BUSINESS FEATURE
BY MIKAH BOYD
The local business o ers more than just batting practice opportunities. SWINGAWAY SERVICES • Baseball and softball practice for hitting, pitching, catching and eldwork • Cricket practice and games • Corporate team-building initiatives • Wi eball tournaments • Birthday parties • Private lessons • Coaching assistance from former professional athletes
“WE HAVE FOUR BATTING CAGES. THEY’RE 70 FEET BY 14 FEET , SO THE BIGGEST ONES THAT YOU CANGET.” SCOTT MCCARTHY, OWNER OF SWING AWAY
• Largest available batting cages— 70 feet by 14 feet
From left: Scott, Derek and Chris McCarthy moved to Jersey Village six years ago. After Derek started playing sports in Cy-Fair ISD, his parents decided to open Swing Away. (Photos by Mikah Boyd/Community Impact Newspaper) SwingAway Cy-Fair couple develops innovative batting cages C hris and Scott McCarthy moved to Jersey Village six years ago and found the Chris said. “So we decided to move his o ce out here.” The couple did not limit the distance. We’re able to open it up, ... so it can be one big giant cage to do eldwork and such.” Swing Away also hosts birthday
SwingAway 12730 Cypress Valley Road, Cypress 713-360-6315 www.swingawaytx.com Hours: Mon.-Fri. 3-9 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. noon-6 p.m. Four large batting cages allow for batting and pitching practice.
area’s batting cages were either high end and overpriced or more a ord- able but with outdated equipment and facilities. They decided the community needed a good middle ground, leading to the couple opening Swing Away in Cypress. Scott was able to use his architectural expertise to develop the facility on Cypress Valley Road and provide space for other businesses as well. “Once we put [our son Derek] in Cy-Fair sports, we started seeing all these other batting cages, and him being the architect, I was like, ‘You know what, this is something you can whip up pretty fast and easy,’”
batting cages to just baseball; they said they have also seen a rise in softball teams using the space and have been able to feature other sports, such as cricket. An advantage of the design is the cages can be broken up to hold more batters or opened up to provide space for full practices on rainy days. The facility also employs two former professional baseball players who coach and o er private lessons. “We have four batting cages. They’re 70 [feet] by 14 [feet], so the biggest ones that you can get,” Scott said. “You can throw from a normal or from a professional or a high school pitching mound, the correct
parties and corporate team-building events. Looking ahead, the McCar- thys are gearing up for summertime and are looking to host camps and events such as wi eball tourna- ments in the coming months. Because Swing Away’s location is more secluded, visibility and community awareness have been di cult since the business opened in December 2020. “But just putting up the signs, the ags, word of mouth, a lot of Coles Crossing people come right over here, ride their bikes even,” Chris said. “And so you just kind of spread the word that way.”
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CY FAIR EDITION • MAY 2022
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