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The heart and soul of any sports
academy is its staff of instructors. BatSpeed® has
assembled an all-star group. Their credentials insure that
you receive sound, progressive fundamentals whether you want
to take your total game or your hitting, pitching, catching
or fielding skill set to the next level.
Scott Czerniejewski
Owner, BatSpeed
Instructional Specialty: Hitting and Catching
Scott’s passion is baseball. He has spent literally
his whole life devoted to this sport and, in the
process, developed a credible track record. He lettered
and was team captain three out of four years while
at Lindberg High School in St. Louis. During his
senior year he was named MVP and Second Team All
Missouri State Catcher. His natural talent earned
him a baseball scholarship to Meramec College in
St. Louis where he was the starting catcher for Head
Coach, Ric Lessman, who is now at Washington University
and has over 1,000 college wins to his credit. Scott’s
collegiate career batting average was over .380.
While at Meramec, Scott worked at Grand Slam USA
where he provided hitting and catching instruction.
After
a detour through corporate America, Scott has returned
to what he loves and knows best, baseball. Sharing
his love of the game and teaching his expertise in
the areas of hitting and catching has motivated Scott
to open BatSpeed, a premier baseball and softball academy. |
Meet BatSpeed's Instructors
(presented in alphabetical order) |
Jason Acevedo
Coach, 15U Lakeside Legends and 16U Racine Hitters
Instructional
Specialty: Hitting, Pitching and Infielding
Jason has played collegiate baseball at CLC, Bradley
and Carthage College and left his mark on all three
schools. At CLC he was named All Conference and All
Region. He was offered a scholarship to play at Division
I Bradley. However, Jason’s real talents emerged
at Carthage where he enjoyed one of the best hitting
seasons in the school’s history. He lead his team
in almost every offensive category starting with
his .464 batting average. He was also tops in home
runs, RBI’s, hits, doubles, triples, runs, total
bases, walks, at-bats, on-base percentage, and slugging
percentage. His season average was the fourth highest
in Carthage’s history. He has made the school’s record
books in other statistical areas as well. As a result,
he was named 1st Team All American in the Division
III Coaches and Writers Poll.
Jason is a coach at
Carthage’s summer baseball camp which draws close to
200 kids of all ages. For the past six summers, he
has served as one of the four head coaches at the Vernon
Hills Cougar Baseball Camp. If that wasn’t enough,
Jason also is one of the head coaches for the Racine
(WI) Hitters in-house 16U Fall High School League.
Hitters is a highly competitive organization for 15U
through 18U that competes in major baseball showcase
tournaments.
More recently, Jason, who plays 1st base,
has been offered a contract to try out with the Midwest
Sliders of the independent Frontier League for the
2009 season. He also served as assistant hitting
coach for Carthage who made it into the 2009 College
World Series where the team placed third among Division
III schools. He has just been named the head coach
for the 15U Lakeside Legends, a showcase tournament
team created by BatSpeed. |
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Boe Baitinger
Assistant Baseball Coach, Carthage
College
Instructional Specialty: Hitting and
Outfielding
Native Chicagoan Rickey Henderson, all-time stolen
base leader, better look over his shoulder because
BatSpeed’s instructor, Boe Baitinger, knows a thing
or two about how to steal a base. In fact, he is
the all-time career record holder for stolen bases
(89) at Carthage College which is his alma mater.
But that is not the only thing he does well. He is
among Carthage’s all-time top ten when it comes to
offensive stats. Boe’s hitting, speed and agility
skills contributed to his being named team MVP his
sophomore year and Carthage’s appearance at the World
Series for Div. III schools his junior year. Boe
was named to First Team, All Region and All Conference
his sophomore year, Second Team, All Conference his
junior year and First Team, All Conference his senior
year.
Boe is originally from Appleton, WI where his
dad was his coach and helped Boe make an early mark
with seven straight Wisconsin titles in both Little
League and Babe Ruth play. He currently is the Assistant
Baseball Coach for Carthage College who just took
third place for Div. III schools in the 2009 College
World Series. |
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Dan Esplin
Assistant Mustang Commissioner, Lake Bluff Baseball
Association
Instructional Specialty: Pitching, Hitting
and Infielding
Dan’s name and baseball record should be easy
to recognize for anyone from Lake Forest. He was
a three year letterman on the Lake Forest High
School Varsity Baseball Team. He was named All
Conference in 1989 and in 1990 was named All Conference
and All Area as both a pitcher and center fielder.
