Jeff UveinoErie Times-News
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that Erie County has had no teams win PIAA baseball titles.
Erie County has never produced a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association baseball champion.
Perhaps it’s the weather — Erie’s winters limit outdoor play time. Perhaps springs sports are pushed aside in a market where football, basketball and others dominate the interscholastic athletics calendar.
Those obstacles have been addressed in recent years, however, by the rise of Bomb Shelter indoor batting cages. Local softball and baseball athletes pack the company’s two Millcreek Township locations each winter.
Attendance has been “wild” since Anthony Santoro purchased Bomb Shelter in 2020. The Mercyhurst assistant baseball coach has hosted more high school baseball and softball teams than he can remember, plus college players, youth players and even Erie SeaWolves.
“I never really expected (the traffic),” Santoro said. “I was just hoping we could get high school kids in to hit together.”
'It’s been wild'
A herd of three-dozen Cathedral Prep baseball players marched into a jungle of netting, artificial turf and baseball equipment.
It was a typical Thursday evening at Bomb Shelter indoor batting cages, 2147 W. 12th St. Prep players and coaches had waited patiently for Mercyhurst Prep’s practice to finish before proceeding.
The Ramblers and Lakers are two of several teams which coordinate offseason workouts at Bomb Shelter. McDowell, Erie High, Fairview, General McLane, Northwestern and more have utilized the space, bridging the gap between fall and spring.
“We’ve had a really good commitment and buy-in from our team and it’s nice partnering with a good facility that is baseball-centric, baseball-oriented and run by a lot of really good baseball guys,” said Cathedral Prep head baseball coach Josh Constable. “They’ve been open-minded and self-reflecting on the needs we require to be productive in the space in terms of equipment and updated technology.”
Bomb Shelter has nine batting cages at its West 12th Street location and three at its original location at 1502 Industrial Drive. The latter is popular among scholastic and travel softball teams such as the Tri-County Surge and newly formed 814 Elite.
“It’s so nice to have because there aren’t a lot of places around here that have this much room to do the things we need to accomplish for this year,” said Cathedral Prep senior outfielder Nick Jackson. “We can do a lot of explosive running stuff, medicine ball work, we can throw in here, have live at-bats and just compete with each other.”
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This marks the third January that Prep has held voluntary workouts at Bomb Shelter. They’re staged three nights per week and attendance usually ranges from 25-30.
Pitchers throw bullpens while hitters take swings from a pitching machine and others off a tee. Pitching lessons have commenced in the room next door and a three-foot-tall speaker is thumping a mix of Kanye West, Riley Green and Bon Jovi.
“It helps build arm strength back up to normal,” said Mercyhurst Prep senior pitcher Noah Trojanowski. “The constant participation is very nice for the team. This is just spring training. This is the warm-up, and once we hit March 1, it’s legit.”
More: Will this new travel softball organization boost the potential of Erie-area players?
Where do players train?
Anthony Santoro moved to Erie in 2018 to assist longtime baseball coach Joe Spano at Mercyhurst University. Santoro asked Spano — Where do people go for offseason training?
“He said basically nowhere,” Santoro said.
Santoro purchased the Bomb Shelter cages on Industrial Drive from Mike and Cathy Shepard in 2020. A year later, he’d already outgrown that location, but was nervous whether he could fill the space on West 12th, formerly a storage unit.
It now rarely sits idle.
“One of the biggest things we’ve talked about since the acquisition was creating a place where Prep and McDowell guys can hit together, or Fairview and Mercyhurst guys,” Santoro said. “Everyone can train together so we can raise the overall talent level in Erie.”
More: What led longtime Mercyhurst baseball coach Joe Spano to take on role as athletic director?
A monthly membership grants players unlimited key code access to Bomb Shelter facilities. Lessons are offered starting at age six.
In addition to Anthony Santoro, its owner and operator, Bomb Shelter’s staff includes softball coordinator Maureen Wolfe, pitching coordinator Frank Fraschetti and hitting instructor Nick Santoro. All played collegiately and have led active coaching careers since.
Bomb Shelter has sponsored Millcreek youth sports, Fairview Little League, the John P. Tramontano Foundation, local varsity programs and more. Its future, Anthony Santoro said, is more space for more players.
“We want to keep adapting, whether it be technology or space,” Santoro said. “We’re trying to constantly review the newest and greatest technology and training methods. None of this is possible without the kids and the families, and I know it sounds cliché, but without them we don’t have anything.”
Contact Jeff Uveino atjuveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter,@realjuveino.
