By William Jacko
Special to The Laker/Lutz News
If you have ever picked up a bat and glove and dreamed of being a professional baseball player, you’ll want to know about Wily Mo Baseball Academy in Wesley Chapel.
Former Major League Baseball player, Wily Mo Pena, founded the Academy for children and young adults who want to train like the pros, and raise their game to the next level.
“I created the Mo Baseball Academy for the community and the kids, because a lot of youth training is not done right,” Pena said. “When you have coaches with professional experience doing the training, kids learn what they need to do to make it to the big leagues and become great players.”
Jason Contino, a coach at the Academy, believes that the daily presence of a major league ballplayer inspires players and motivates them to play their best.
“There is something special about a kid who gets to practice with a Major League Baseball player, sponging off that knowledge and learning from a pro,” Contino said.
Wily Mo Baseball Academy provides training for every skill and position, from hitting and fielding to pitching and catching, with a goal that every student athlete becomes a complete ballplayer.
“Everything that you need to be a professional ballplayer is taught here,” Pena said, “The pros taught me to train and play the game and that’s what we do here — train hard every single day for every skill.”
The Academy also provides older players a platform to showcase their skills for professional scouts, with a goal that every player is on a scout’s radar
Pena considers a disciplined work ethic the most important component of success, which leads to increased stamina and more confidence— the building blocks of a professional baseball player.
“The key sign is how they work, showing up on time, showing that they really want it,” Pena said. “It’s a pleasure to have kids like that, and if they keep training hard, and they come every single day, they will get leveled up.”
Coach Steve Miller played baseball as welland handles the pitching and businessside of the Academy. He knows the importance of having someone as experienced as Wily Mo Pena setting the agenda.
“The way that we run the Academy is it’s like the first day of spring training,” said Miller. “We make sure our kids stretch, do agility and strength training and conditioning. We don’t just get them on the field and let them pull a muscle and hurt themselves. We warm them up. We run them. Then we get into the defensive drills.
Then we get into the batting. It’s very cyclical, like it is in the pros. We do it the right way, every day.”
Pena foresees a bright future for the Academy, and he is planning to build a facility designed specifically for the weather conditions in Florida.
“We are building our own park with two buildings to house an indoor field and 20 batting cages,” said Pena. “Right now we’ve been missing a lot of practice because of rain, and an indoor field will let us train every day.”
Pena is considering the Grove and Wiregrass areas of Wesley Chapel for his indoor facility, and he anticipates a star-studded grand opening that will help make this dream a reality. Having played Major League Baseball, he knows what it takes to make dreams reality.
Wily Mo Baseball Academy • www.wilymobaseballacademy.com
(813) 428-0053
Published 9/19/18