In 1990 he also captured honors for All County
and First Team All State Centerfield. In 1991 Dan
was invited to play in the Cape Cod Baseball League,
the premier amateur baseball league in the nation
since 1885. He followed that by playing for Division
I baseball school, Southern Illinois where he lettered
for four years before graduating in 1995.
He is one of Southern’s Top Ten all-time,
offensive record holders for: At Bats, Games Played,
RBI’s and Triples. Dan is the head coach
for the Lake Bluff traveling team for nine
year olds. |
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Joe Ferro
Coach, 10U Lakeside Legends and 16U Racine Hitters
Instructional Specialty: Hitting, Pitching and Infielding
After choosing to decline several athletic scholarships
from local colleges after graduating from Romeoville
High School, Joe joined the military. There he played
in the Navy Baseball League for two years while stationed
at Great Lakes. He was captain of his team, led his
league in RBI’s, and with a .482 batting average,
placed third in the league. The Navy team played
in the collegiate summer league which gave Joe the
opportunity as shortstop to play against teams throughout
the Midwest and East. When he began his college career
at CLC, he quickly made his mark as a freshman. He
was named 1st Team All Conference and had a .452
batting average. He transferred to Carthage College
where, as starting shortstop, he achieved an All
Conference batting average of .365. Most recently,
Joe was the starting short-stop for Carthage which
took third place for Div. III schools in the 2009
College World Series.
He currently plays in the Kenosha-based,
collegiate, Wisconsin State League at shortstop and
in centerfield. In addition to his duties as Head Coach
with the Kenosha Legion 16U Traveling Team, Joe has
given private lessons for the past three years and
coaches at Carthage’s summer baseball camp for kids
of all ages. Joe is one of the head coaches for the
Racine (WI) Hitter’s in-house Fall High School League
and has just been named the head coach for the newly
created 10U Lakeside Legends, a Lake Forest/Lake
Bluff fall ball team. He was also offered the opportunity
to play professional baseball in Croatia. |
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Derek Hall
Bio coming soon |
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Bill Johnson
Former Catcher, Windy City Thunderbolts – Frontier
League
Instructional Specialty: Catching, Hitting and Fielding
During his four years at UW-Whitewater, Bill has
racked up an enviable record. Success came early
when, as a freshman, Bill was a member of UW-Whitewater
team which won the DIII National Baseball Championship
in 2004-2005. Fast forward to his junior year and
Bill was recognized as All Conference Second Baseman.
During his senior year, he was named Team MVP, Golden
Glove winner, 1st Team All Conference Catcher, 1st
Team All Region, and 2nd Team Academic All American.
Also during his 2007-2008 senior year, the UW-Whitewater
team placed third nationally in Division III. He
served twice as team captain.
In addition to his stateside
collegiate honors, Bill played for USA Athletes International,
traveling to Australia and Germany in the respective
summers of 2007 and 2008. He also has caught for the
Windy City Thunderbolts, a minor league baseball team
located in Crestwood, IL. Also, he has coached the
summer baseball camp for kids of all ages at Carthage
College |
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Randy Johnson
Pitcher, Kenosha Kings – Wisconsin State League
Instructional Specialty: Pitching
Randy started early to make his mark in the world
of pitching. He was named 1st Team All Conference
while he attended Tremper High School in Kenosha.
When he attended UW-Whitewater, from which he just
graduated, he was a member of the DIII National Championship
Team in 2005. His team also captured three championships
for the conference (WI Intercollegiate Athletic)
in which UW-Whitewater plays. In Randy’s senior year,
UW-Whitewater placed third in DIII’s College World
Series.
On the individual front, Randy has pitched
for the semi-pro baseball team, Kenosha Kings, for
the past four summers. In 2007 he won the Wisconsin
State League Pitcher of the Year. |
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Sean Lavery
Head Coach, 14U Gold Warren
Devils
Instructional Specialty: Hitting and Infielding
Sean first became known for his defensive skills at
shortstop and third base at Warren Township High School
where he started for three years. During his junior
year the team raised its profile by winning the ILHSA
Regional Championship…a first in the team’s history.
