the outfield. We’re going to break down linear acceleration into three phases and explain how we train each phase separately and eventually connecting them into one fluid movement.
o Phase 1 – Posture
o Phase 2 – Power
o Phase 3 – Drive
4. Lateral Acceleration
Lateral acceleration is where a baseball players can separate himself among the pack. The ability to accelerate or change direction quickly while maintaining an athletic posture sets a ball player up, not only from a performance standpoint, but also visually speaks volumes about his athleticism during any recruiting process.
Why We Use It?
We use it to stay in an athletic position while keeping our “eyes on the prize” when moving laterally. This can go a long way when getting a jump on a ground ball or an outside and/or wild pitch for a catcher.
5. Lateral Change-of-Direction
This is an area where many baseball players make the most mistakes. It’s also an area where top-end speed is not a factor, making those who are great movers in a short area excel. It can be particularly useful to the infielder who needs to make quick cuts to get to a ball on time, or a base runner in order to beat out a run down. We will instruct on how we change direction and go over some corrective cues and strategies you can use to become more proficient at them.

Thanks to everyone who came out for Demo day this week! It was a great event and congrats to our prize winners! We really appreciate Rick Miller from Wilson bringing all of the new Demarini and Louisville Slugger bats and Wilson gloves for the kids to try out. All of the HM families will be getting a link to purchase equipment at a discounted rate. If you were at demo day and need the link, let me know and I can get it out to you - [email protected]

Ready to see and tryout the latest and greatest in equipment?? Let's go....5 PM - 7:30 PM tonight at Hit Machine. Seriously - it's free - YEP! and were giving away prizes as well.

Leave your bats at home......we will have plenty to try including the brand new 2023 Meta's - including the BBCOR that hasn't even launched yet! It's always baseball season at Hit Machine! Ask us about the membership discounts. See ya tonight!

It's DEMO Day at Hit Machine 5-7:30 PM tomorrow tonight!

Leave your bats at home and come join us for a night of fun!

Rick Miller from Wilson Sports will be at Hit Machine tonight to show off all the best equipment in the business including: DeMarini bats (CF, The Goods and Voodoo One) Louisville Slugger (Meta, Select and Solo), plus the best gloves in baseball the Wilson A2000's.
Stop in at Hit Machine and take some swings, ask questions and try out the latest equipment. The event is FREE and all are welcome.
We may even have some fun contests with prizes!
No membership is required. To help celebrate, we will also be having $25 off 3 month, 6 month and annual memberships.

We have just a couple opening remaining...sign-up soon!

Get Ready...Hit Machine is hosting a Hitting Clinic over Halloween weekend! Charlie Reschke is the hitting guru leading this clinic, with lots of other instructor support. Video Analysis included, this will certainly be a great opportunity to continue to develop those swings and have some personalized instruction. Enrollment is capped, signups starting now. Fee includes BOTH days. See brochure!!

Good luck to Hit Machine's 15 U team today. They wrapped up Pool Play in GameDay's Fall Classic yesterday going 2-0 and securing the #1 seed entering bracket play today. They are playing at Franklin Field - Home of the D1 University of Milwaukee Panthers and the Milwaukee Milkmen. Going to be an awesome experience to play there today - good luck boys! Games will be streamed and link added - first game at noon.

Hit Machine is hiring!! Our teams are very solid and consistently stackin' trophies on the shelf! We are going into our 3rd year and we are expanding! Our goal is to have high quality travel teams ages 9-18U, that can compete with the top clubs in the state - at a fraction of the cost! We are steadily building toward that goal and have added 2 new teams for 2023 season! With that, we are in the process of interviewing and hiring quality coaches and facility instructors. Our club is a family environment, where the coaches/instructors can have a big impact on developing the best local talent around. Please reach or email Shane or Charlie with interest...[email protected] or [email protected]

Get Ready...Hit Machine is hosting a Hitting Clinic over Halloween weekend! Charlie Reschke is the hitting guru leading this clinic, with lots of other instructor support. Video Analysis included, this will certainly be a great opportunity to continue to develop those swings and have some personalized instruction. Enrollment is capped, signups starting now. Fee includes BOTH days. See brochure!!

Extra Tryout. We have asked some kids to come back for another tryout to get a better look at them. That tryout is scheduled for Saturday, September 10th at Field Of Dreams in Sheboygan from 9-11 am.

