Dan,

Tyler signed his letter yesterday for Hesston College. It is a good deal for him and us. Athletic and academic money are covering 2/3 of total cost. He is very excited. Tyler applied and was accepted to 16 colleges and universities. He had over $100,000 in total offers before he picked Hesston.

Let me say that we are very pleased with our experience with Baseball Factory and especially with the commitment you made to Tyler. He enjoyed and benefitted from his learning experience at Pirate City and in Omaha. The staff did a great deal to help Tyler improve is baseball talent. I wish I could remember the former pitchers name (from Astros that had Tommy John surgery and was out for awhile) that took the time to work with Tyler one on one at Pirate City. Those few minutes were a tremendous confidence builder for Tyler.

We look forward to staying in contact and appreciate any input moving forward. Again, thanks and Baseball Factory can take a lot of credit for having another player moving on and moving up.  Please let me know any suggestions for this summer.

Terry Bratton
 

As many of you know, Kevin has committed to Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and Coach Falcon has assured him of a spot on the team.

Thank you all for your involvement in his development, both as a young man and as a baseball player. I believe that Kevin is headed to a school that is a great fit in every way. For Kevin, you have accomplished the goal of "building the most complete student-athlete both on and off the field by providing world class instruction, life changing experiences and new opportunities that springboard student-athletes to the right college fit."

Kevin has been on an upward trajectory, both academically and athletically, throughout high school and I give a large share of the credit to you because of how you stress thinking ahead and encouraging the boys to strive to fulfill their potential.

All of you have had a role in Kevin's development, but I want to especially thank Dave, Woody, Schil, Joe and Rick Sofield.

Dave and Woody have given us expert guidance - Dave since Kevin was in 8th grade and Woody for the last year.

Schil and Joe gave Kevin instruction that he didn't get up here. Until high school, Kevin never had instruction at playing middle infield, but when he tried out for an AAU team run by the coach of Curry College's team, the coach saw that Kevin had the right footwork. The coach told me that if kids didn't have it by that age (15 - 16), they likely never would get it. He got it from working with the Baseball Factory and was recruited as a middle infielder for Clark. Likewise, Schill deconstructed and reconstructed Kevin's swing in a couple of superb lessons.

Kevin's player page was critical to Kevin being recruited by Clark. I don't think Coach Falcon ever saw Kevin play or perform at a showcase, but he said that he and his assistant's studied the video, stats and evaluations on Kevin's player page.

Finally, please also let Rick Sofield know what a powerful and positive impact he had on Kevin. One time we were at an AAU tournament in Connecticut. The team was to play mid-Sunday morning and the coach wanted the team at the field an hour before the scheduled game time. We went to bed fairly early Saturday night, but his teammates were running the halls and knocking on our door well past midnight. In the morning, as we were headed to the car to get to the field on time, his teammates were in the restaurant eating breakfast and the coach was just entering the restaurant for breakfast. We were, of course, the only ones from the team at the field until just shortly before the game was to begin. At one point, Kevin asked why we had to be on time when we knew everyone else would be late. I responded by asking "What would Coach Sofield do when all but one of the players is late?" Kevin smiled and replied: "He would forfeit the game." I think Kevin still asks himself "what would Coach Sofield expect of me" and acts accordingly.

I will always be grateful.

Thanks and best regards,

Kevin Mawe

He loved it!  He had told me he had never been coached at the level of coaching he had at Tampa.  He has been on a lot of teams and has had a lot of different coaches, but no one has ever broken down the position coaching like the Tampa coaches had.  He was tired and sore when we got home, even after working out every day before we left, but that tells me that he gave it all he had!  He watched the training DVD the day after we got back and is going to work with our high school baseball coach to get a daily workout figured out.  He is anxious to get his evaluation so that he knows what he needs to work on!  Thanks for checking on him!
Amy

Amy Lieb

Chris

Chris will send you his own comments and impressions, but I can tell you he was totally blown away and had the time of his life.  He loved all the coaches and loved the training and instruction.  His team won the O/A championship and Chris drove in the tying run during the "Alabama Shuffle" to settle the winner of the tie breaker.  I will be interested in hearing the impressions he sends to you.  Right now all he talking about is going to "Omaha" and riding on Pirate City cloud nine.

Ursula and I were equally blow away by the whole experience!!!  Every parent I spoke to had nothing but good thing to say about the experience.