Sean was also recruited to play for the 16U and 18U
Kenosha Indians, the highly respected competitive traveling
team. Sean went on to play club ball at the University
of Iowa during his junior and senior years and was
able to participate in the NCBA Regional playoffs,
a first for Iowa’s club team.
During the summers since his graduation he has been
a special assistant to three different Warren Blue
Devils teams. Now Sean is looking forward to being
the first, non-parent head coach of the 14U Warren
Blue Devils. In addition to Sean’s infield defensive
skills, he is particularly interested in teaching the
mental aspects of the game and game strategy. |
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Jeremy Lutz
Head Coach, Lake Forest Baseball Association 14U
Blue Travel Team
Assistant Coach, 15U Lakeside Legends
Instructional Specialty: Pitching and Hitting
Jeremy Lutz has baseball in his blood. His dad
ran the Little League and travel program in Fox
Lake his whole life, so it was no surprise that
when he asked Jeremy to coach the Grant Bulldogs
Travel Team, it was the start of a developing youth
coaching career. At that point Jeremy had already
earned All Area honors and All County honors as
a left-handed pitcher for Grant High School in
Fox Lake and qualified for Team IL in the Perfect
Game program. He had also played ball at the College
of Lake County, where his team was conference contenders,
and Benedictine University in Lisle, IL.
He went
on to become one of the four founders of the Lake
County Sidewinders, which plays in Mike’s Memorial
League, and draws its talent from Grant Township,
Lake Villa and Antioch. Subsequently, he joined the
Lake Forest Baseball Association first as in in-house
coach and now as coach of the 14Gold travel team.
When Jeremy is not coaching, he is stays occupied
as a southpaw for independent teams such as the Kenosha
Kings of the WI State League and the Lookouts of
the Midwest Suburban League. |
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Johnny Meier
Assistant Baseball Coach, Carthage College
Instructional Specialty: Hitting and outfielding
While many of the BatSpeed instructors have lots
of accolades, no one can match Johnnie Meier’s honor
of having been named Wisconsin Baseball Player of
the Year. He achieved this in 2001 as a senior at
West Allis High School. Johnnie went on from there
to showcase his athletic talent at Carthage College.
As a freshman point guard on the basketball team,
he helped Carthage make the DIII “Final Four” with
a record of 29 and 2. At the same time, Johnnie was
starting his four year baseball career at Carthage
playing centerfield. While there he was named to
the 1st Team All Conference in 2004/05, 1st Team
All Region in 2004, and 3rd Team All Region in 2005.
Johnnie
is in his third year as Assistant Baseball Coach at
Carthage where he helps players improve their hitting
techniques and outfielding skills. He can be proud
of the fact that Carthage just took third place for
Div. III schools in the 2009 College World Series.
He also serves as head coach for the 16U Kenosha Bobcats
traveling baseball team. His training in the field
of education combined with his baseball skills and
experience, make him a natural and effective instructor. |
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Kris Musselman
Baseball and FP Softball Instructor
Instructional Specialty: BB-Hitting and Pitching & SB-Hitting
and Infielding
Kris, who graduated from Northwestern in 2000, was
a 4-year starter in center field where he earned All
Big Ten honors. He batted .370 in his junior year.
Since leaving college, Kris has worked with four MLB
teams including the Reds, Cubs, Brewers and Diamondbacks
with their hitting and visions training. At the same
time Kris has developed over 1,000 young clients with
his effective teaching techniques. The 15-U travel
team Kris coached in 2008 won the IL state championship. |
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Brad Naughton
Former Head Sophomore Baseball Coach, Lake Forest
H.S.
Instructional Specialty: Hitting, Pitching and Infielding
Brad has coached baseball since 1989 primarily
at the high school level. Prior to his tenure at
Lake Forest, he has been a Varsity Assistant Coach
at other area high schools.
Along with founder Bob Zacher (see BatSpeed instructor
bio), he is well known as an organizer and coach
of the Lake Forest Police Baseball Clinic, one
of the largest, free baseball clinics in America.
