Hit-Stix

The same grit and tenacity Winston Southwell used as a collegiate baseball player is still evident years later in his work as a small business owner.

 “I compete in everything I do, and I want to be the best I can in all I do,” Southwell said. 

 His playing days may be over, but baseball is now his business as the owner and operator of Hit-Stix, a baseball/softball training center. What Southwell envisioned as a small batting cage has blossomed into a full-service, sprawling training facility that offers several batting cages and pitching machines but also features private hitting, pitching lessons, fielding lessons, group skills and drills, camps, and speed and agility training. Three youth travel baseball teams, including the 10u squad Southwell coaches, also call the facility home.

 “I tell people this is basically my man cave,” he said. “Some people have a man cave at their house; this building is my man cave, and I can come up here and hit balls and work with kids all day and hear all of their success stories. It’s awesome seeing kids come in with their first career home run ball or if they pitch well.”

 Southwell grew up in Woodstock, Georgia, a town of more than 30,000 people just thirty miles north of Atlanta. He grew up playing Little League baseball, and when he enrolled at Etowah High School he tried out for the junior varsity squad as a freshman. He made the team, but it appeared he’d be the second-string first baseman behind a touted prospect. However, Southwell, who was called up to the varsity squad and played in the state playoffs, ended up beating him out for the first base job, and the prospect moved to right field. Southwell started almost every game at first base from his sophomore to senior year. 

 While he enjoyed a solid prep career, he didn’t have any major college offers, but determined to play college baseball, he tried out at Faulkner University, an NAIA powerhouse in Montgomery, Alabama. 

 He hit the ball well enough during the tryout to earn a scholarship offer and accepted. After a transitional freshman season that focused on him hitting the weight room, he started every game for three seasons at first base (167 games) and collected 23 HR, 164 RBI and a career .361 Batting Average. A team captain his senior season, the major highlight for Southwell was making the NAIA World Series all-tournament team his sophomore season.

 Upon graduation in 2010, Southwell moved to Fort Myers, Florida, to join his parents, who had just relocated to the area. However, after five months of selling insurance in Fort Myers, he needed a change and moved to Arkansas to be with his now-wife Katrina. The two had met at Faulkner at the beginning of their first semester on campus, but Katrina, a Las Vegas native, had transferred to Harding University in Searcy.

 Southwell, who later earned a degree in business administration and management, initially worked for a bankruptcy firm and moved up the ranks to management quickly. He transitioned briefly to management at Target before ending up at Nike.

 In the middle of a three-year stint at the sneaker store, he had an epiphany. He was coaching his young son, Kaiden’s rec league team, and the season had been ravaged with rainouts. By the end, several of the players had quit, frustrated with the cancellations. 

 “I felt like if we had a place to practice, we would have kept the team together,” Southwell said. “I was sitting with Katrina and I said, ‘You know, I could open a batting cage and run it just fine if the price [of the rent] was right.’”

 That was in April of 2019, and by May he had a building secured. He formed HitStix Batting, LLC. He chose HitStix as a nod to friends referring to his golf clubs. 

 In June, the business was open, and he started teaching lessons. By October, he was booked up with clients in the small, two-cage building. It didn’t take long for word to spread about Southwell and Hit-Stix, which has been named the best athletic trainer in Saline County two years running, and he had steady business. However, he felt the business had outgrown the building.

 One day, after a trip to pick up camp supplies at Academy Sports, he happened to drive by a large warehouse on Highway 5. He saw a “for sale” sign. The owner wasn’t there, but Southwell made contact with him and discovered that the facility could be leased. 

 In April 2021, Hit-Stix moved to the 14,000-squarefoot building that offers eleven cages. In the fall, the operation utilized another building on the back of the property that teams can practice in and from which former University of Arkansas wide receiver Chris Baker runs speed and agility training for young members as well as boot camp classes for adults. 

 “We identified this particular building early on and decided if it ever came free, and we could afford it, we would take a chance,” Southwell said. “This has been great for our community.”

 Southwell hopes to someday own the building and franchise Hit-Stix around the region. Katrina resigned from her job as a teacher at Benton High School, where she also served as the varsity cheer coach and state champion, to help run the business, which features seven part-time trainers. 

 “No matter what at this point, Hit-Stix is here,” Southwell said. “The goal now is to expand.”

 That will take a lot of work, but just like he showed on the diamond as a youngster, Southwell won’t back down from a challenge. 

 “I have always been the underdog guy, and I always worked hard and got dirty and nasty every game,” Southwell said. “It is the same thing with life and anything we do! We will keep working hard to provide the best environment for the athletes in Saline County! We won’t quit until we’re legends.” νNate Olson

The same grit and tenacity Winston Southwell used as a collegiate baseball player is still evident years later in his work as a small business owner.

