MEET OUR INSTRUCTORS

DIRECTOR OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

PITCHING

Hometown: Toutle, WA

High School: Toutle Lake High School

College: Montana State University

Zac recently migrated to Vermont from Washington state to raise his first child near his wife’s hometown of Richmond. During high school, Zac was a four-year, varsity letter as a pitcher and catcher. After high school, he decided to hang up his cleats, but after time off decided to pick up a baseball again as an amateur player. This led him to realize that his passion lied with baseball and wanted to make a career out of coaching. 

Lacking the playing experience of some coaches, he went back to school and decided to educate himself so he can help pitchers develop into beasts. So he pursued a Kinesiology degree to better understand the human body, how it moves, and how pitching mechanics work and can be changed. While studying at Montana State, he volunteered to be the pitching coach for the college team. After a few years of doing this, writing blogs, and doing independent research in player development, he took a job at the baseball training facility that is at the forefront of data-driven player development, Driveline Baseball.

He spent last year working at Driveline Baseball where he learned more about player development than he could have ever imagined. Beyond the everyday learning there, he completed numerous certifications from Driveline baseball that range from youth baseball development to pitching mechanics to pitch design. He is excited to bring those training philosophies to The Strike Zone along with furthering the use of technology and data.

Available for private, semi-private, and group lessons in pitching. Prefer to have pitchers over multiple sessions as that will allow for adjustments to be made and reinforced so the most gains can be had. Pre-season and Offseason development programs also available for those looking to spend 4+ weeks training with Zac 3 times a week (just ask about it if interested!).

Please note that using weighted baseballs, Plyocare balls, J-Bands, and Wrist Weights are a staple of training with Zac.

CERTIFICATIONS

• Foundations of Pitching - Driveline (Finishing part 2 for full certification in Februaru 2021)
• Basics of Pitch Design - Driveline
• Foundations of Hitting - Driveline
• Youth Baseball Development - Driveline
• Mental Performance Mastery - Brian Cain

BASEBALL

Pitching, Hitting, Fielding

Noah was a graduate of South Burlington High School in 2017. Noah played four years of Varsity Baseball, serving predominantly as a Middle Infielder. During his senior year, Noah was elected a team captain and was selected to the Twin State Classic in 2017. After high school, Noah continued his baseball career at NVU-Lyndon. Noah currently plays Third Base for the Hornets.

PLAYER ACHIEVEMENTS

• Vermont All-State Recognition ‘16
• Team Captain ‘17
• Twin State Classic Selection ‘17
• NAC All-Tournament Team ‘19

BASEBALL

Pitching, Hitting, Fielding

 Garrett played baseball at Randolph Union High School in Vermont, graduating in 2016 before playing four years of division III college baseball. He pitched for two seasons at Wells College in upstate New York and two seasons at Pine Manor College in Boston, MA. Playing collegiate summerball all over North America have been some of his favorite baseball experiences. Garrett also calls radio play by play and has done so for various organizations in New York, Maine, Washington, and New Mexico. He loves coaching ballplayers of all ages and is happiest when around the game of baseball.   

PLAYER ACHIEVEMENTS

• RUHS Vermont DIII VPA State Champions 2013
• RUHS Vermont DIII VPA State Runner Up 2016
• NEAC Scholar Athlete 2017
• Pine Manor Athletic Sportsmanship Award 2019 

Marketing Director

Baseball

Fielding/Pitching/Hitting

 Sam was a graduate of Northfield High School right here in Vermont after transferring from Randolph his Freshman year . Sam earned 4 varsity letters (1 at Randolph) while playing under National high School Hall of Fame coach Frank Pecora. Sam was selected to 2nd Team All State his sophomore year, and 1st Team All State his junior and senior year while setting the schools homerun record in a 16 game schedule (7).
After making the Twin State Senior Game, and being voted most likely to be drafted out of the state of Vermont by the Bleacher Report in 2011, Sam had brief stints at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine and Fisher College where he studied Business Marketing.
After perfecting his marketing craft, Sam moved back to Vermont where he currently resides in Essex Junction with his girlfriend Shanna, and two dogs Rezz, and Bodie. Sam has completed his national coaching certifications and is thrilled to be able combine his knowledge of marketing, with his love for the game. 

PLAYER ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2009 VT Babe Ruth Tournament champ
• All State Honorable Mention Freshman
• 2nd Team All State Sophomore
• 1st Team All State Junior & Senior
• Runner up 2011 Times Argus POY
• 2011 Bleacher Report Draft selection (Vermont)
• 2011 Baseball Factory National Tournament Team 

Player Development Intern

Focus: Pitching

Hometown: Cincinnati, OH

High School: Walnut Hills High School

College: Current Undergrad at Miami University (OH) 

Major: Information Systems & Analytics

 Rory played mainly summer ball, until he suffered a UCL injury and was in an elbow brace for 8 months. This spurred his interest in injury prevention and player development. Over the years Rory dove deeper into injuries, why they happen, and how we can reduce them. Throughout his research he came across Driveline Baseball and immediately knew Pitching Development was the path he wanted to pursue. 

For the past two years Rory has been in charge of Pitching Development for the Cincinnati Royals, now TNT Knights, 17u team. Rory is the Executive Student Manager for Miami University’s Baseball Program, Where he currently runs the analytics departments. This allows him to deal with all kinds of technology and data, and how to turn that into actionable information for the coaching staff.