Coach Vic's Batting Cage, Hillsboro

After an eight-year career in minor-league baseball, Coach Victor Hernandez went on to instruct hitting in 1986 at Eastern Oregon University, where he helped the team set most of its hitting records that still stand today. These days, Coach Vic teaches youth baseball players the same philosophies that penned EOU into the record books. At his indoor facility, he perfects students' hitting techniques in a professional batting cage furnished with a Home Plate pitching machine that lobs baseballs at speeds of up to 90 mph. The multitalented pitching apparatus can throw fastballs, curveballs, sinkers, sliders, change-ups, and kitchen sinks with a slight rising action, emulating various in-game situations with pinpoint accuracy. Softball players can also hone their hitting fundamentals similarly with the cage's Atec fast-pitch softball machine.

During one-on-one or group sessions, Coach Vic unveils the elements of a homerun swing, including proper stance, bat grip, and load. Through a series of drills, he gets batters to focus on proper hand action through the hitting zone and teaches them how to repeat the motion in every swing. As an all-around baseball player himself, Coach Vic can also instruct pitching mechanics.