Young baseball and softball players in Russellville/Logan County and the surrounding area once again have an indoor facility to learn and practice skills valuable to their sport.

A training building which was originally called the Southern Kentucky Sluggers Sportsplex is now simply The Plex. Thirteen people are part of the group which has leased the facility. Some of them are baseball coaches and parents of the players. Others are public-minded citizens who realize the importance of a facility like this for the youth of the community. Having a facility like this is also a recruiting tool for economic development, giving young families a valuable tool for their children to reach their potential.

The Plex is located between Cambridge Place and Sol Azteca at 109 Robins Way, just off the U.S. 68-80 bypass between the Hopkinsville and Clarksville Roads.

 The 12,000 square-foot building includes 10,000 square feet of artificial turf. On it now are four batting cages, two pitching machines (one each for baseball and softball), two portable pitching mounds, and a home plate area with batters’ boxes. The nets around the batting cages are retractable, which allows room for a full-sized infield on which teams can practice indoors.

Teaching the lessons are two of the owners, Kyle Wall and Bryan Fuller, and former Franklin-Simpson three-time all-state softball player Lindsey Rogers Cook. She is an experienced teacher of the game.

Fuller and Wall both played baseball for Campbellsville University and are graduates of the school. Fuller was featured on ESPN for his marathon work on the mound in leading CU to the NAIA World Series. Wall has coached baseball here since 2000. In addition to assisting his Campbellsville teammate Ethan Meguiar with the Cougars, he has coached the Logan County Middle School Cougars all three years of their existence. He also is a little league coach and leads the West Kentucky Aces, a local travel team organization. Fuller joined two other former Cougars, Curt Whittington and Andrew Johnson, in coaching a young LCHS baseball team this summer.

“We want everyone to know that you don’t have to be part of a travel team to be a member here or use our facilities,” Wall says. “This is open to everyone.”

Families can be members of The Plex on a monthly basis. Hourly and group rates are lower for members, as are long-term memberships, but the facility is also available for lessons or rental by non-members.