Happy New Year,
Gary

Dear Mr. Brown,
    
Happy New Year. I had the time of my life in Pirate City. It felt as if I was a Pittsburgh Pirate with the room, coaching, and my own locker. It is always said that you can never stop learning in the game of baseball, which I learned firsthand at this showcase. I shaved some time off my 60-yard dash and learned that I can be even faster with a few minor changes to my running form.  I also felt that my blocking has gotten better since the work with the Pirates catching coach. I have been working on my receiving as well and I'm not going to lie, it is different but I feel that I will start to get more strikes for my pitchers. I also learned that a catcher can play a long time as long as I can catch and throw well. It is good to see the differences in the recruiting process of college and major league recruits. I had Coach Murray as my team coach and I can honestly say that I wish he was my high school coach. He calmed my nerves and made me feel comfortable at the showcase which, I believe, is why I played well. The conditioning coach taught me a few things about my jumps on the pitcher and how to accelerate quicker. I have made it a personal goal of mine to break my high schools stolen base record. I am going to get faster and work on my jumps with some of the drills that I was shown at this showcase.  In my honest and personal opinion, I liked this showcase more than Omaha, however, the College World Series will be an experience that I will never forget. In fact, I still keep in touch with J'daylin Jackson.  It was funny last week because it got to about 82 degrees outside with little humidity and all the players from up North were saying, "Man this is ridiculously hot." I just laughed and told them that here in Florida we pray for weather like this because it is ten times hotter in the summer. I made them all jealous when I told them that we start high school season in two weeks.  I couldn't live without playing baseball for that long. I am so glad that I live in Florida. This was an amazing experience and I am glad that I went; it gave me pro instruction that I will use to my advantage and make myself a better player and person.
 
Sincerely,
 
Mitchell Barati

Dear Mr.Bowers,

I'll start off by saying that Pirate City was one of the best experiences I have had in my baseball career and I will never forget it. The organization and effectiveness of the camp helped me in becoming a better player during the off season. The coaching staff was fantastic. They all helped me in different ways from hitting to fielding to strength training. The skills that I have learned here will stay with me through my high school season. I enjoyed being in Florida with elite baseball players from across the country and making new friends. I was very pleased with my experience with Baseball Factory and look forward to continue on with Baseball Factory.

Sincerely,

Gianni Magliaro
 

Hi Adam!

Nick is doing well. He has made a definite choice to play for LSU Eunice - which is a division II Junior College about three hours from home. It has a great academic curriculum with 100% of it's credits directly transferring to one of five Division I schools. They have won their World Series three of last five years.

He decided on the Junior College as opposed to holding out for a better offer to one of his dream division I schools. He knew he would be redshirted freshman year and probably on the practice squad second year, given the strength of the bench on the roster. It all boils down to playing time. He wants to play now.

I'm thrilled he's chosen a strong program with a serious work ethic. The coach has been there 8 years. He focuses on accountability, academics, and tolerates little partying! He has an impressive scholarship record of getting 100% of his performing players a full ride for their last two years with strong Division I schools. Nick's thoughts are...I can only get better with playing time.

Adam, thanks so much for all your support over the last two years. Baseball Factory offered a full range of support and education for parents. The instruction offered to the players allowed for a national measuring stick, and a realistic view of ball play at the next level. I think Nick now has a realistic goal and a plan to get there!

Take care and I will keep you posted on his play!

Lisa Flair

Patrick,

Thank you for everything you do. I am sure your job is very rewarding on a personal level but you should know that your hard work and dedication is appreciated and it allows young men the opportunity to pursue a dream.

I know with the hundreds of kids that pass through your program each year, it is hard to keep up at times.

Feel free to forward this to your staff and coaches. They also play a huge part in your program's success. The coaches knowledge and the level of training is surpassed by none!

Thank you for allowing these young men the necessary tools, guidance and training!

Best regards,
Ed Parrott

Hello Mr. Packer,

My experience in Arizona was great. I enjoyed staying with all the players and having responsibilities instead of having my parents do everything. I also enjoyed riding on the bus with the other players like the pros do. I was very happy with the coaches, the way they taught, and also I liked the competition. I haven't faced very good competition lately, so it was good to play some better players.

While I was in Arizona, one of my coaches helped me tweak my swing to give me better balance. I found out that I was too narrow, and he said I should widen my feet, and instantly I had much better balance. In the college recruiting workshop, I learned a lot about how important it was to keep every letter from a college coach, even if it's a small school. I also learned that without good grades, I'm not even eligible to be recruited by college coaches. One of the coaches, Brice Cutspec, told me to play farther off the bag to help out the second baseman with his range.

Coming home from Arizona, I really learned how much ability at first base I really had. Also, I realized that I was a better hitter than I thought. Before, I wasn't all that comfortable hitting against guys a lot older than me, now I know I can hit against anybody. The college workshop really changed my mindset about doing my work outside of practice and games. I learned that it isn't a cake-walk to get to the bigs. You need to put the work in every single day if you want to achieve your goal.

