The very first time Matt Malejko and Jason Roberts saw the space they had available, it didn't take long to figure out how many and where their batting and pitching cages would go.
But the more they looked at the 4,500-square foot indoor facility they had chosen for their baseball cages, the more they realized they could offer more than baseball in the space they had available.
And so the Hit & Run Sports Center was born - not the Hit & Run Batting Cages as they first envisioned, but the Hit & Run Sports Center.
Malejko and Roberts, the co-owners of the center that is located on 15 Weldon Road in Lake Hopatcong, held the Grand Opening of their new facility on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and were more than pleased when 450 visitors showed up to inspect the premises and take a few swings on the house in the new batting cages.
The Hit & Run Sports Center can be reached by taking Rte. 15 North to the Weldon Road exit and then making the first left into the building's parking lot.
"We both saw the potential to open up the space for other sports the first time we saw the building," says Malejko, a two-time Morris County Baseball Tournament MVP at Morris Knolls High School in the early 90s when he pitched the team to back-to-back county championships. "Soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, football, cheerleading and baseball teams and will have enough room to conduct workouts and run drills and practice sessions when we retract the nets around the batting and pitching cages."
The 3,500-square foot workout area is covered with padded turf to make it easier for spring and fall teams to stay in shape during the winter months.
But baseball and softball are still the main sports in the center that features five batting/pitching cages; two pitching machines that can crank it up to 90 mph; private lessons for hitting, pitching and fielding for both baseball and softball; and a state-of-the art video analysis system that is accompanied by corrective drill techniques.
Both Malejko and Roberts live in Jefferson Township and both are also very active in the township's youth baseball programs.
Roberts, a former high school, collegiate and semi-pro baseball player who once had a tryout with the Chicago Cubs, is the president of the Jefferson Little League, coaches in the program and is the founder of the Jefferson Lightning Travel Youth Baseball team.
Malejko, who was an All-America pitcher at LSU in the mid-90s, is the director of coaches for the Jefferson Lightning and also coaches in the Jefferson Little League program.
Both also conduct clinics for players and coaches in the township and will be part of the instructional staff at the sports center.
To date, Pope John High School baseball coach Vin Bello and former All-State softball pitcher Kristyn DePasquale, a 2001 graduate of Jefferson Township High School, are also on staff of instructors.
Both Malejko and Roberts run their own businesses - Malejko owns a manufacturing company and Roberts has his own consulting group - and both they have to put in the time in order to make their new venture a success.
"When we starting working with the baseball program in Jefferson, it was almost as if there were two different programs, depending on which side of town you lived," Roberts says. "A lot of people put in a lot of work and now the whole program is under one umbrella and attracting a lot of kids.
"Our Jefferson Lightning program has grown to the point where we will have 100 kids on six teams in four age groups playing next spring.
"Once we saw all this growth and interest, we realized there was a need for a facility such as the Hit and Run Sports Center in the Morris-Sussex area."
The facility is open to all and is ideal for sports-themed parties and functions. Individuals or groups who wish to rent space - whether it is one cage or the entire facility - are asked to call 973-601-3117 and inquire about rates.
Teams and groups are eligible for discounts.
