Marysville High School baseball senior Chase Kilgore (left) steps into the batter’s cage. Monarch head coach Nick Blake (right) will monitor Kilgore’s swings on the screen (at the top of the photo) hooked up to the program’s HitTrax system. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Santa Claus came a bit early this year for the Marysville High School baseball program.
“It’s a new little toy,” said MHS head coach Nick Blake of the “gizmo” that’s called a HitTrax.
The devise, which was purchased by the baseball program’s Diamond Club fund-raisers, measures just about everything that a baseball player can do.
It can monitor a pitcher’s speed on his fastball and off-speed, breaking stuff, along with the bat speed and velocity of a hitter.
“Any pitch or swing by any of our players is recorded,” said Blake. “We can compile all types of data to determine what are each player’s strengths and where they need to improve.”
Hitters can be judged on whether they move the ball for a base hit, or whether they make an out.
“This records not only their bat speed, but also their reaction time, launch angle and the velocity of the ball as it leaves the bat,” said Blake.
It also shows a pitcher not only his speed, but also where the ball goes for either a strike or whether it’s out of the zone.
There is also a feature to help catchers with their game.
“There is a catcher’s module that shows their time coming out of their crouch when someone tries to steal a base on them,” said Blake. “We can also gauge a catcher’s arm velocity as they throw down to try and catch a base runner who is stealing.”
Blake, who learned about the HitTrax at a coaching convention, said the new device is a valuable teaching tool in this day and age of high-tech coaching.
“The HitTrax gives us a lot of hard numbers to look at,” he said. “Our coaches are very excited because this gives us immediate feedback and a lot of data in order to help coach our guys.”
The HitTrax uses a pair of high-definition cameras, which capture the data and displays it on a high-definition screen under each player’s individual name.
The Monarchs have been using the equipment three or four days a week during the fall and winter in order to prepare for the 2020 season.
Players from the Marysville youth leagues are also encouraged to use the device as they track their progress.
“We have about 40 of our high school guys who have been using it during the off-season,” said Blake. “There are only a handful of high school programs in the country that have this technology.
“We feel it’s going to be a huge benefit for our program in the coming years.”