Former College Pitcher Bo Weir Opens 765 Sports Lab, a 29,000-Square-Foot Baseball and Softball Training Center in Kokomo
KOKOMO — Bo Weir, the owner of Fire Pizza, has a new business opening this weekend, and it has nothing to do with pizza. His indoor baseball and softball training center, 765 Sports Lab, holds its ribbon cutting Saturday, Oct. 3. The open house runs from 2 to 4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. It is free, and visitors can hit balls and enter giveaways for bats and gloves. Training programs start Monday, Oct. 5.
The 29,000-square-foot facility is at 1500 N. Reed Road, on the east side of U.S. 31 near Ivy Tech and next to Taco Bell. The building was once an automobile museum and most recently housed Lucas Home Furnishings. Some also know it as the former Johanning Civic Center or Kokomo Event Center. The Lucas Home Furnishings store will keep part of the large building.
“Baseball in and around Kokomo and surrounding counties, I felt like was on a different level,” Weir said in an interview on the WILO Party Line talk show program. “At this point it’s kind of dwindled away a little bit, and we want to rekindle that fire.”
From the Diamond to the Kitchen
Weir, 33, lives in Russiaville and played college baseball hoping to reach the major leagues. That plan ended when an elbow injury led to Tommy John surgery. He came home and worked for a year at NHK in Frankfort. Then he got the chance to buy Gambino’s pizza shop in Russiaville on contract.
“Pretty much spent every dollar I had saved and bought the pizza shop on contract and dove into it,” Ware said. “It’s been fun. It’s been hard, but it’s been good for us.”
He bought the shop in 2019. Over about a year, he changed nearly every recipe and pizza name, and then renamed the business Fire Pizza. It now has locations in Russiaville, Flora and Walton and employs about 75 people. Weir said the difference is how much the staff makes in-house every day, including dough, bread, sauces, baked chicken, seasonings, cookies and desserts.
The Idea Behind the Lab
Weir said his 7-year-old son brought him back to baseball. On a vacation to Denver, he took his son to an indoor training facility there and liked the concept. He got approval to open a franchise of that company, which has more than 200 U.S. locations, in Kokomo. While he and his partner, Kokomo real estate professional DJ Butcher, were looking at properties, Weir decided to build their own business instead.
“There’s no way that we’re gonna pay someone else for their model when we can just do it ourselves,” he said.
Pro Kitchens, a local commercial kitchen exhaust hood company that Weir also owns, did the construction. A five-person crew of Jeff Durbin, Nick Newland, Corey Sexton, Tyler Miller and Weir built out the whole space in about two months.
Technology in the Cage
The facility has 11 batting cages and a 96-by-96-foot infield. Its main feature is a HitTrax cage. Players use an iPad to choose baseball or softball, pick a difficulty level from 8U through high school, and select any MLB or college stadium. A 100-inch screen shows the ballpark.
“Say you choose Wrigley, say you choose 8U baseball,” Ware said. “It’ll pull up Wrigley Stadium on the 100-inch screen. It’ll bring the fence in to 160 feet, and the pitching machine will know to throw it 40 mile an hour.”
Each round is 15 pitches. The screen shows virtual fielders making plays, and the system tracks bat speed, ball speed and exit velocity. The facility plans to hold home run derbies, four-on-four competitions and giveaways in that cage for players from youth through high school.
Three pitching cages use Rapsodo systems. These track live at-bats and show pitch speed, spin rate, location, swing speed and launch angle in real time. Players log in by QR code through the facility’s point-of-sale platform, Upper Hand, so they can follow their progress over time.
Coaching Staff and Programs
Ryan Berryman is the head of baseball operations and head trainer. He retired this year as an Indiana Hall of Fame head baseball coach at Western High School. Weir said Berryman has brought in 14 to 15 trainers with college or professional experience to lead lessons, camps and group sessions.
Cole Acord, who is well known in local softball, leads softball operations. Seven collegiate softball players will work with him. Eli Hickman, who worked for years at Bo Jackson’s speed and agility school in Chicago, will run speed and agility programs from youth through high school. Will Eldridge, associated with the Atlanta Braves, will also be available for Pitcher training at 765 Sports Lab.
Weir said the facility is also talking with local Little Leagues about discounted cage time for each team before the season and about holding try out pricing.
– One-on-one sessions with a college- or pro-level trainer cost $90 an hour, or $72 for members.
– Group sessions with one trainer and three players split that cost, so it comes to about $30 per player for non-members.
– Memberships come in one-, three-, six- and 12-month lengths, plus a family option. Members get 20% off training, camps and clinics.
Phone lines open Monday at 765-450-6180. Information and registration are available now on the 765 Sports Lab Facebook and Instagram pages and through Upper Hand.
The name “765 Sports Lab” is a nod to the entire 765 area code. Weir anticipates drawing baseball and softball enthusiasts from the entire 765 area code region and beyond.
“I couldn’t do it without you guys,” Weir said, thanking the community and his Fire Pizza employees.
