Travel softball coming to Ithaca

For a long time, local softball players have had to go elsewhere in central New York to find travel softball teams to play for following the school year. Elmira, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton and more all have teams but not Ithaca. HitZ Ithaca is looking to change that.

HitZ is a baseball and softball training facility that holds summer camps, private lessons and clinics. Now, it’s getting involved in travel softball.

The registration period is currently underway with tryouts expected to take place Sept. 12. The two age groups available are 16U and 18U, meaning the player has to be that age or younger on Jan. 1 of the year they’d play.

Currently, there are two former college softball players on staff: Quincy English, an Ithaca High School graduate who played for both Tompkins Cortland Community College and Penn State Harrisburg, and Katie Hickey, who pitched for Texas Women’s University. With their experience on the staff, Chris DeLeo, who will become the owner of HitZ in the near future, felt it was the right time to establish travel softball teams.

“We just needed someone that really would be able to, as far as softball, commit to something like that,” DeLeo said. “We talked about it, and then over the past couple months, we’ve been just gathering information by talking to coaches, talking to league presidents, parents, players, instructors and just getting information about it.”

The main goal for DeLeo is to limit the amount of travel parents have to do in the summer to find quality softball.

“A lot of teams in Rochester and Syracuse, they’re bigger teams, and they want the best of the best,” DeLeo said. “They’ll take as many kids as possible, and [the kids are] really fighting for playing time still. They’re traveling a long way because that’s just the nature of them wanting to be competitive.”

He essentially wants to make it worth the athletes’ time because traveling great distances to not get adequate playing time is not a feasible trade-off. Now, it’s just a matter of getting the word out since registration numbers have been a bit lower than anticipated, forcing them to push back the tryout date.

“I’m always looking to try and generate more interest and at least get the word out so that kids are aware,” DeLeo said. “They’re driving to Binghamton, for example, for a team and practicing all year. Just the time alone it would save them if they have schoolwork or their parents are working because many of these players obviously don’t drive. Hopefully we get more local girls.”

DeLeo has been talking to coaches, posting on softball pages and more to get the word out. It is a first-year program, and he’s hoping that this can be the start of something special in Ithaca.

“We want to try and establish a solid program for girls because what it’s going to do is create the tightness, keeping kids together so they’re not all scattered,” he said. “That’s what a lot of good teams do. A lot of successful players and teams play together. They’re creating that bond, that team bond, with each other for years to come.”

Beyond creating a tight-knit group, DeLeo wants to help softball players on their journey so that hopefully they’ll pass along their passion to future generations of players. He’s an example of that very goal, being a former college baseball player and continuing to play semi-professionally while being an instructor at HitZ.

“My huge goal is that players, and I can’t stress this enough, when they learn the game and they play the game, they can also, down the road, coach the game, work as an instructor, be a trainer, all that kind of stuff,” DeLeo said. “That’s what’s special about softball and baseball. You can just pass it on. It’s a great tradition, and it’s something that they’ll always have.”

Ultimately, for DeLeo, it comes down to providing opportunities in an area that did not have much to offer beforehand.

“The worst thing is where they’re just not doing anything or just not playing because they don’t have the means to do so because it’s too far,” DeLeo said. “I’m willing to work with people financially or any way that we can to be able to get them to play. That’s the main goal.”

Those interested in registering prior to the Sept. 12 tryouts can do so at hitzithacabaseball.com. The tryouts will be located at either Ithaca High School or Cass Park.