 “I compete in everything I do, and I want to be the best I can in all I do,” Southwell said. 

 His playing days may be over, but baseball is now his business as the owner and operator of Hit-Stix, a baseball/softball training center. What Southwell envisioned as a small batting cage has blossomed into a full-service, sprawling training facility that offers several batting cages and pitching machines but also features private hitting, pitching lessons, fielding lessons, group skills and drills, camps, and speed and agility training. Three youth travel baseball teams, including the 10u squad Southwell coaches, also call the facility home.

 “I tell people this is basically my man cave,” he said. “Some people have a man cave at their house; this building is my man cave, and I can come up here and hit balls and work with kids all day and hear all of their success stories. It’s awesome seeing kids come in with their first career home run ball or if they pitch well.”

 Southwell grew up in Woodstock, Georgia, a town of more than 30,000 people just thirty miles north of Atlanta. He grew up playing Little League baseball, and when he enrolled at Etowah High School he tried out for the junior varsity squad as a freshman. He made the team, but it appeared he’d be the second-string first baseman behind a touted prospect. However, Southwell, who was called up to the varsity squad and played in the state playoffs, ended up beating him out for the first base job, and the prospect moved to right field. Southwell started almost every game at first base from his sophomore to senior year. 

 While he enjoyed a solid prep career, he didn’t have any major college offers, but determined to play college baseball, he tried out at Faulkner University, an NAIA powerhouse in Montgomery, Alabama. 

 He hit the ball well enough during the tryout to earn a scholarship offer and accepted. After a transitional freshman season that focused on him hitting the weight room, he started every game for three seasons at first base (167 games) and collected 23 HR, 164 RBI and a career .361 Batting Average. A team captain his senior season, the major highlight for Southwell was making the NAIA World Series all-tournament team his sophomore season.

 Upon graduation in 2010, Southwell moved to Fort Myers, Florida, to join his parents, who had just relocated to the area. However, after five months of selling insurance in Fort Myers, he needed a change and moved to Arkansas to be with his now-wife Katrina. The two had met at Faulkner at the beginning of their first semester on campus, but Katrina, a Las Vegas native, had transferred to Harding University in Searcy.

 Southwell, who later earned a degree in business administration and management, initially worked for a bankruptcy firm and moved up the ranks to management quickly. He transitioned briefly to management at Target before ending up at Nike.

 In the middle of a three-year stint at the sneaker store, he had an epiphany. He was coaching his young son, Kaiden’s rec league team, and the season had been ravaged with rainouts. By the end, several of the players had quit, frustrated with the cancellations. 

 “I felt like if we had a place to practice, we would have kept the team together,” Southwell said. “I was sitting with Katrina and I said, ‘You know, I could open a batting cage and run it just fine if the price [of the rent] was right.’”

 That was in April of 2019, and by May he had a building secured. He formed HitStix Batting, LLC. He chose HitStix as a nod to friends referring to his golf clubs. 

 In June, the business was open, and he started teaching lessons. By October, he was booked up with clients in the small, two-cage building. It didn’t take long for word to spread about Southwell and Hit-Stix, which has been named the best athletic trainer in Saline County two years running, and he had steady business. However, he felt the business had outgrown the building.

 One day, after a trip to pick up camp supplies at Academy Sports, he happened to drive by a large warehouse on Highway 5. He saw a “for sale” sign. The owner wasn’t there, but Southwell made contact with him and discovered that the facility could be leased. 

 In April 2021, Hit-Stix moved to the 14,000-squarefoot building that offers eleven cages. In the fall, the operation utilized another building on the back of the property that teams can practice in and from which former University of Arkansas wide receiver Chris Baker runs speed and agility training for young members as well as boot camp classes for adults. 

 “We identified this particular building early on and decided if it ever came free, and we could afford it, we would take a chance,” Southwell said. “This has been great for our community.”

 Southwell hopes to someday own the building and franchise Hit-Stix around the region. Katrina resigned from her job as a teacher at Benton High School, where she also served as the varsity cheer coach and state champion, to help run the business, which features seven part-time trainers. 

 “No matter what at this point, Hit-Stix is here,” Southwell said. “The goal now is to expand.”

 That will take a lot of work, but just like he showed on the diamond as a youngster, Southwell won’t back down from a challenge. 

 “I have always been the underdog guy, and I always worked hard and got dirty and nasty every game,” Southwell said. “It is the same thing with life and anything we do! We will keep working hard to provide the best environment for the athletes in Saline County! We won’t quit until we’re legends.”