If you missed the previous tryouts and would like to attend, there is also an opportunity for you to do so, please email us in advance at [email protected]

Looking forward to a great season!!

We finalized teams tonight - Announcements out tomorrow!!

Tryout updates. Hey all, we will be getting a hold of everyone that tried out by Monday and letting each player know where they stand. We had a lot of kids and its taking longer than anticipated, sorry for delay.....

Slight update - We have had a lot of interest from the 8 U group, so we most likely will add that team as well. 8 U parents are encouraged to get their players to the tryouts this weekend!!

Lots of questions and excitement around tryouts this weekend. Most common: You can try out on Saturday OR Sunday during your slot based on year, DO NOT need to attend tryouts both days. Also, you DO NOT need to pre-register. You will register at HM facility and pay $20 reg fee (can be used for team fees, lessons or membership) and we will let you know if your group is starting inside or outside and where.

BEST OF LUCK - it's going to be a great year!

Tryouts are coming.....You have what it takes to play with the top travel team in the area?

Again, for those that can't make the weekend of August 13th, please send me an email at [email protected] - to get on the pre-tryout scheduled for Thursday, July 28th.

Tryout updates: due to many of our coaching staff being involved in a tournament, we are moving our tryout dates back a week to August 13th and 14th (times will be posted below - full brochure up soon with more details). HOWEVER, there are players that either have vacations and unable to attend or need to make club decisions prior to the weekend of the 13th, so we are having a pre-tryout on Thursday July 28th. You must send an email to [email protected] to be included. There are (2) sessions on the 28th: 5 - 6:30 PM and 6:30 - 8 PM. Please arrive 10 minutes early to your session and check in at the Hit Machine facility located at 2005 New Jersey Avenue.

Tryouts for Saturday. August 13th:

9 U - 12U : 9 AM - 10:30 AM
13 U & UP: 11 - 12:30 PM

Tryouts for Sunday. August 14th

9 U - 12U : 4:30 - 6 PM
13 U & UP: 6:30 - 8 PM

Check-in 15 minutes early to session at Hit Machine Facility at
2005 New Jersey Ave, Sheboygan. Reach out with questions to [email protected]. Again, full brochure to be posted soon.

Looking forward to ANOTHER fantastic season of helping to develop our baseball players to reach their full potential.

Save the Dates - Tryouts are coming soon (8U thru 16U) ....Hit Machine is looking to continue our run of developing our players and putting together some of the best travel teams in the state - at less that half the cost of most travel clubs. We are always on the lookout for talented kids that love baseball and want put the work in to improve.

More to come, so follow us for updates this week:

August 5th and 6th and 8th. Times based on age group to be posted by Tuesday. Come see what all the excitement is about!!

Another great weekend of baseball in the Dells for Hit Machine! Our 14U team lost to a really good team from MN and couldn't quite get it done, but the 13 U team stepped in and kept the tournament win streak going! They played fantastic all weekend going 5-0 against great teams from all over the Midwest and finished it off in style winning 7-6 in the Championship against Prospect Training Academy!

Congrats to the players and the coaches - way to get it done guys!! What a great way to spend the 4th of July weekend together with all our our HM families!

Was a great weekend for the 14 U team in Iowa this weekend. Worked there way through a high quality field field of 19 teams in the Open Division Gold Bracket to face off against Morton Potters who were 28-5 this year. It was a fantastic game that went into extra innings - after we survived a bases loaded 3-0 count against us to get the final out and force extras. Great at bats by Kyler, Ryan and Levi (Brett took one for the team) and then a big double by Collin made it 10-6! Ryan started the game on the mound and was fantastic, Kyler was super clutch closing it out. These kids are tough, gritty ballplayers who all pull for each other. Very fun to watch them play. Congrats on the Championship boys....every member of the team contributed to make this a great weekend - this was a well earned ring!!

Hit Machine 14 U games will be live streamed today on the NEW Game Changer app from Booyah Stadium in Green Bay.. Download and Search for Hit Machine 14 U.

10:00 AM - HM vs Impact Sports Academy (Hieptas) All Stars
4:00 PM - HM vs ISA Royals

Congratulations to the 14 U Hit Machine team for bringing home the Championship in Slinger this weekend! They went undefeated throughout the tournament and finished it off with a convincing 11-5 victory over Slinger to win the tournament! This team next travels this weekend to play in the ISA Memorial Day Bash at Booyah Stadium in Green Bay. Keep it going guys!

