Where were you on the afternoon of May 24, 2021? In Marathon Community Park, six kids were making history. They were the first children to play a game of softball at a parks and recreation facility in this country using Spaseball, a new lightweight softball and bat — similar to Wiffle Ball, if you will.
Dave Soderquist is the founder of Sweetspot Baseball and the inventor of the patent-holding Spaseball. He stood on the sidelines of the game, giving pep talks to the kids at bat. The teammates were all between the ages of 9 and 11.
Whiff! One child swung and missed the softball by a mile. “Choke up a little bit on that softball bat,” Soderquist said encouragingly, walking over to coach the young player a bit. “All you have to do is keep your eye on the ball,” he said.
Next pitch: Crack! The ball connected with the bat and flew down the first-base line. The child smiled in triumph.
“See? Now he’s building confidence,” Soderquist said. “If you don’t hit the ball, your confidence goes down and eventually, you give up on the game,” he said, explaining that the light weight of the baseballs, softballs and bat allows kids to crush ’em when they swing, sparking joy in the game.
“We’re a home run nation. People love home runs,” said Soderquist. “Even in Grandma’s backyard. With Spaseball, you won’t knock your brother’s tooth out and break windows. But you’ll have a lot of fun.”
Paul Davis, director of Marathon parks and rec, said, “His stuff is revolutionary. It looks like a regular baseball with the lacing and covering. You would never know it’s like a Wiffle Ball or Bat until you pick it up. It’s no longer the old-school big yellow bat. It takes away the fear factor for kids — that’s the biggest thing.”
“I’ve been in the sporting goods business forever,” Soderquist said. “In a previous life, I developed in-line skates.” In fact, Soderquist did so well with producing in-line skates that he sold his company in 2001 after making $100 million in sales. He retired to Layton and worked on an idea that he’d had on his mind for 30 years — a lightweight ball that looked like a normal baseball with the covering and lacings, but weighed 1 ounce versus the usual 5.25 ounces.
Though a Spaseball is similar in concept to the trademarked Wiffle Ball, Soderquist makes an important distinction: a Spaseball is a ball, not a toy.
“When everyone said, ‘You’ve lost your mind,’ I knew I was dead right on,” Soderquist said with glee.
He created all three products from his home in Layton — the lightweight baseball, softball and bat. His inspiration was to get children outside and off the video games, but also to “take away the fear factor,” as Davis said. Many children, especially girls, Soderquist explained, get scared to hit or catch a regular sized ball.
Also, at $29.99 or $19.99 for a senior- or junior-sized set of a bat and ball, Spaseball is much cheaper than standard softball and baseball equipment, where players also need gloves and cleats. Soderquist wants to make the game as accessible to as many children as possible. And he wanted to honor his hometown of 30 years by introducing Spaseball to the Marathon Parks and Recreational facility first.
Back at the game, Davis’ kids were smiling, with nary a glove in sight. They were able to catch the balls easily as they hurtled toward them.
“This feels very good, I like it. It goes very far when I hit it,” one child said.
Soderquist has spokespeople lined up to represent Spaseball, including All-American and future Olympian softball player Sierra Romero and L.A. Dodger Walker Buehler. So the future is looking up and up, much like a Spaseball being hit over Grandma’s house. And Marathon parks and rec was one of the first facilities to play a game with it.
“Months from now, they won’t be saying, ‘I played in a baseball tournament,’” said Soderquist,with a smile and a wink. “They’ll all be saying, ‘I played in a Spaseball tournment.’”
For more information on Spaseball or to place an order, go to sweetspotbaseball.com.