He is also the founder of the Sophomore Summer
League. Brad is currently a member of the Illinois
and American Baseball Coaches Association. He is
also a board member of and coach/player for the
Lake Bluff Baseball Association.
Brad played four
years of college baseball at Millikin University
in Decatur, IL as a middle infielder and pitcher.
During his college summers, he played in collegiate
scouting leagues. He has privately instructed pitching
and hitting. |
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Mike O'Leary
Former Pitcher, Midwest Sliders – Frontier League
Instructional Specialty: Pitching
Meet BatSpeed’s newest southpaw. He has refined
his pitching skills since high school and won lots
of honors along the way. Mike took All Area and All
Conference Honors, along with a trip to the IHSA
state finals, during his playing career at Carmel
High School in Mundelein. At College of Lake County,
where he played for two years, he was All Conference
and All Region. He completed his collegiate career
at the University of Northern Iowa, a Division I
school in Cedar Falls, where his team made it to
the Missouri Valley Conference finals after a seven
year dry spell.
Out of college, Mike played for the
semi-pro Kenosha Kings where he was the winning pitcher
in the Frank Langsdorf League 2008 championship game.
His ability has been further recognized with a 2009
contract to pitch for the Midwest Sliders of the independent
Frontier League. |
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Rob Piggott
Former Varsity Pitching Coach and
Pitching Program Co-ordinator, Warren H.S.
Instructional
Specialty: Pitching
Rob Piggott is in his eleventh season with
the Warren program. The 2009 season will be his
fifth as an assistant varsity coach, working as
the pitching coach and program pitching
coordinator. Piggott spent four years as the sophomore
coach, winning the 2002 North Suburban Conference
championship, and one year as the freshman
A team coach. He also spent three years
coaching Stevenson’s sophomore summer league
baseball team.
A graduate of the University of Evansville,
Piggott played three years of varsity baseball as
a pitcher and earned his degree in Secondary Education. Prior
to Evansville, Piggott played two years of
varsity baseball at Stevenson High School as a
pitcher and an outfielder. |
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Scott Shaw
Pitcher and Affiliate of the New York Mets
Instructional Specialty: Pitching
Major league scouts know talent when they see it
and they certainly saw it in Scott Shaw, a 13th round
pick for the New York Mets in the MLB’s June 2008
Free Agent draft. Scott’s pitching skills first emerged
when he played ball at Warren and then later, on
scholarship, at Division I U of I. After completing
his redshirt junior season in June 2008 and signing
his first professional contract for a handsome bonus
with the Mets, he played a short season with the
Brooklyn Cyclones, a Mets farm team. In the fall
of 2008 he played in the Hawaiian Winter League.
He then went off to the Mets’ spring training camp
in March of 2009 and was assigned to the Mets’ Class
A advanced affiliate in Port St. Lucie, Florida,
the St. Lucie Mets.
Scott is known for his innate
ability to understand what is going on and his outstanding
arm action.” It also helps that Scott is 6’5”, 235
pounds and his typical fastball ranges between 88 and
92 MPH. |
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Bob Zacher
Founder and Director, Lake Forest Police Department
Baseball Clinic
Instructional Specialty: Hitting, Pitching and Infielding
Bob is well known for his role as founder
and director of the Lake Forest Police Department
Baseball Clinic, one of the largest, free baseball
clinics in the country. It serves approximately 225
youth with the help of 70 volunteers. This annual
clinic uses the Walter Payton indoor practice facility,
home of the Chicago Bears. He also has served as
a travel baseball coach for over 20 years, mostly
at the Pony League level.
Additionally, Bob has
seven years of private instruction experience with
young players where he focuses on mastering the
fundamentals, arm care for young pitchers and creating
a "plan of progression" with players
and their parents. His own baseball career was
cut short when he was 15 because of Little League
elbow, an injury which resulted from overuse at
a young age. Arm injuries prevented him from pursuing
a letter of interest from the Chicago Cubs.
Bob
is a Lake Forest Police Officer as well as a state
certified Youth Officer Specialist. He has over
15 years working with youth as a high school resource
officer and drug prevention instructor. |
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