From my point of view, I thought I played well at the plate. I thought I had a couple of disciplined at-bats. But, I think I need to continue to work on foot speed, and I think I need to adjust to the longer distance from the mound to the plate when I'm pitching.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to go to Arizona. I hope I get more opportunities to play in Baseball Factory events.

Davis Fouts

Ryan,
 
It was a great experience.  The facilities, coaches and everything was just fantastic.  Jake liked the coaches and the instruction.  For a 12 year old to be playing on those fields and staying in that facilty-he was over the top excited!  We are very interested in anything that is occuring with Baseball Factory next year, regardless of the location.
 
Thanks
 
Todd LaSota

Dear Mr. Sclafani,

My name is Brian Shearer and we met in 2010 at Cape Cod.  I do not know if you remember me but I am frequently in the Columbia office for lessons and like you, I went to Trinity School.  You were very supportive of me last summer and it meant a lot.

In August 2010 my high school years began when I entered Mount Saint Joseph. Academically, I took all honors courses and did very well.  Athletically, I continued to develop my skills at Baseball Factory and played for MSJ in the fall and spring.  I also played on a team this summer.  We just completed our season by winning the league’s end of season tournament.

In addition, I attended several Baseball Factory events throughout the year and once again attended the Cape Cod Pro Training.  Although you could not be present this summer, I wanted to thank you for having your company run such great events.  It is amazing how much I learn from the instruction I receive through the Baseball Factory.

I want you to know how great Adam Darvick, Coach Schilling, and Coach Lake have been to me over the past two years.  I really appreciate everything they have done for me. Each one has taught me a lot not only about baseball but also about life.  Coach Schilling, Coach Lake, and all the coaches at the Cape have great eyes for picking up little changes that are needed and they have drills for every part of the game.  Coach Bernhardt is a great man.  Between his instruction at the Cape and Coach Lake’s instruction during my lessons in Maryland, I really believe my fielding fundamentals are getting better.

I thought Coach Sofield’s talk last summer was one of the best I have ever heard and he was even more inspirational this summer.  I’ll never forget his explanation of the “pain of discipline” vs. the “pain of regret.”  I also really liked how Coach Bernhardt stressed perseverance and having a good attitude.

If you ever need someone to work or intern at the Baseball Factory please keep me in mind.  I would work hard and I know it would be a great learning experience.  I hope that I made a good impression and that people could see signs of improvement. It would be an honor to be invited to other Baseball Factory Events.

Sincerely,
Brian Shearer

Will
Just wanted to tell you Dylan (and me) had a great time this past weekend. I thought the instruction was great and Dylan said he learned a bunch of new things. The hitting instruction paid immediate dividends as he was really making great contact all weekend from both the coach and player pitched games. I also had a long chat with Matt Schilling and really got to understand the philosophy of the program.

Marshall Glick

Steve,

It was a great experience, Manuel had a blast!  He felt that having professional trainers providing feedback and strategies on improving his skills was the best.  He enjoyed being in the field all day long with all his team members.  Coach Johnson and Bryce were an inspiration for Manuel.  As a parent I felt that we got our money's worth do to the excellent training our son received plus it was extremelly organized, quality is the key word here.  (Manuel is speechless as he had lot's of fun!  And he is motivated to play ball at the next level.)  He is also interested in doing future events with the Baseball Factory.
 
Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.
 
Erika and Manuel Loera

Hi Steve,
 
To answer your question, "Did he enjoy the event and working with our staff?", here is what Stewart posted on Facebook:
"Just finished one of the best weekends of my entire life!!!!!! I had the most fun ever!!!! And finally got some specific position coaching!!!!"
 
Guess that about sums it up!  Kate and I were very impressed with all the coaching and how well the players responded to their instruction.  The pace of the weekend activities was power-packed, no idle time, and days and nights full of baseball.  The games were especially great to watch, and to see the players in game-type situations.  Stewart especially ennjoyed Coach Cutspec's first base specific coaching.  Kate and I were glad you told the players to tell their parents all about the weekend.  We had a super discussion while waiting for our flight back to Seattle, and we keep hearing bits and pieces each day.  
 
Stewart is interested in future Baseball Factory events.
 
Thank you, once again, to you and the coaching staff for making this a meaningful and beneficial weekend for Stewart.
 
Cheers,
 
Tom and Kate Lange

Mr. Naddleman,

Will, 

Adam, 

Hi Chris, 

Chris, 

Steve, 

Hello Mr. Sclafani,

Dear Rob and Steve,

Dear Matt, 

Everyone at Baseball Factory, 

Hi Ronald,