Good luck to our 18 U Swarm powered by Hit Machine fastpitch team...they are getting ready to kick off their tournament season. Best of luck this year ladies!

Multiple event winners, big RBI totals, a medalist, a hat trick and a straight-set winner: Who will be high school athlete of week?

Hey all -

Hit Machine's Levi Mills has been doing what Levi does...racking up hits and hitting dingers. He has been nominated for HS Player of the Week after his 3-4, HR and 5 RBI game!!!!!!!

He needs our votes....only takes 10 seconds. Let's him him get the recognition he deserves!

https://www.htrnews.com/story/sports/high-school/track/2022/05/17/poll-vote-manitowoc-sheboygan-high-school-athlete-week/9760485002/

Multiple event winners, big RBI totals, a medalist, a hat trick and a straight-set winner: Who will be high school athlete of week? Pick the high school athlete of the week for Manitowoc and Sheboygan.

13U Champions at the Cavaiani Turf Invite!!!

Mother's Day weekend also kicked off a great start for our 13U team playing in the Appleton CBT invitational on the turf. The team lost a hard fought game 1-0 in pool play, only to come work back through bracket play and beat that same Caviani Black team 10-3 in the finals to WIN the Championship on Sunday!

This team is legit! Looking forward to watching them bring more championships to Hit Machine this year and continue to climb up the state rankings! Way to go fellas!!!!

Our Hit Machine 14 U team got things kicked off in the right way over Mother's day weekend. The team took 2nd place in the GTS tournament in Elkhorn, with a hard fought 6-5 loss in the championship game. They had a few pick-ups as they wait to get their full team back after the HS season, appreciate the support fellas!

Way to start the year off guys!!!

Man O' Man.....it's fun to watch our 8U Hit Machine having fun playing tournaments. Such a luxury to have so many coaches that played college baseball, teaching these kids how to get it done on the diamond! Great job boys playing in your first tournament this year in Green bay!

The boys are looking sharp!!

8 U Putting in the work at the Hit Machine indoor facility...getting ready for first tourney of the year in Green Bay!

Wisconsin

Congrats to our 13 U and 14 U Hit Machine Teams for making the pre-season Travel Baseball Rankings! Our 13 U team cracked the rankings for the first time, coming in at #20. After a great season last year, our 14 U team starts off the season ranked #1. Both have great tournament schedules this year, looking forward to a fun and challenging year!

https://www.travelbaseballrankings.com/wisconsin.html

14u Rankings

Hit Machine-Sheboygan
Hitters Navy
Stiks Academy Black
Midwest Halos
Prospects Training Academy-Cardinal
GRB Green-Madison
GRB Green-Milwaukee
JBA Clutch
Hitters White
Richfield Rockets
Bronco Select
GTS

13u Rankings

Bennie Elite
Midwest Halos
STiKS Academy Black
GTS Elite
GRB Rays MKE Black
Oconomowoc Five O's Red
GRB Rays Green
Hitters
West Bend Thunder
Milwaukee Hitmen
Kewaskum Tribe
Muskego Warriors
Muskego Storm
Elmbrook Braves Red
Lannon Stonemen
GRB MKE Sliders
Genoa City Predators
Prospects Training Academy Cardinal (PTA)
Brewstate Baseball
Hit Machine

Wisconsin Up-To-Date Rankings 8u-18u Updated 2/3/2022 FAQs

Congratulations to Hit Machines Levi Mills and Collin Thorne who won the 15U Baseball Express National tournament sponsored by Marucci! Collin and Levi both play for the HM 14 U travel team and were super excited to qualify for this 2-man national event. They won their quarterfinal game last week 14-3 against the Bash Bros from Wyoming, they beat Idaho Power in the semi's 12-2 and won the Championship 13-1 against Go Blue from Michigan. Levi was 10-15 in the championship game with 2 dingers, Collin finished 7-16.

They each will receive a $1,000 college scholarship, a new Marucci bat, $100 gift card to Baseball Express and some Marucci Swag. Great job boys, way to represent the Hit Machine!!

2022 Baseball Express Classic Finals

Collin and Levi playing Live for $1000 scholarship in the HitTrax finals

https://youtu.be/O6F9AshGGHU

2022 Baseball Express Classic Finals #baseballexpressSponsored by Marucci