The Strike Zone - Worcester

	--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BASEBALL INSTRUCTORS (listed alphabetically by last name) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	OUR BASEBALL INSTRUCTOR BIOS ARE BEING UPDATED, PLEASE CHECK BACK PERIODICALLY.
		Mike Alberts Scout for the Washington Nationals Mike Alberts played professional for the Ohio Valley redcoats in the Frontier League. He has served as the Pitching Coach with the West Boylston American Legion. He also served as a scout for the Montreal Expos prior being appointed as a scout for the Washington nationals, a position he still occupies today.

		Mike Callahan Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (3rd Season) Mike Callahan was a four-year starter on the Franklin Pierce College baseball team. During his senior season in 2003, he was the captain on a team that reached the Division II College World Series (C.W.S.) and was named to the Northeast Regional and College World Series All-Tournament teams. Mike also led the C.W.S. in batting average (.591). After his college playing career, he served as a the Head Coach for Leicester High School, the East Side American Legion, and , currently, is the Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

		Chris Collabello Personal Instructor Bio coming soon.

		Rich Gedman Manager and Director of Baseball Operations with the Worcester Tornadoes Worcester's Rich Gedman is currently the Manager and Director of Baseball Operations with the Worcester Tornadoes. Prior to joining the Tornadoes organization, he played ten season with the Boston Red Sox (1980-1989), split the '90 season with Boston and Houston, and finished up his career with two years with the St. Louis Cardinals. Rich finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting in 198, when he hit .288, with 5 home runs and 26 RBIs in 205 at-bats. Rich's best seasons were with the Red Sox from 1984-'86, when he totaled 58 home runs, 117 RBIs and averaged a .275 batting average. He was an American League All-Star in 1985 and 1986 and played in two American League Championship series and the 1986 World Series. Rich was a career .292 hitter in the postseason with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs in 18 games.

		Matt Gull Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Wachusett Regional High School (8th Season) Matt Gull adds an extensive coaching resume to The Strike Zone instructional staff. Over the past thirteen-years, Matt has served as an Assistant Coach and Recruiter with Assumption College, an Assistant Pitching Coach with the College of the Holy Cross, the Head Coach of West Boylston Legion Post 204, and, currently, is the Head Varsity Coach at Wachusett Regional High School. Matt began coaching after a successful playing career at Wachusett Regional H.S. and Assumption College, where he played four-years and was twice awarded the Nault Award (the only two-time winner in the school's history).

	IMAGE COMING SOON	Kevin Hartigan Personal Instructor Bio coming soon.

		Mike Kleminich Personal Instructor Mike Kleminich has been a personal instructor for the past fifteen-years. Mike is a member of the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Shrewsbury High School Hall of Fame. Mike had a successful career as a coach at Shrewsbury High School from 1955-1972 and with the Shrewsbury American Legion from 1972-1988. Additionally, Mike served as Shrewsbury High School's Athletic Director from 1953-1989.

		Matt Landers Personal Instructor Matt Landers was a four-year starting pitcher for Assumption College, Doherty High School, and Main South Legion. He was an inter-high all-star for Doherty High School three years in a row. He has been a personal instructor/trainer for his brother Keith Landers (who played a major role as a starting pitcher for the Jesse Burkett All-Star team that made it to the Little League World Series in 2002) for over ten years. Matt has been an instructor at the Strike Zone for more than three years and has helped many students to achieve their pitching goals.

		Bob McLaughlin Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Uxbridge High School (4th Season) Bob McLaughlin was a four year starter at Northeastern University. Bob led the Huskies to two league titles and he participated in the NCAA Tournament twice. Bob earned Academic All American status at Northeastern and was also awarded the Diamond Dog Award (which is equivalent to MVP) in his senior year. After Bob’s hopes of becoming a pro diminished, he became a teacher of the game. Bob began working under Eric Wedge, Manager of the Cleveland Indians, as a hitting instructor at Strike One in Danvers, MA. He is currently the Varsity Baseball Coach at Uxbridge High School and a 5^th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at Northbridge Middle School.

	--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOFTBALL INSTRUCTORS (listed alphabetically by last name) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

		Michelle Daley Head Softball Coach at Fitchburg State College (7th Season) Michelle Daley has led the Fitchburg State softball program to new heights in her six seasons as head coach. Already the school's career win leader, she guided the Falcons to the ECAC Tournament championship and a share of the MASCAC regular season title in 2002 and the MASCAC Tournament crown and an NCAA bid in 2003. Daley took over the Falcon program after a decorated playing career at Assumption College. She earned All-NE 10 honors as a catcher three times and was named All-American after her junior campaign.

	IMAGE COMING SOON	Nicole Lamotte (Heenan) Personal Instructor Nicole Lamotte was a four-year starting pitcher and third baseman at Worcester State College. While at Worcester State, Nicole was awarded the Freshman Athlete of the Year and was selected 3 times for the MASCAC All-stars. In 2001, Nicole had the opportunity to pitch and play third base against the USA Softball team. In high school, Nicole pitched and played third base for St. Peter-Marian, where she was a 3-time Telegram and Gazette Central Mass All-Star. She received pitching lessons, for 16 years, from former BC pitching coach Steve Economos.

	IMAGE COMING SOON	Gina-Marie Mariano Personal Instructor Gina-Marie Mariano is the first person, male or female, in the history of Roger Williams University to be named captain, as a sophomore, of any varsity sport. A three-year captain, she started all four years for the Hawks softball team at third base. A .300 hitter, she was an incredible defender with an exceptionally strong arm. Her senior year at RWU she received an Honorable Mention All-Conference for third base in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. In high school Gina-Marie pitched and played third base for St. Peter-Marian where she was a Central Mass Conference All-Star. She received pitching lessons, for 6 years, from former BC pitching coach Steve Economos.

		Amanda Morin #22 University of Massachusetts - 1B and #12 Stratford Brakettes- 1B Amanda Morin recently completed her first season with the Stratford Bracketts. Prior to joining the Brakettes, Amanda played her college career at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst...she was a four-year starter at first base. At UMASS, Amanda went to the NCAA Tournament all four years and made one trip to the Super Regionals. She was named first-team NFCA All-Region, Atlantic 10 All-Tournament team and first-team Atlantic 10 All-Conference. Additionally, Amanda played with the Polar Crush of Worcester and her high school career at Worcester Academy (four-year starter at pitcher and first baseman).

	IMAGE COMING SOON	Jenn Neslusan Personal Instructor Bio coming soon.

		Jen Scavone #22 New England Riptide - OF Jen Scavone has numerous honors at Clark University, including four-year 1st team NFCA Regional All-America, 1st team NFCA All-America in 2005, ECAC All-New England four years, and was recently named New England ECAC Player of the Year. Scavone's career batting average was an incredible .445. In three of her four years at Clark, she only made one error. After being invited to the Riptide training camp in 2005, Scavone became the only player in the league ever to come out of a division 3 school. Scavone returns to the Riptide for her second season of NPF action.

		Erica Sobel #4 Stratford Brakettes - IF With the Stratford Brakettes in 2003, Erica drove in 46 runs and shared the co-MVP award in the Northeast League championship. In 2005, Erica had a career-high .352 batting average with 24 RBI as she earned Second-Team All-America. Just prior to joining the Brakettes, Sobel played with the Polar Crush of Worcester, her high school career at Worcester Academy, and her collegiate career at Maine. Defensively, you won’t find a better fielder, as she has extremely soft hands and gets a good jump on the ball.