Catching Instructors

Mike is the current catching coach for the Cincinnati Reds, a position he has held for the past four years. Additionally, Mike handles the bullpen catching responsibilities. Mike retired from professional baseball after 12 years spending three years with the Reds, Cardinals, and Brewers teams. Mike spent nine years at the AAA level with the latter part of his career helping young catchers prepare for the big leagues.

Having played at all levels of professional baseball for an extended time, Mike has learned how to effectively teach the mechanics of catching while educating catchers on how to work with their pitchers, what pitch to throw and when. Additionally Mike can help a catcher develop the strength they need for this position.

Mike resides with his wife and three children in Cincinnati, Ohio.

A two time High School All-American catcher, Jason attended St. Xavier H.S. where he became the first and only player in GCL history to be named first team All-GCL 4 times and two time GCL Player of the Year. He was a 3 time All-City selection, 1996 Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year, 1996 Baseball America "Ohio's Best Player" and two time High School All-American. Jason received a scholarship to Georgia Tech where he was named All-ACC three times (1st team 2000, 2nd team 1999, 2001). After a stellar Junior season in which he hit .382 with 15 HR, and an ACC leading 25 doubles and 83 RBI's, Jason was named TPX First Team "All-American" in 2001 and ACC Tournament MVP in 2000 when he set the ACC Tournament record for total bases with 26 and became the first player in ACC Tournament history to hit for the cycle. Jason was drafted by the Oakland A's in the 15th round of the 2001 draft and played 4 seasons in the A's farm system. Jason was an All-American catcher in high school and an All-American outfielder in college. He has expertice in catching, hitting, outfield, and first and third base.

Nick played college baseball at Allegany Community College of Maryland in Cumberland Md. and West Liberty State University in West Liberty, WV. Nick played two seasons at Allegany, where he was selected to the All-Maryland JUCO 1st team and All-Region XX 1st team. He finished his sophomore season ranked nationally in two categories- 3rd in Batting Average (.423) and 4th in RBI (63).

At West Liberty State, Nick was selected to the WVIAC All-Conference 2nd team and All-North Atlantic Region 2nd team. He also holds school records for Homeruns in a game (3), RBI in a game (10) and RBI in a season (47). Nick also finished in the top 20 of NCAA D-2 in 3 categories- Batting Average (.445) RBI (47) and Slugging Percentage (.765).

Nick credits his success and knowledge of hitting to Frank Porco, (http://www.post-gazette.com/sports_headlines/19990718casey3.asp) a Pittsburgh area hitting instructor who has worked with numerous players, most notably:

Sean Casey- Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers
Tom Kail- 1998 10th round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks
Jon Henry Kail- Georgia Tech University, 1999 6th round pick of the Boston RedSox


Nick currently resides in Monroe with his wife Tara.