KC Athletes spent an afternoon with Bob Jones at Between the Lines Elite Sports Academy (BTL) in Shawnee, Kansas. Winter workouts were in full-swing at BTL when Jones gave us a tour of BTL’s 20,000 square foot facility. Jones and his son, Rusty (SM Northwest/ Butler County Community College), operate and manage BTL. BTL’s employees specialized baseball and softball training instructors including, Matt Gray (SM South/Butler County Community College), who spent time playing professionally after being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2003.
BTL opened its doors in 2007. The facility features four machine-pitch batting-tunnels, six hitting-tunnels, two pitching-tunnels, two infields, and a weight room. BTL’s facility is available for its members, teams, and public rentals.
BTL is also home to the Hornets baseball club. BTL has a separate building that is used by the Hornets’ club teams. In 2020, BTL fielded 16 youth baseball teams from 11U to 18U. Since 2009, the Hornets program has produced approximately 170 players who have played collegiate or professional baseball after graduating from the Hornets program.