Costa Mesa baseball training facility helps players hone their craft

Brooks Pounders figured out his next step almost as speedily as a fastball he used to throw at Major League Baseball parks across the country.

The Newport Beach resident, originally from Riverside, spent several years in the big leagues as a relief pitcher after being called up by the Kansas City Royals in 2016. His tenure included 11 games with the Los Angeles Angels the following year.

But things started moving in a different direction in 2021, after he was signed by the Seattle Mariners. He tore his rotator cuff and labrum, and also found out that his wife, Lucia, was pregnant with their first child.

“I was just kind of over traveling,” said Brooks Pounders, now 32. “I wanted to be home. I was trying to figure out the best way to stay close to my family, and this was it.”

Newport Beach resident Brooks Pounders is founder and owner of the Clubhouse in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“It,” in this case, is the Clubhouse in Costa Mesa, a full-service baseball facility that Brooks and Lucia opened in October 2022.

The facility is already coming up on a year old, and it offers many options for little kids all the way up to high school, college baseball players and beyond.

The place felt right to Lucia, who said she used to have cheerleader practice there when she went to Mater Dei High. It happened to become available when Brooks was trying to figure out his next step and offering private pitching lessons in his backyard.

Seven batting cages and two pitching mounds are featured in the 14,000-square foot space. So are an open turf area for stretching, fielding and throwing, as well as a full workout and recovery room.

Two pitching mounds are featured at the Clubhouse baseball facility in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Brooks Pounders said the place really filled up last spring, with the wet weather drawing teams inside. With school starting up again, attendance has begun trending upward again.

About half of the Clubhouse’s business is with teams, which is a bit different than the individual atmosphere Pounders imagined, though he does still do private pitching lessons every day.

“As soon as they walk in the door, it’s like a hangout,” Pounders said. “As much as we try to turn it over every hour or whatever they’re using the cages for, it turns into one big gathering.”

One popular feature is a customizable “HitTrax,” a high-tech simulation system that allows customers to feel like they’re hitting at their favorite ballpark.

The Pounders have a full life with now two young children, a boy and a girl, but the Clubhouse remains a big passion project for them. It’s the second business for Lucia, who formerly owned a clothing store on Balboa Island.

Joe Navran of Irvine is a frequent customer, with three boys ages 6 through 11 who all play the sport. More than that, Navran said his Orange County Crush travel-ball organization, headed by another former Major Leaguer in longtime Washington Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa, also utilizes the Clubhouse.

A lounge area is part of The Clubhouse baseball facility in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“His facility is top-notch,” Navran said. “It’s a safe location, safe atmosphere … El Segundo just won the Little League World Series. SoCal is just the hub for youth baseball right now. When we travel around to other states, California always does the best, and it’s just crazy to me that we don’t have good facilities.”

Bobby Nichols, who lives in Newport Beach, brings his 11-year-old son Mason to the Clubhouse. Mason plays for the Mariners Select 11U team, which also trains there.

“We went in there and fell in love with it,” Nichols said. “I love him and his wife, they’re class people, and he understands the functionality and the importance of fundamentals in baseball. I just feel like it’s such a dynamic place for local and out-of-area kids to come in and hone their craft in a controlled setting, regardless of the weather or temperature or whatever.”

There are also fun touches. The flooring is designed to look like clay mound dirt, and the front of the facility features tables labeled “Tickets” and “Snacks” that feel like an old-time ballpark. There’s also a lounge with several televisions.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Brooks Pounders stands in front of a replica mural of an old scoreboard at The Clubhouse baseball facility in Costa Mesa. The mural has the date Pounders pitched his first MLB game.

(Don Leach/Daily Pilot)

The only two nods to Pounders himself is an old-school scoreboard that features the date he made his Major League debut — July 5, 2016 — and a rug that bears his signature.

“Brooks didn’t really want his name all over the building,” Lucia Pounders explained. “He wanted it clean and simple, but I said, ‘We’ve got to give you your moment.’”

Brooks is more interested in the moments to come for the athletes he’s trained. He will follow their progress with excitement.

“Right now, everything’s still so young,” he said. “I can’t wait for that one kid who I’ve worked with for two, three, four, five, six years finally get to where he’s wanting to go. Whether that’s college or pro or whatever, that’s going to be the most gratifying thing for me.”