Region baseball teams use advanced technology for competitive edge

On a sunny postseason off day, Andrean's baseball players shuttle as groups between the 59ers' field and the basketball gym.

Up on the east landing, with a veil blocking them off from students shooting around below, senior Matt Lelito lifts up black netting and enters a makeshift batting cage. Sixty feet away, a pitcher superimposed onto a projector screen brings the ball over his head and delivers. The simulator shoots a baseball out of a hole roughly 2 feet tall and 1 foot wide, and Lelito swings.

Meanwhile, Andrean assistant coach Jordan Smolar directs Lelito. First, Lelito gets 10 pitches in a hypothetical scenario: There's a man on third, and Smolar wants a groundball through the right side. Normally, each time Lelito swings, a camera across the plate from him feeds data into a computer screen behind the cage.

The screen shows exactly where the ball would have gone on an actual field, along with its exit velocity, launch angle and more. The machine, known as HitTrax and separate from the simulator, is malfunctioning today. It takes the 59ers back to baseball's dark ages — only three years ago.

Andrean is one of a handful of Region baseball teams to embrace widespread use of technology. Head coach Dave Pishkur and his coaching staff have access to more data than ever, and the team's new pitching simulator has revolutionized their offseason training.

“We've never had the ability in the winter months or when it's a rainy day to face 90 miles an hour, or an 80 mile-an-hour slider that's unhittable, or something like that,” Pishkur said. “Our kids, at the beginning of the year, had difficulties hitting 75 miles an hour, and there's not one kid in our program that can't hit 90 now.”

The 59ers track the same metrics MLB teams regularly work with, but they aren't the only ones. Boone Grove's Jake Gholston and Kouts' Jim Tucker are also in on the shift and hope to remove much of the guesswork associated with player development and in-game strategy.

Kouts uses the gameSense pitch recognition system to train players to determine what the ball will do within 15 or 20 feet after it leaves the pitcher's hand. Tucker said that the program has helped the Mustangs increase their batting average by 75 points since last season.

Tucker got an introduction to cutting-edge technology at the 2018 American Baseball Coaches Association convention in Indianapolis. While perusing booths occupied by companies hoping to sell coaches on their products, Tucker stumbled upon the Marc Pro — a muscle stimulator that Tucker said has helped his players recover during a taxing season.

“A lot of our nine guys will pitch and play the field, and we need them every day,” Tucker said. “I tried it at the convention for just five, 10 minutes and felt the benefits of it. I bought two right on the spot. It's been huge for our program. It doesn't get guys back to 100%, but if they leave the field at like 40% feeling with their arms, they'll come back the next day at 60, 70, 80%.”

Gholston tracks metrics that help him detect even small differences in performance. Two are exit velocity and launch angle, the speed and angle at which the ball leaves the bat. Gholston said he wants to prioritize line drives, and tracking launch angles with machinery like HitTrax allows his staff to know exactly how much players improve over time.

“If it's important, we should measure it,” Gholston said. “It's like MLB front offices — they want a scout's opinion, and they want the analytics side as well. My job is to know the numbers, know what they're doing and see if they're doing what they were doing two weeks ago.”

Advanced data can point toward specific changes players should make in their pitching motions or hitting mechanics, according to Smolar, who operates and gives private lessons at NWI Sports Performance in Crown Point.

One example: The Rapsodo system measures pitching numbers like spin rate — which measures a pitch's rotation speed — and the amount of horizontal and vertical break on pitches. Smolar said a pitcher with a high spin rate will see the ball maintain its plane longer. A low spin rate generally will see pitches sink earlier.

Rapsodo tracks pitching data, such as the ball's spin rate.

Robbie Weinstein, The Times

With that knowledge, Smolar said, pitchers can match their fastball with the optimal arsenal of secondary pitches. Gholston said he even crafts individualized game plans for his pitchers using spin rate.

“This is the best season I've ever had," Wolves pitcher Eddy Schultze said. "I'm so much stronger; (Gholston) has fixed my swing mechanics wise. ... From the beginning we've all trusted coach, and it's working out so far."

Smolar said that before the season he expected Andrean, the Midwest's top-ranked team by Perfect Game, to take a step back after winning the Class 3A state title in 2018. He believes the simulator, however, has made a huge difference.

In 2018, Smolar said he felt Andrean started slowly at the plate. Rain-outs dotted the early schedule, and the 59ers hadn't faced much live pitching in months.

Now, Andrean can come closer to replicating live pitching, even indoors. Players and coaches said the simulator creates a far more realistic experience than when a coach or player pitches from 15 or 20 feet away, and the machine can launch a fastball over 100 miles per hour. It can simulate righties and lefties, plus various arm slots.

Pishkur said the simulator is so popular that alumni who play or played college baseball return to use it.

“I love the HitTrax, but if I had to only take one or the other, I'm taking the simulator,” Pishkur said. “It's like we've got a permanent batting practice pitcher that never has a sore arm.”

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