Pros give lessons to Cy-Fair hopefuls

A childhood dream of opening a baseball academy became a reality for a group of former and current professional baseball players, following the opening of Hunter Pence Baseball Academy two years ago. Pence, a former Houston Astro and current San Francisco Giant, teamed up with brother Howie Pence and their childhood friends Ryan Patterson and Sean Danielson to open Hunter Pence Baseball Academy, through which they teach aspiring players the fundamentals of the game.

"We can tailor the experience for what a client wants," Danielson said. "If they've never played baseball before in their life and they need to know where first base is, we can help them. If it's a prospect in high school looking at getting drafted, we can also help them with all our connections. We all played professionally, so we know a lot of scouts and college coaches and can lead kids in the next direction if they're looking at that next step."

Each instructor at the academy has played professional baseball in the past, and the coaches use their experience to teach aspiring players.

The men grew up in the Dallas area, but they moved to Houston several years ago and opened the academy in 2011 off Hempstead Road when Pence was still playing for the Astros.

"We weighed our options on school districts and saw that there were about 120,000 students in this area, so we wanted to target Cypress since it's a hotbed for baseball," Danielson said.

Children can start enrolling in programs at Hunter Pence Baseball Academy when they are 3 years old, up until age 18. The Little Sluggers program for 3, 4 and 5 year olds teaches children the fundamentals of baseball, including how to run the bases, the simple fundamentals of hitting, playing defense and how to get outs.

From age 6 to about 18, individual private lessons are offered, during which students focus on hitting, pitching, speed and agility.

"With all these kids here, we're just focusing on helping them achieve their goals, which right now is making their high school team," Danielson said. "That's where we're at with most of them—trying to teach them the game the proper way so when they get to high school they're already prepared."

Players can also start a membership with the academy, which provides them seven-day-a-week access to two pitching machines, weight lifting and instructional cages.

Although there are numerous baseball programs offered at the academy, they also offer birthday parties, kid's night out and other events that do not focus around baseball.

"Even if you're not all about baseball, there are certain events we do that allow you to just be a kid and have a good time," Patterson said.

During the winter, the academy hosts the Hunter Pence All-Star Camp, during which attendees are taught the basics of baseball instruction from Pence himself and other professional instructors.

The academy also offers all-day summer camps and typically provide lunch and a snack for the campers.

In the future, the men hope they can continue to grow and possibly get either a different facility with fields or stay in the existing location and try to find some land on which to put fields, Danielson said.

"We want to keep growing, keep the organization strong and produce some stellar athletes," he said.

Programs offered

• Little Sluggers
• Individual lessons
• Hunter Pence All-Star Camp
• Summer camp
• Spring Break camp
• Birthday parties
• Hitting leagues
• Kid's Night Out
• Catching clinics
• 7 and under and 13 and under teams

20220 Hempstead Road, Ste. 14, Houston 832-478-5313, www.hunterpencebaseball.com

• Mon.–Fri. 3–9 p.m.
• Sat. 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Sun. Noon–5 p.m.