Category: Athlete Highlight

Pro pitcher Jose Ledesma, a recent Graduate of the D1 baseball program at the University of Delaware, spent the past off-season training at RPP Baseball.  During this time, he worked on just about every aspect of his craft, from improving his velocity to expanding his pitching arsenal.  Fast forward to summer of 2023, pitching for the Sussex Country Miners of the Frontier League, he has pitched 50.1 innings with an ERA of 3.75 and 9 Ks/9. A year earlier, pitching for the Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League, he pitched 26.2 innings with an ERA of 5.06 and 5.1 Ks/9.

So… what changed?

Continue reading “Expanding Jose Ledesma’s Pitch Arsenal… A Game Changer”

U. Mass Lowell Baseball commit Nolan Geisler, a rising senior at Bayonne High School in New Jersey, has been having quite a spring and summer season. Nolan started training at RPP, in September 2021, near the start of his Sophomore year.  On July 9^th of the same year, his peak velocity according to a Perfect Game event was 77 mph.  Fast forward to this spring and summer, Nolan has been sitting 86-88 and touching 89.

How did he do it?

Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: Nolan Geisler’s Journey from 77 mph to 89 mph”

Rising College Sophomore Andrew Holub joined us this summer for the 3-month college hitting development program. Andrew is an infielder who has just finished his first year at Wake Tech Community College in North Carolina. At 6’2” and 215 lbs. he is strong and physical. This past spring, he finished the season with a .335 batting average. His plan for the summer is to elevate the ball a bit more and increase his overall slugging average. He began training in May, and needless to say, a lot has already changed. Andrew recently hit a PR of 109 mph exit velo, his previous peak EV before the summer program was in the mid- to high 90s.

How did he do it?

Continue reading “Athlete Highlight – Wake Tech’s Andrew Holub Recent Exit Velo as High as 109 mph”

Seton Hall Baseball commit Reno Spagnoli, rising senior at Columbia High School in New Jersey, had quite a spring. Reno started training at RPP Baseball, in October 2021. At the time, he was just coming off a PBR event where he sat 81-82, touching 83 mph. Fast forward to this summer, Reno was recently sitting 90-91, touching 92 at an event in Boston. His velo has increased approximately 10 mph. Additionally, he had a stellar spring both pitching and at the plate, with a 1.50 ERA and a 0.414 batting average.

How did he do it?

Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: Seton Hall Commit Reno Spagnoli Velo is up 10 mph, T92”

Pace University Baseball commit catcher Chris (CJ) Orrego recently finished his final spring season at Wayne Hills High School in NJ. After 62 ABs, he batted .435 (vs .226 LY) and had a .774 slugging average (vs .339 LY). He finished the year with 3x as many hits for extra bases vs. the prior year.

How did he do it?

Continue reading “Athlete Highlight – Pace University Commit Catcher Chris Orrego Batting .435 (vs .226 LY)”

Right-Handed Pitcher Connor Darling (Class 2024) recently completed an outstanding spring season at Northern Highlands High School in New Jersey. Connor has been training at RPP since November 2019. At the time of his assessment last summer, he was 6’3” and 185 lbs., topping out at 82 mph. Fast forward to this spring, Connor is now over 200 lbs., and has improved his peak velo by nearly 9 mph, touching 91 mph. This past spring he finished with a 2.07 ERA, 1.7 K / IP and 40.2 IP under his belt.

How did he do it?

Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: 6’3″ RHP Connor Darling Velo is Up 9 mph”

Villanova Baseball commit Jake Francis is having another exceptional spring season. Jake started his training at RPP almost 2 years ago, in August of 2021.  At the time he was 6’ tall and 160 lbs., coming off a PBR event where his velocity was sitting 80-82 mph. Fast forward to this spring, Jake is at 180 lbs., sitting 88-90 and recently touched 91 mph. His velo is up nearly 10 mph.  This spring, in 51.1 IP, he has a 0.82 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP.  He has only given up 6 earned runs in over 51 innings.

How did he do it?

Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: RHP Jake Francis Velo is Up 10 mph Since Joining RPP”

George Mason commit Shaun O’Keeffe is having an exceptional spring senior season at Donovan Catholic High School in Toms River, New Jersey. In 36 IP, the lefty has registered a 1.34 ERA with 62 strikeouts and an Ocean County Championship for Donovan Catholic. Shaun began training with us last summer as a part of the Summer Throwing Program and continued his training throughout the fall and winter leading up to the spring season.  His velocity has improved by 4-6 mph, from sitting 81-83 to 85-87 mph.

How did he do it?

Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: George Mason Commit Shaun O’Keeffe (1.34 ERA) Velo is up 4-6 mph”

Vincent Luther, Junior at Ridgewood High School in New Jersey, is having an excellent start to his 2023 baseball season. More than halfway through the spring, he has pitched 35.2 innings with a 1.18 ERA.  His velocity is up 6 mph from 78 in July 2022 to 84+ mph since he started training with us last September, which gave us a good amount of time to work on several different areas.

How did he do it?

Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: Vincent Luther Velo is up 6 mph Since September (1.18 ERA)”

Michael Gillen, Freshman at Seton Hall University, is having a great start to his collegiate career. With 15 appearances and 22.2 innings pitched, he has a .40 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and velocity sitting at 91-93 mph. He initially began training with us back in the fall of 2019 as he was starting his sophomore year at Bergen Catholic high school (at the time according to PBR he was sitting 78-80). Fast forward… after graduation he joined the 12-week Summer Throwing Program in preparation for his collegiate career. When he started the summer program, his goals included cleaning up pitching mechanics, improving his velocity and overall pitching arsenal.

His summer program began with a 3 ½ hour initial assessment, which included the following: Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: Seton Hall Frosh Michael Gillen Sitting 91-93 mph w/ a 0.40 ERA”