As the 2013 Collegiate Baseball season ends and summer ball is in full swing we have been fortunate to have another successful year at both Sacred Heart University and Moore Physical Therapy.

For the 5^th season in a row, SHU has entered the finals of the Northeast Conference Tournament.  Although we feel short to Bryant, we had many very aspects to the season including; tying the school record for most wins, All- American, All Region, and All Conference nods from their respective nominating organizations.

Privately at Moore, we have athletes coming from as far as 3 hours (each way) to train during summer ball.  It’s always great to see our collegiate athletes return for the summer to keep progressing.  We are ramping up for what will be a very busy fall, expecting baseball players from multiple MLB and Independent organizations, and over 40 regional high schools.

The following is a short list of some of my collegiate and pro clients competing this summer.

Notable Pros

John Murphy SS- 6th Round MLB Draft Pick- NY Yankees

Troy Scribner P- Free Agent Signee- Houston Astros

Notable Summer League Players

Nick Morrissey P- Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate Baseball League

Jesus Medina 3B- Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League

Kody Kerski P-  Cape Cod Baseball League

Connor Landers P- Futures League

Victor Sorrento 1B- Futures League

Ryan Crawford P- Hampton Collegiate Baseball League

Dan Wertz P- Hampton Collegiate Baseball League

Alex Farina P- New England Collegiate Baseball League

Keaton Flint CF- New England Collegiate Baseball League

Jeff Stoddard P- New England Collegiate Baseball League

As the collegiate hockey season ends, I am sure many local Connecticut hockey players have taken special notice of Quinnipiac’s hockey present on the national level.  Unfortunately, they fell just short of the national championship; nonetheless, they should be a contender in the coming years on the same stage.

For those who have had a chance to see the changes QU has made to their hockey facilities over the past ten years, its obvious that the school wanted to develop a national level program from the ground up.  What many do not get to see is the countless hours of off the ice training that this team has put in.

Since 2008, Brijesh Patel has run the strength and conditioning for both men/women’s basketball and hockey programs. B is not only preparing his athletes for their current endeavors, but also building them to excel at the highest level of sport.

One aspect of training that seems misunderstood by many sport coaches is in-season training.  Here B highlights some of his in season with his men’s hockey team.  Coaches often look for their athletes to bust their butt in the off-season to build foundational strength and be ready for the on-field/ice rigors, but maintaining those power/strength/flexibility/mobility qualities takes hard work in-season.

My first goal as a strength and conditioning coach is to have my athletes healthy and be able to take the field.  My second goal is to increase performance on the field.  This means understanding how each training session plays a role in that week, month, and years cycle of development for each player.  Yes, training can leave you tired, sore, and mentally drained, but a good strength coach will know how to adjust variables to not leave them feeling or preforming poorly.  This is evident with a 2-month block where QU hockey didn’t lose a game.

Here at Moore in Southport, we aim for our athletes train in-season 1-3 times a week depending on their practice and game schedule.  Saturday we had 70% of our baseball clientele in training from youth, high school, to pro.  Each athlete has their own in-season program that is geared to keep them powerful, strong, and healthy.  Many of our athletes set personal records while their in-season due to hitting growth spurts and having just the right amount of stimulus to perform at their best.

It feels like a daily occurrence that I receive phone calls from athletes and parents inquiring about the training I direct. Often, the player or parent wants a class to participate in, usually an off-season or pre-season workout that is geared towards their sport.

As I stated in my presentation in Fairfield a few months ago, our goal of long-term athletic development is ”to allow each individual athlete to reach their genetic potential in a healthy manner, both mentally and physically.  This means minimizing injury and allowing fitness/sport to be a fun part of an athletes life regardless of the level of participation.”

Classes can be a way to introduce general skills to athletes.  Most sports require many of the same movements as other sports, so a general approach to training can produce results, there is no denying that.  The problem with classes are in-fact many.

