DAN FRENCH
Owner of The Strike Zone
BASEBALL
Pitching, Hitting, Catching, Fielding
Hometown: Richmond VT
High School: Mount Mansfield Union High School (2010)
College: Southern Maine Community College
Southern New Hampshire University
Dan is a Vermont native who grew up in Richmond. He played two years of varsity baseball at Mount Mansfield Union H.S. serving primarily as a pitcher/outfielder. After graduation, Dan attended Southern Maine Community College. He spent three years at SMCC playing varsity baseball and achieving his degree in Sport Management. Dan also took courses on the side to become a certified coach through the University of Maine.
PLAYER ACHIEVEMENTS
- Southern Maine Community College Varsity Captain ‘13
- Yankee Small College Conference Champion ‘13
- Yankee Small College Conference Most Valuable Player ‘13
- Yankee Small College Conference Player of the Week ‘13
- United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Player of the Week ‘11
- Second All-Time in Wins SMCC (12)
- Second All-Time in Strikeouts SMCC (156)
- First All-Time in Innings Pitched SMCC (157)
Emily Harvey
SOFTBALL
Hitting, Fielding, Pitching
Emily grew up playing softball in Essex, VT, and has returned to give back to the community that sparked her love for the game. A proud alumna of EHS Hornet Softball, she clinched state championship titles as a shortstop in both 2016 and 2018, with a runner-up finish in 2017. Following high school, Emily thrived as a NCAA Division III student-athlete, starting her collegiate career as a relief pitcher for Castleton University before transferring to St. Lawrence University, where she primarily played third base.
With six years of coaching experience, Emily has honed a positive and constructive approach to coaching. Her background in performance psychology informs her dual focus on developing both mental and physical strength, helping players excel on the field on game day. Passionate about sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for softball, Emily is dedicated to inspiring players, enhancing their skills, and fostering a lifelong love for the game.
Mike Wilhide
BASEBALL
Catching, Hitting, Fielding
Mike is a baseball guy. He loves the tradition and has been watching and playing for a long time. He started playing Sandlot ball in the late 60's and played whenever and wherever he could.
He played the outfield in the South Troy Little League and the same position and catching in American Legion ball in 1976, for a brief period of time, until his family moved. After finishing High School, Mike joined the USAF and served from 1981-1986 and was Honorably Discharged. After starting a career in radio in 1987, he moved to Vermont in 1989 and has lived and worked here ever since.
Most recently, he coached pitchers and catchers for Milton Highschool and found his calling, which has lead him to The Strike Zone Academy, where he hopes to remain until he retires and beyond!
Mike is always up for talking Baseball
Noah Barton
BASEBALL
Hitting, Fielding
Noah grew up playing baseball in Vermont and graduated from South Burlington High School in 2017. Noah's baseball journey started when he moved from Essex to South Burlington in 7th grade, going to the Little League regional tournament in Bristol during his last year of Little League. Noah would go on to have success playing for several travel teams out of New England and Montreal, Canada. Noah played four years of varsity baseball at South Burlington, playing outfield for a season and then shortstop for his remaining three. Noah went on to play a season at Castleton University and pursue a Sports Management degree before transferring to Lyndon State University, where he was a starter at third base for two years, having his final season cancelled due to COVID-19. The following year, Noah played in the Green Mountain Baseball League and began his coaching career locally in Vermont, coaching summer camps and family friends. In 2020, Noah started coaching lessons and travel baseball at The Strike Zone, coaching 11u, 13u, 14u, and 17/18u Strikers teams. Noah took a short personal break but is back and extremely excited to get back into the swing of things at The Strike Zone Academy.
Logan Cooke
BASEBALL
Pitching, Hitting, Fielding
Logan was a player all through high school at Harwood High. He comes to The Strike Zone with over 12 years of team coaching experience from Little League to Legion. He has coached private lessons for a full range of students from ages 8-21. Logan has been the Head Coach for Montpelier Varsity since 2020 stepping up after five years as the Assistant Coach. Other coaching positions include Montpelier Post 3 Legion. All of this experience gives him the ability to provide a high quality lesson for students of all ages. Logan has coached many Strikers teams, from our inaugural 11U Fall Team in 2021 all the way to head coach of our 2025 16U Strikers team.
Cole Riskin
BASEBALL
Pitching, Fielding, Hitting
Cole hails from the great baseball city of Boston, and naturally has been around the game his entire life. With a religious commitment to strength training and baseball development, he transitioned from a middle infielder to a starting pitcher during his 4-year career at Clarkson University, and earned All-Star status his senior year while leading the Golden Knights to the Liberty League Championship weekend.
During the summer of 2024, Cole signed with the local Vermont Lake Monsters and developed into a top bullpen arm while competing against some of the nation’s best baseball talent.
After graduating from Clarkson in 2025, Cole now lives and works in South Burlington and enjoys teaching the game to young ballplayers.
Rob Williams
BASEBALL
Pitching, Hitting, Fielding, Catching
Rob was born in Delaware and moved to Maine at the age of 10. During his high school years at Sumner Memorial H.S. in Sullivan, Maine he played many positions, most notably varsity catcher, shortstop and right field, graduating in 2003.
Rob also coached the Franklin Sox of the Sunrise Little League in 2017. He just moved to Vermont with his wife, a native Vermonter, and is eager to mold the next generation of ball players.
Andy Strauss
BASEBALL
Pitching, Hitting, Fielding
Ever since he coached a Little League team with his father back in high school, Andy has known that his true love was coaching youth sports, especially baseball. Luckily, fourteen years ago, he had a son who turned out to love baseball (and other sports)! So over the past ten plus years, Andy has coached all levels of youth baseball, ages 4 through 13, regular season and all star play. He has developed a keen eye for ways to
improve a young player’s hitting, pitching, and fielding and has the skill to communicate those changes to the player. Andy’s emphasis in his coaching is to encourage hard work and the acceptance of mistakes as part of the learning process—and to have fun
while doing this!
When not coaching baseball, Andy is a husband, a father, a dog owner, an Ultimate frisbee coach, an attorney, a downhill and cross-country skier, and a dragonboater.
