SAXONBURG — Aaron Rekich has gone batty — again.

And through the help of his former track coach, Larry Young, he plans to stay that way.

The two have combined to open RLCbats, a baseball bat factory, in Saxonburg. The business' grand opening took place last weekend.

A Butler High School and Slippery Rock University graduate, and a track standout at both places, Rekich has always loved baseball. He even tried out for the Montreal Expos his freshman year in college.

“That didn't go well, but I always wanted to be part of baseball, somehow, some way,” Rekich said. “Everyone has a connection to baseball. It's the greatest field in the world to make a living.”

During his junior year at SRU, Rekich took his girlfriend (and future wife), Nicole, to a party in Pittsburgh. He dropped her off at her house afterward, but it was snowing heavily and he decided to stay there for the night.

That was the night he dreamed about cutting down a tree to make a baseball bat.

“The next day, I bought a lathe off Ebay with what little money I had. Then I chopped down a tree and made a bat,” Rekich said. “Then everything just took off.”

Days later, he contacted Gone Batty Bats in Troy (Pa.) and ordered some wood. He made a few bats for the SRU baseball team in his grandfather's barn.

Rekich made bats part-time until he moved to Gainesville, Va., in 2008. He was there for three years, opened his own business and made as many as 9,000 bats in one year.

He returned to the Butler area in 2010 because of an illness in the family. Young was coaching track at Mars High School and asked Rekich to be his assistant.

“I respected Aaron so much as an athlete,” Young said. “I loved his drive and work ethic, his passion. And I knew he'd make a great coach.”

Rekich and Young coached together at Mars for a few years. After last season, his 43rd as a coach, Young retired as the Planets' head coach.

“I had time on my hands and approached Aaron about getting his bat business up and moving again,” Young said.

And RLCbats was born.

Rekich makes every bat himself. Young serves as his sales director and assists in painting the finished bats. There's even a batting cage in the building for hitters to try the bats out.

“I could make 25,000 bats in a year,” Rekich said. “Some days, I'll work day and night, depending on the order and how many we have to get done. I've been up all night filling orders before.”

Rekich sells bats all over the country. He's got contracts with teams in Australia, Puerto Rico, Japan and the Dominican Republic.

He donates all of the bats for the Freeport International baseball event each year.

“I've made a lot of contacts that way,” Rekich said.

He once sold three bats to an 11-year-old boy, Robby Espinosa, in the state of California. Espinosa found Rekich's services over the Internet.

Now, more than 10 years later, Espinosa serves as a sales rep for Rekich in California.

“He called me after 10 years. I hadn't spoken to him in all that time,” Rekich said. “He said the first bat of mine he used finally broke and he wanted to order another one. And he wanted to become part of this.

“You don't have to sell a baseball bat,” Rekich beamed. “It sells itself.”

A picture of New York Yankee legend Lou Gehrig hangs on the wall of Rekich's small office in Saxonburg.

“When Lou Gehrig played at Pullman Park all those years ago, my grandfather told me how he got to carry Gehrig's spikes from the hotel to the ballfield,” Rekich said. “I loved that story.

“That picture on the wall makes me think of my grandfather.”

Young is excited about working with his former athlete and eventual co-coach.

“He's one of my best friends now,” Young said of Rekich. “I believe in him. I'm all in on this. Helping Aaron realize his dream is my dream.”

Young took over as sales director for Rekich's brother,. Joe, a former Butler baseball player who is now an air traffic controller in Atlanta.

“I can make a bat in an hour,” Rekich said. “And I plan to stay busy.”