1. Athletes are often not screened or assessed for movement or orthopedic limitations.
   If there is no assessment, how do you know what needs to be corrected?
2. Assessments are not looked at when altering a class.
   What’s the point of assessment if your not going to use the information it provided?
3. Injury histories are not taken.
   Previous injury is the #1 predictor for future injury.  If you do not know how and why someone had a previous injury, how are you going to minimize the risk of it happening again?
4. Specificity of sport is not accounted for.
   There is more than one way to skin a cat or train an athlete, but forcing every athlete to do the same thing without making modifications for the sport an athlete participates in or the position they play is often going to set them up for injury or less than optimal performance outcomes.
5. There is no change in programming for age or skill level. 
   I’ve seen classes where professional football players and 13 year old softball players are handed the same program (in front of each other).  I can’t make this stuff up.  The demands a growing adolescent girl and a professional football player are drastically different and should be accounted for.
6. The trainers/ coaches are awful and don’t know how to coach, let alone coach numerous athletes at the same time.
   To be fair this can happen anywhere.  I have walked into a division I college weight room and saw a female basketball team doing cleans; every single girl had a valgus collapse of their knees (some were actually smashing each other).  And the coaches then wonders why they lose 4 of their 11 athletes to ACL tears that year.

Long-term athletic development is always the goal when an athlete comes and trains with me in either our 1 on 1 training, semi-private training, or our Sacred Heart Baseball Team.  We start with the end in mind, not just 6 weeks from now, but years from now.

When training any clients, assessment always takes place on day one.  If we find any drastic limitations or red flags, we elicit our physical therapists on staff to help diagnose the problem.  In more sever cases, we refer out to a physician whom can help better address the problem.  Our in-depth orthopedic and movement assessment along with injury history, personal/sport goals we are able to develop a program that allows us to attack limitations and strengthen weaknesses immediately.  This allows us to set short-term and long-term goals for on and off the field.

Long-term athletic development is always an ongoing process, and needs constant attention.  This means training in-season (even if frequency and volume is down) and training around injuries.  To continually develop, athletes must push out of their comfort zone and work their weaknesses on an ongoing basis to maintain the skills and adaptations their body has attained from training and sport.

When looking to reach the highest possible ability in your sport look for qualified professionals that understand the demands of your sport and how to help you reach your goals.  These professionals need to perform an in-depth assessment and let their assessment results dictate the training on top of age and injury history.

If you are looking for trusted professionals in your area please contact me and I will be glad to help you find the best in your area.

Post written by John Servilla

Matt Fitton, a four year starter from Sacred Heart University, has made the next step in ever baseball player’s dream by signing a profession contract with the Newark Bears. Fitton made his debut Monday, June 20 with the Bears against Worcester and pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings of relief, striking out three with a hit and a walk allowed.

Fitton, a 6-9 left-handed pitcher from Lebanon, CT, graduated this May after playing four years for the Pioneers.  As a captain on this past season’s 2011 Northeast Conference championship team, he led Sacred Heart with 20 appearances.  He closed out his collegiate career in impressive fashion in the NCAA Clemson Regional, allowing just one run in 5.2 innings of relief against the Clemson Tigers on June 3. Fitton finished the season 2-2 with a 4.20 ERA, striking out 32 batters in 45.0 innings.

The Newark Bears are a part of the Independent Can-Am League and Fitton will play for former Major League star outfielder Tim Raines, who manages the Bears.  Other former big leaguers on his new team include Tim Raines, Jr. (outfield), Daryl Ward (infield), Jim Leyritz (third base coach), and Ron Karkovice (assistant coach).

You can follow Fittons stats on:

http://canamnewark.bbstats.pointstreak.com/player.html?playerid=154651

The website has been lacking lately due to a crazy busy in-season schedule this year.

For those of you whom have not been following, Sacred Heart’s Baseball Program won the Northeast Conference in dramatic fashion with 3 complete game wins from underclassman pitchers.

From there SHU earned a bid to the NCAA Division I National Tournament held at Clemson University.

Although the team did not do as well as they had hoped, there were many highlights along the way.  Most notably breaking the school record of wins in a season for the second straight year now paced at 34.

Individual Awards were as follows:

Nick Leiningen

• Rookie of the Year and Second-Team All-NEC Pitcher award
• He was second in the NEC this season with six complete games.

