ABCA Podcast

This week on the ABCA Podcast we are joined by Tidewater Phillies and Grassfield High School’s Lee Banks. Banks has been a staple on the travel baseball scene for over 25 years. Banks’ initial travel squad was the Tidewater Mets then transitioned to the Tidewater Orioles. Over his career, Banks has had the opportunity to coach future big leaguers Michael Cuddyer, Jason Dubois, David Wright, BJ Upt...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is this year’s Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award winner Lee University head coach, Mark Brew. Following 10 seasons as an assistant coach for the Flames under ABCA Hall of Fame coach, Dave Altopp, Brew took over the Lee baseball program in 2007. Now in his 18th season as the program’s head coach, Brew has guided his teams to 671 wins. The Flames advanced to the NAIA...

This week on the ABCA Podcast is ABCA/ATEC Div. I High School Coach of the Year Lewisburg head coach, Rusty Cagle. Lewisburg High School has won their first ever 6A State Championship and second overall in school history. The Patriots finished the season with a 29-8 record. Cagle is one of the few remaining staff members from the start of Lewisburg High School and teaches social studies in additio...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is ABCA/ATEC Div. III Coach of the Year University of Lynchburg head coach, Lucas Jones. Jones is a Lynchburg alum so this was a special season for him bringing home Lynchburg’s first National Championship. Jones took over the Hornets program in 2017 from his head coaching position at Washington and Lee. Jones also had experience as a Div. I assistant coach with stops a...

We head back over to the player development side on this week’s ABCA Podcast with Cubs Minor League Hitting Coordinator, Rachel Folden. Folden was a standout player at Marshall being inducted into their Hall of Fame. After college, Folden spent time playing for the Chicago Bandits. Folden spent 1 season coaching at Valparaiso University and left coaching to focus on running her own training facili...

Joining us on the ABCA Podcast this week is ABCA/ATEC NAIA Coach of the Year Westmont College head coach, Tyler LaTorre. LaTorre guided Westmont to a 48-9 record and their first NAIA Championship in his inaugural season as head coach. Westmont is transitioning to Div. II this season, so it was a great way to cap off their final season of NAIA baseball. LaTorre had multiple coaching stops at San Jo...

We head back over to the high school side with ABCA All America Committee member and ABCA/ATEC Div. III Coach of the Year, Scott Steltz. Steltz has led Chatham High School to back-to-back State Championships in New York. Steltz has over 25 years of teaching, coaching and administrative experience. Chatham High School is a great example of what happens when kids play baseball together all the way t...

Next up on the ABCA podcast is ABCA/ATEC Div. I Coach of the Year, LSU head coach, Jay Johnson. Johnson led LSU to this year’s National Championship and was his third appearance in Omaha with two previous at the University of Arizona. Johnson got his coaching start at Point Loma with ABCA Hall of Famer Dr. Carroll Land after he finished playing. Johnson continued his coaching journey in Southern C...

This week on the ABCA Podcast is Mizzou assistant coach, Jabari Brown. Brown is entering his first season with the Tigers program after ABCA 4th Vice President Kerrick Jackson took over this past Summer. Brown spent the last 2 years on Tim Corbin’s staff at Vanderbilt, becoming the first recipient of the Maggie Corbin Minority Baseball Apprenticeship Scholarship. Brown coached at Eastern Kentucky...

Joining us on the ABCA Podcast this week is ABCA/ATEC NJCAA Div. III Coach of the Year Rowan College head coach, Rob Valli. Valli guided Rowan to a 53-5 record and an NJCAA Championship this season. Valli has taken Rowan to 12 out of the last 13 NJCAA World Series. Valli is entering his 24th season of collegiate baseball with 20 years of experience as a head coach. Valli has over 650 wins averagin...

This week on the ABCA Podcast is ABCA/ATEC Div. II High School Coach of the Year McPherson head coach, Heath Gerstner. McPherson High School has won back to back Kansas 4A State Championships. The Bullpups finished the season with a 21-4 record and outscored their tournament opponents 23-5. Gerstner is on the ABCA High School All America Committee and is a great example of why all high school coac...

Joining us on the ABCA Podcast this week is ABCA/ATEC Div. II Coach of the Year Angelo State head coach, Kevin Brooks. Brooks has guided the Angelo State baseball program to six NCAA Div. II College World Series appearances and captured the program’s first National Championship this year. Brooks is the only head coach in ASU baseball history and has not had a losing season during his tenure. The R...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Kofa High School head coach, Gabe Ortiz. Ortiz was honored with the 2023 Central Valley Region Coach of the Year Award after Kofa went 11-1 in region play. Ortiz is also a USA Baseball veteran helping with the Socal/SW NTIS and helping with the USA Baseball trials in Cary, NC. Ortiz has been at the forefront of outfield development. Ortiz spoke at the 2022 ABCA Chica...

