The Hitter’s Cave – Cave Bats – Travel Ball Squads
Our motto is “Win Every Inning!”
Enroll your player in our innovative Travel Ball Team experience. With our “a-la-carte” tournament selection system, you only pay for the tournaments you choose to play in!
Your player will compete at a higher level and showcase their skills in our GRSD FL West Coast teams.
The Hitter’s cave travel ball squads
An Innovative “A-la-carte” Tournament Experience
Instead of committing to an entire season’s expenses up-front, our “a-la-carte” tournament selection system offers you choice.
We’ve heard feedback from parents about other travel ball team financial and time committments, so we innovated this system to work with your schedule. You only pay for what you use.
For instance, if you have a vacation planned during a tournament weekend, you don’t have to pay that tournament’s fees.
Our fee system is transparent. You know, up-front, exactly what you are committed to.
Fill out the form below to get an info sheet with all the details and pricing.
Frequently asked questions and what makes our travel ball program is different and better!
Why does travel ball cost so much?
Often, parents taking the jump into travel ball are surprised by the cost. If you are used to Little League, or Rec Leagues, the price for travel ball may seem high. Little League is subsidized, so that is how they can make it more accessible at a lower price. Travel Ball, on the other hand, is not subsidized and the team is responsible for the cost of the league membership, tournament fees, insurance, umps, baseballs, etc. The CAVE BATS teams operate at near cost. Unlike some travel ball teams, the Hitter’s Cave does not operate the travel ball teams to make money. Our business model is to offer group baseball lessons at our facility. The teams are just our way to give our students the abiility to apply what they’ve learned in a competitive environment.
What is this "a-la cart" tournament pricing thing?
This is another thing that makes playing for the Cave Bats better than other travel ball organizations!! A-la carte tournament pricing.
You see, many other travel ball organizations make you pay up-front for the entire season. You pay for every tournament… whether you play or not!
We’ve gotten feedback from parents, and developed our pay-as-you-go tournament pricing. You only pay for the games and tournaments that you play in!
If your player is sick, or if you are on vacation, or some other reason comes up where your player can’t attend, then you don’t have to pay for that game or tournament!
Do parents coach the teams?
The teams are coached by professionals… either past professional players, or current/previous college players. We know that some travel ball teams get a “Daddy Ball” reputation because parents coach the teams. Sometimes parents do help with Cave Bat practices, but they have a coaching background, and they are volunteers (they are not paid to coach). We also have a strict policy that if a parent volunteers to help, that does not earn their player special “privileges” (better positions on the team, etc.). Every player earns their position through hard work and hustle.
My son is a fantastic <insert position here>. Can you guarantee he will play in that position?
All players will EARN their position. Further, our coaches will discuss with you their development on a regular basis. We know that shortstop seems to be the most coveted position to play, but not every player is “built” to be a shortstop!! Our promise to you is that we will develop your player to be a well-rounded baseball player, and as they get older, and their body, strength, and speed develop, coaches will recognize their best position they should be playing. Our goal is for your player to develop their baseball skills to make their high school team. And should they want to earn a college scholorship, they will know what it takes to do that. So coaches will discuss with you, and your player, what their optimal positions are they should be focusing on.
How many players are on a team?
We try to keep the teams at 12 players. We’ve found that 12 players allows us to be competitive in games and tournaments, and if some kids are sick or on vacation or something, we won’t be under 9 players and have to forfeit games. 12 players gives us some “cushion”. Now we are aware that some travel ball teams have up to 24 players, and many kids “ride the bench” most of the time. We feel that is not fair to the players. We want to give players as much game time as possible… that’s where they learn the most. So we keep the teams to 12 players… enough to field a team, but not so many that most of the kids are on the bench all the time.
Will my son get to pitch?
Our philosophy is that ALL players will learn to pitch, and will end up pitching frequently. We believe very strongly in arm care. We do not let players under 18 go over 65 pitches. Because of this, it means we need every player to pitch if we are going to be competitive in a tournament environment. So the answer is… YES! Your son will pitch.
What is the goal of your travel ball program?
This is what we feel makes the CAVE BATS a better travel ball program than others… we have specific goals for our players. The travel ball program is not a money maker for us. We operate at near cost. We field travel ball teams because we’ve observed that parents whose players are serious about baseball, and put in the work at lessons, want an “outlet” for their players to perform what they’ve learned, in a competitive game environment.
We’ve noticed that other travel ball programs are “money making” operations (not that it’s a bad thing!). We just have a different philosophy. Our goal for every student is to be able to make a high school team, and then should they want to go on to play college ball, or beyond, that they will know the level of work that higher level ball requires, and we can prepare them for that level.
So our goal is always player development. We want your son to rise to the level of their effort.
How do you fight "burn out"?
We’ve observed that players often “burn out” of baseball when it is no longer fun. We often see this happen at 13u (when they move up to the “big field”) and they are not having the same results they are used to. We also see burn out happen when kids spend too much time on baseball and don’t have other recreational outlets.
We fight “burn out” in three ways. First, we keep to a limited game/tournement schedule. Usually no more than 20 or so games a season. We don’t play every weekend… we space out games and tournaments so your child can have family and friend time too!
Second, we get to know every player and we constantly check in with them, and do our best to recognize if baseball is no longer “fun” for them. We try to have fun during our practices and we incorporate humor whenever possible.
Third, we try to build team commeradierie. When players have friends on their team, they enjoy it more! Baseball is often a “brotherhood” for players… it’s a great sport, and baseball players are some of the best kids we know! We will work hard to create a healthy team environment.
We can’t guarantee anything… that is largely dependend on your child. But our promise is to do our best to make it fun. We love baseball… we think baseball is FUN! We will do our best to prevent player burnout.
How far do you travel for tournaments?
We do our best to remain “local”. Many of the games and tournaments are in the Tampa Bay area. Some tournaments are in Lakeland. Finally, the furthest regular season tournament is in Orlando.
Some seasons, we may plan a Cooperstown tournament. This is usually a life-changing experience for a young player, but it requires a lot of planning and fundraising. We don’t do this every year, so we will communicate, and decide with the team parents if we do a Cooperstown trip or not.