Massachusetts Governor Patrick and Leslie “Buddy” Lewis, right, co-owner of Nocona Athletic Goods Co., at yesterday’s ground-breaking.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

FALL RIVER — The next time baseball season rolls around, the bat you heft may come from the Spindle City.

Officials of the Nocona Athletic Goods Co., based in Nocona, Texas, yesterday broke ground at the city’s industrial park for a new production plant for its line of Nokona Rock Maple bats, used last season by Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.

The 12,000-square-foot facility, which will open with about 12 employees, will include a retail store and an indoor batting cage and outdoor infield to test its products. Officials also plan to offer tours.

The Nokona Bat Factory won’t be completed until spring.

But the company (whose products are spelled Nokona because the U.S. Patent Office refused in 1934 to trademark the name of an incorporated town) is so anxious to step up to the plate, it is already looking for a temporary production center, also in Fall River.

“Right now all the orders are being placed for spring training,” said Louis Ledoux, director of operations for the bat division.

Why the Spindle City?

Company co-owner Leslie “Buddy” Lewis lives in Massachusetts and knows Governor Patrick, who suggested the Bay State when Lewis revealed that Nocona wanted to manufacture its own bats instead of subcontracting the work.

Ledoux, who grew up in Fall River and, as a builder, worked in the region, pushed for Fall River, saying, “It’s right in the middle of Red Sox Nation.”

Ledoux said Nocona, best known for its handmade American-made baseball gloves, wants to build bats that compete with the Louisville Slugger, one of the best known brands in the field.

The United States isn’t at a loss for bat manufacturers. The Web site baseball-bats.net lists 35 bat companies, 11 of which have products approved — like Nokona bats are — for Major League Baseball.

“We want to go above and beyond what other bat companies do,” said Ledoux.

For one thing, the company wants to improve testing on the wood coming in from upstate New York. One testing method involves firing a ball from a cannon to assess its “ball exit speed ratio,” which is essentially a measure of how far a ball bounces off a particular lot of wood.

“We’re going to test all the billets to make sure we get the best possible wood,” he said.

There will also be tests for moisture content, high-tech lathing, and the ability to give players a bat customized to their specifications, even if those specifications change.

Ledoux said it’s not unusual for companies to get calls at odd hours from players concerned that their bat suddenly isn’t performing correctly.

“When they think something’s not right, if they want us to change it for them, we can customize it,” said Ledoux.

Bats made of specially dried hard rock maple, the ones Nokona are pushing, have been growing in popularity since Barry Bonds used them to hit 73 home runs in the 2001 season.

Ledoux said about 10 percent of major league batters now use maple bats, and that ratio is growing. “The cell structure of the wood is different, so you get better pop off the bat and it’s supposed to last longer.”

But the company expects to begin making bats with the traditional wood, white ash, as well.

Maybe they can have their own home-grown brand name.

Spindle City Slammer, perhaps?

gemery@projo.com