This week on the ABCA Podcast is ABCA ATEC NJCAA Div. I Coach of the Year, Marty Smith. Smith has been the head coach at the College of Central Florida for 28 seasons with 865 career wins. The Patriots finished this season with 56 wins and winning their first World Series Championship in Grand Junction. Smith has a long history in the game and has been around some the best coaches we have had play...

ABCA Podcast Part II with Nate Trosky. Trosky is one of the most forward-thinking infield coaches we have in the baseball community. Trosky has always had the ability to think outside the box and implement new ideas into his training. We had to end part I due to technical difficulties, but ended up being a huge positive because it allowed us to reset and go more in depth at a later date. The ABCA...

Joining us on the ABCA Podcast this week is one of the best infield minds we have in the game, Nate Trosky. There isn’t a place in the world that Trosky hasn’t touched coaching infielders. Trosky has been pushing the envelope in developing infielders for over 30 years. Trosky has contributed to over 10,000 players playing in college and over 500 in professional baseball including 20 plus first rou...

The final on location episode takes us to Cedar Rapids, IA for the Div. III National Championship. We had a chance to sit down with Johns Hopkins’ Bob Babb, Baldwin Wallace’s Brian Harrison, Endicott’s Bryan Haley, Lacrosse’s Chris Schwartz, East Texas Baptist’s Jared Hood, Miscricordia’s Pete Engbert, Salisbury’s Troy Brohawn and Lynchburg’s Lucas Jones. Congrats to Lucas Jones and the Lynchburg...

Joining us on the ABCA Podcast this week is North Carolina A&T recruiting coordinator, Elliott McCummings. McCummings has been an assistant for the Aggies since October 2021. Besides recruiting responsibilities, McCummings coaches the outfielders and hitters. Prior to A&T, McCummings spent time coaching at Austin Peay, Radford and Louisburg College. McCummings collegiate career started at...

Two more weeks of on location episodes. This week we head to Enid, OK for the NJCAA Divi. II Championship. Enid is another bucket list location for a baseball fan. The NJCAA and the town of Enid provide a phenomenal student-athlete experience. These interviews were going on during the tournament, so thanks to the coaches for sitting down with me. In this episode we will hear from Frederick’s Rodne...

This week’s ABCA Podcast is an on-location episode from Lewiston, ID for the NAIA World Series. It was my first time in Lewiston and was impressed with how the event was run. The ABCA and Lewiston host a youth clinic the night before the tournament starts and had 600 kids this year. Lewis Clark State has hosted the National Tournament for 21 years. In this episode we will hear from Indiana Wesleya...

We head over to youth baseball on this week’s ABCA Podcast. David Klein is the founder of Menlo Parks Legends Baseball and Speedball. Klein has been recognized by the Positive Coaching Alliance for his work with youth baseball. Klein founded Legends Camp in 2008. Klein is a self-described “Experience Designer & Holistic Coach”. Klein finished his college baseball career at UC-Santa Barbara and...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is K25 and Top Tier West Owner & Director, Kris Jenkins. Jenkins has been coaching & training 6 year olds up to collegiate athletes for the last 16 years. The K25 facility is located in Aurora, west of Chicago where Jenkins grew up. Jenkins got his start coaching at Plainfield South High School. Jenkins was a tremendous 3 sport athlete at West Aurora High School...

We have two very special guests on this week’s ABCA Podcast with the Kansas City Royals’ Shon Plack and Mike Arbuckle. Plack is the Manager of Sport Development for the Royals. Arbuckle is the Senior Advisor to the GM for Scouting and Player Development. Both have a wealth of experience in the game. Plack previously worked for PBR, Building Champions and coached at Avila. Arbuckle has worked at ev...

Joining us on the ABCA Podcast this week are the Walking Tall Movement founders Dr. Vanetta LaRosa, Todd Blyleven and Chris Maliszewski. The Walking Tall Movement was born out of tragic events with Todd being involved in the Las Vegas shooting and Chris being involved in the Highland Park shooting. Their mission statement is “To inspire humanity to Walk Tall for those suffering with their mental h...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Colorada Mesa head coach, Chris Hanks. Hanks is in his 25th season with the Mavericks winning over 1000 games. He has averaged 40 wins a season. Hanks is a 24-year continuous member of the ABCA and has been an active committee member for the organization as Div. II Committee Chair. Hanks is also a member of the Competition, Organization and Rules Committees. Hanks ha...