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Mission & Program History

Since 1994, the Hit Factory Baseball and Softball Academy has been a beacon of influence over countless student-athletes across the State of Florida. HFBSA is the longest tenured elite travel ball program in located in the Tampa Bay Area. The HFBSA was founded by former MLB Player, Paul Russo Sr. Coach Russo sought to create a baseball and softball program which focused on player development, education, and advancement to college and professional ball, while competing at the highest possible levels of competition. Through private instruction to small groups and individual players as well as free community clinics endorsed by the Boys and Girls Club of Tampa Bay, Coach Russo’s vision took hold in his hometown community. After 26 years, his philosophy remains in tact and the influence over the youth of the community strengthens with each passing year.

 With 130 HFBSA Alumni in professional baseball and an additional 368 alumni in collegiate programs, this Hit Factory Tampa has become one of the most respected and recognizable in the nation. HFBSA is a staple in the baseball and softball community throughout the Tampa Bay Area (Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Polk Counties), helping players achieve their goals of making their respective high school programs in addition to long term goals of competing at the collegiate and professional levels. Our success isn’t measured by our accomplishments today, but instead by the student-athletes we mold into confident and respectful citizens for tomorrow. 

“Train, Develop, Succeed”

At the youth and high school level we believe in putting development first.  Regardless of skill level or talent, there is always room for improvement. We encourage player development in every way possible throughout each season and have implemented a model that has proven to be successful at both levels to ensure our goals and yours are met.

The HFBSA program allows players to develop at their own pace while still competing against teams within their skill and talent levels utilizing the AA, AAA and MAJORS classifications across the travel ball community. HFBSA teams participate in a wide variety of baseball and softball tournaments throughout the State of Florida and beyond. The program utilizes a variety of national and local tournament organizations to fill the schedules and provide a range of competition and exposure event for the players and families.

Currently, the Hit Factory Baseball and Softball Academy has baseball teams in every age group from 8U and 18U. We recently added a 14U and 16U fast pitch softball team. We are always searching for student-athletes and families seeking to commit to a higher level of competition in an academy style program.