By Brandon Terrell

For The Tribune

Disregarding their mother’s favorite saying of “No playing ball inside,” the boys had an hour and a half practice indoors.

On Oct. 26, the Blu Crew baseball team conducted its first practice inside the new Blu Crew Academy indoor hitting facility at 105 S. O’Brien St., Seymour.

Luis Munoz, co-owner of the facility, said he wanted to give an opportunity to younger kids in the area.

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When he was a player, Munoz traveled to Indianapolis to train for baseball during the offseason. The frequent trips would add up financially, and he said he would have loved a place to train in his hometown.

The facility consists of four batting cages and a fully turfed floor. The organization will be soon putting in a concession stand next to a Blu Crew baseball team apparel shop.

The Blu Crew Academy offers individual training for anyone with up to three players at a time.

The price for a yearly membership costs $125, which also gets you half off of individual sessions, which would be $20 per hour.

Munoz played baseball for four years at Seymour High School, and his father, Jorge, is now an assistant coach under Owls head coach Jeremy Richey.

Baseball runs in Luis’ blood, and he said it plays a major role in his life.

Now that there is an opportunity to give kids a place to train during the offseason, he hopes more kids will play baseball instead of fading away from the sport in the winter months.

“That’s my goal,” he said. “I want a lot more kids playing baseball around here than they do any other sport.”

Richey said the new facility could make a huge impact in Seymour.

“I know that we have several youth teams trying to get into our hitting facility, and there isn’t enough time to accommodate all teams,” he said. “This will give teams another place they can practice in the winter.”

Richey said the high school team might practice in the facility during the winter.

When asked if he wished the facility was here when he was playing Little League, Richey said, “The demands and expectations put on kids are so much greater today. We didn’t have year-round throwing and hitting programs like they do nowadays.”

Richey has faith in Luis and his business.

“Luis will do a great job working with the youth of this town,” Richey said. “He is a great young man that was a really good player for us, and he has a passion to teach players the game of baseball.”

They started working on the facility in July and are just now finishing things up.

The nets for the batting cages recently reached completion. Munoz said his partner, T.J. Black, his dad and himself have been putting in countless hours to make the facility look as nice as possible.

The Blu Crew Academy is open for yearly memberships and for travel baseball and softball team practices. The facility is open to the public.

It’s open for all ages, from T-ball to professional baseball. Also, it will be open to be rented out for birthday parties or any other non-baseball-related activities.

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For information about Blu Crew Academy, call 812-225-1847 or email [email protected].

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