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110519xshxmy

• “Louisville Slugger” Freshman All-American Baseball Team

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110608rqtra5

• All-NEC Tournament Team

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110522ewwnws

• Twice named both NEC Pitcher of the Week

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/201104047hi0g0

• Three times NEC Rookie of the week

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110516eo148w

Rob Griffith

• First-Team All-NEC at first base
• Tying for the league lead in RBI with 43
• Team-best four homeruns
• Error-free season at first base

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110519xshxmy

JJ Edwards

• First-Team All-NEC outfielder
• Led the team and finished second in the NEC with a .388 batting average and 76 hits
• Led the team this season with 38 runs and a .425 OBP
• Did not commit an error despite playing every game this season

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110519xshxmy

• New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association Division I All-Star Game 1^st Team

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110531cl3rrk

Steve Tedesco

• First-Team All-NEC outfielder
• Team-best 14 stolen bases

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110519xshxmy

• Capitol One All District team

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110506u4ga0j

MJ Schifano

• Second-Team All-NEC at third base

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110519xshxmy

• Akadema Northeast Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110425u8m4rv

Hunter Phillips

• Second-Team All-NEC honors at second base

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110519xshxmy

• Akadema Northeast Conference Player of the Week

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110516eo148w

• 15^th hardest to Strike Out in the NCAA

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/baseball/d1/current/individual/339

Troy Scribner

• Second-Team All-NEC pitcher
• Tied for the NEC lead with eight wins
• 83.2 innings on the mound, second most in the NEC.

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110519xshxmy

• New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association Division I All-Star Game 2nd Team

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110531cl3rrk

• NEC All-Tournament Team

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110522ewwnws

Derik Horn

• Clemson Regional All-Tournament team

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/201106082p2c99

• NEC All-Tournament team

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110522ewwnws

Robert Maguire

• Akadema Rookie of the Week by the Northeast Conference

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110509hjh3df

Connor McEvoy

• Akadema Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110418rx39fd

John Hermanson

• Akadema/Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Week

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/201103214bs48a

John Murphy

• NEC Tournament MVP

http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-basebl/2010-11/releases/20110522ewwnws

Congratulations to Max Ouput athlete Jordan Holtz from Valhalla High School for verbally committing to Bucknell University last week. During the spring Jordan lead his high school baseball team to their first ever State Championship, including throwing a complete game 2 hit shutout to take the crown!

Jordan has been working with me for over a year now and his commitment from himself and family is unparalleled.  Being from New York, Jordan and his father travel about an hour each way to train.  And when he is not able to make the trip because of a busy schedule he stays in contact with me and update his program to keep making progress.

From the first time meeting with Jordan I could see the incredible work ethic, but more impressive was how much of a polite, courteous young man he was.  I couldn’t be happier for Jordan and his family and hope this is the first of many stops in the baseball career of the big right-hander.

Here is a featured article on one of my Sacred Heart Baseball Players JJ Edwards. http://fairfield.patch.com/articles/edwards-turning-around-fortunes-of-fairfield-junior-legion-team

I have had the pleasure of coaching JJ and now coaching younger athletes side by side.

Along with a great baseball knowledge and a tireless work ethic on making his players better everyday, JJ always finds the lighter side of baseball.  Proof is in his official baseball picture on SHU’s website and the dancing ball players video.

Sacred Heart’s Mike Drowne (South Hadley, MA) was taken in the 28th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft today by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Pioneer center fielder and leadoff hitter set a new single season run record in his senior campaign crossing the plate 65 times while also stealing 33 bases.  Drowne was selected to the All-Northeast conference second team in each of the last two seasons.

“Mike has done a great job for us the last two years and really deserves this honor,” said SHU head coach Nick Giaquinto.  “He is a hard working kid and this is a feather in the cap for our program.”

If Drowne signs his contract with the Dodgers he could begin playing professional ball this season.

* originally posed on http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/ *

I just wanted to say congratulations to Sacred Heart University’s Baseball Program for a great season.  All of the hard work in the off-season really paid off.   Posting the most wins in school’s history and numerous other accolades.

SHU Trip Heads To Fenway Park For All-Star Game

A trio of SHU seniors, Jared Balbach (Pine Bush, NY), Jeff Heppner (Aqubogue, NY), and Mike Drowne (South Hadley, MA), were selected to the 2010 All-New England second team.  They will represent the Pioneers on Sunday at the New England all-star game at 3:00 pm.

Balbach and Heppner were each named to the All-Northeast Conference first team in 2010 as Sacred Heart earned the #1 seed in the NEC tournament.  Balbach finished the year as the Pioneers top starter with a 9-3 record and 3.63 earned run average.  Heppner led SHU with 13 homers and 56 RBI in his senior campaign.  Drowne was an All-NEC second team selection stealing 33 bases and setting a new Sacred Heart single season run record, crossing the plate 65 times in 2010.

* originally posed on http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/ *