After serving the SouthCoast for 18 years, Lumber Yard Sports closes its doors

On the road to becoming a college-level softball player, New Bedford’s Lilly Gray spent countless nights on Orchard Street at Lumber Yard Sports Batting Cages and Instruction.

“That place was like my second home for a while,” said the 2022 New Bedford High graduate who will be playing next year at Bloomsburg University. “During the winter, I was always there four or five days a week. It was huge. It definitely aided my training. It was five minutes from my house and they always fit you in.”

Gray isn’t alone.

For the past 18 years, Lumber Yard Sports has been the go-to place on the SouthCoast for aspiring baseball and softball players with 21,000 square feet dedicated to batting, pitching and fielding.

“It’s had a big impact on the community,” said New Bedford High softball coach Harry Lowe, who has been an instructor at Lumber Yard Sports for 17 years. “During the wintertime that place is packed. You got the little league teams and then later, it’s the high school kids. It’s helping keep the kids off the street and do positive things for them.

“It gives the kids something to do. That’s what Lumber Yard always did. It’s always been about the kids.”

After 18 years and the last 12 on Orchard Street in the city’s South End, Lumber Yard Sports officially closed its doors on June 29 after its lease was not renewed.

“The building owner called,” said Lumber Yard Sports owner Randy Debrosse. “He’s always had plans to do apartments over there. I don't think he’s ready to do that now, but he called in the beginning of May and gave me the news.

“It’s bittersweet. It’s always been a part of our lives even when the batting cages weren’t active. We were always going here, there and everywhere with baseball and softball.”

Debrosse ran Lumber Yard with the help of his wife, Michelle, a teacher at Taylor Elementary.

All four of their children — Kirsten, Alexis, Chandler and Logan — played either baseball or softball for New Bedford High. Alexis went on to play softball at Central Connecticut State University while Chandler joined her there, playing baseball for the Blue Devils.

“It was such a big part of our lives,” said Randy Debrosse, a New Bedford firefighter, who played baseball at New Bedford High and UMass Dartmouth.

A childhood friend and Legion teammate, Gary Hathaway, came up with the idea of opening batting cages with Debrosse.

“He approached me and said, ‘What do you think of doing something for the little league?’” recalled Debrosse. “We originally opened up as Wild Pitch, but we outgrew our clients.”

Debrosse always prided himself on offering a space at a reasonable price for the area’s youth to work on their skills. On Sunday nights, Lumber Yard would hold two-hour sessions for high school athletes at a reduced cost.

“It seemed from smaller high schools in the area where the athletes play multiple sports it was always hard for them to get enough people to rent out a cage for an hour,” he said. “I’d see team captains paying out of their pockets for only a couple of kids. We decided we were going to do a high school two-hour block and charge $5 a head. It made it easy for them to come and practice and get their work in. We’ve been doing that for a long time and that was very successful.

“We’ve had up to 160 high school kids from all over the place on Sunday nights. That’s going to be the hard part knowing that things like that aren’t going to be the same anymore.”

Lumber Yard also offered its facilities at a low rate for area instructors to teach lessons.

“I was probably the cheapest place around to do lessons and keep it affordable to do lessons,” Debrosse said. “For me, it wasn't about trying to make money. It was about trying to provide a space for athletes to train.”

While most athletes were from New Bedford and the SouthCoast, Debrosse said he had teams from as far away as Bridgewater come to Lumber Yard.

The space was also used by the New Bedford Bay Sox and Wareham Gatemen over the years. Athletes from other sports would also train at the facility.

“Anybody that was looking for a space to rent out,” Debrosse said. “We tried to accommodate whoever wanted to come in.”

SOFTBALL: One throws strikes. The other slugs home runs. Together, they're a force for New Bedford

“It was really nice because you saw so many kids working out there,” said Gray. “When you walked in the door, you could see people doing different things. It had everything. When I was little I worked on hitting and fielding balls and then I focused on my pitching as I got older.

“It’s sad that it’s shutting down because I spent so many of my years there.”

While it won’t be the same, Debrosse said he’s looking into a partnership with the Bay Sox travel program to open something later this year.

“We’ll pop up again sometime in the fall,” he said. “They’re building a building in Dartmouth. It wouldn’t be the same kind of batting cage setup but it would give us a home for the (Lumber Yard baseball and softball) travel teams.”

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Lumber Yard Sports Batting Cages shuts down after 18 years