Hitting Instructors

Brian played his High School Baseball locally at Glen Este and won 2 National Championships in the summers of 1992 and 1993 while playing for the Midland Redskins. Brian was drafted in 1993 directly from High School by the Milwaukee Brewers but chose to play Junior College Baseball instead. In his second season of college Brian hit over .500 with 19 home runs and 82 RBI in just 60 games and was awarded the Dick Howser Trophy for the country’s best Junior College player. Brian was then drafted by the Chicago Cubs that same year and played 5 seasons in Professional Baseball as a middle infielder with the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. Following his playing career, Brian served as a hitting coach with the Cincinnati Reds organization for 3 seasons at the Single A Dayton Dragons. Brian coached Reds players such as Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns, Willie Mo Pena and Edwin Encarnacion. In his final year as hitting coach in 2002, his team led the Midwest League in hitting.

Brook Jacoby, Cincinnati Reds Hitting Coach, commented: “As the Cincinnati Reds Hitting Coordinator I had the opportunity to see Brian’s efforts while he was the hitting coach at our Single A club in Dayton. Brian’s interaction with his players, his knowledge and the contribution he made to the Reds organization was outstanding. Brian is a great asset to the Southwest Ohio Baseball Academy and all the young players that have the opportunity to learn from him will surely benefit from his knowledge and his dedication to the game of baseball.”

Brian resides in Loveland, Ohio with his two sons, Cal and Trevor.

Buster Keeton was the 60th player selected in the 1978 draft and started his professional baseball career in AA with the Milwaukee Brewers. Buster moved through the minor leagues quickly and made his major league debut on May 27th 1980. Buster played with Hall of Famers Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Rollie fingers. After his 10 year playing career Buster coached professionally for another 10 years; those teams included the Brewers, Astros, Royals, Twins, and Pirates. Along the way Buster coached many successful players including Carlos Beltran and Mike Sweeney.

Buster’s twenty years of professional baseball experience and his strong interest in youth baseball has allowed him to develop the reputation as one of the top pitching instructors in the tri-state area. Buster’s approach focuses on working on a good pace, throwing strikes by hitting location, and changing speeds. Buster will develop your young pitcher into recognizing the “pitcher must command the game.”

Buster grew up in Western Hills playing his youth ball with the Cincinnati Storm Club and currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Lee May Jr. was originally a 1st round draft pick by the New York Mets in 1986. Lee went on to play 8 seasons in professional baseball with the Mets and the Kansas City Royals organizations. After his playing career ended, Lee served as the scouting supervisor for the New York Mets for 3 seasons, covering Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. He would also serve as a hitting instructor with the Mets before moving on to the Cleveland Indians Organization, where he has been for the last 4 seasons. Lee has served as a hitting coach in his first season with the Indians and then went on to manage for 2 seasons, the latest with the Lake County club in the South Atlantic League. During the 2007 season, Lee was the hitting coach for the Indians AA club in Akron, OH. Lee has also served as the hitting coach for USA Baseball at the World Cup in 2005,then as a hiting coach in the Arizona fall league for Peoria in 2006. His father Lee May Sr. was a three time All – Star who played for 18 major-league seasons. His extensive professional career has allowed him to develop a thorough expertise for hitting. Lee has helped hitters at all levels develop the skill and confidence to become a successful hitter.

Lee resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife and four children

One only need mention the name “Senior” in the Cincinnati baseball community and everyone knows who is being referred to -- Billy Doran Sr.

Senior has been developing baseball players in Cincinnati for 56 years. There is no better teacher on the fundamentals of baseball in the area.

Senior is outstanding with the young athletes in developing the proper foundations. As his students progress he likes to drive the philosophy of “think and react”. Senior has trained many college and professional athletes including his son Bill Doran Jr., who played 14 major league seasons.

Senior currently lives in Cincinnati with his wife. You will also find Senior in the dugout during all of the Cincinnati Reds home games.

Will was originally signed by the Seattle Mariners in 1991 and went on to have a truly international career. By the time Will retired he had played professionally for 13 years in six different countries. Will set the season strikeout record in Taiwan and recorded over 1,300 strikeouts in his career. During his professional career Will played on two championship teams.

Will began his coaching career in 2003 in the Independent League and coached at the high school, junior college, and professional levels of baseball. Additionally, Will has been involved in pitching instruction in youth baseball since 1991. Will continues to be active in professional baseball by scouting and placing players.

Will’s international professional experiences and experience at all levels of professional baseball give him a unique perspective on how to develop young pitchers. Tailoring his approach, knowledge of the game, and experience in professional baseball are Will’s strengths.

Will currently resides 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.

Chris was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 1993 and played 10 years of professional baseball. Two of those years were spent in the majors with the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds. Chris played every position, but pitcher and catcher, at the professional level. Chris excels at teaching the fundamentals of fielding with an emphasis on “what each fielder needs to be thinking about in every situation.” As an all-star and leading fielder for much of his professional career, Chris is uniquely qualified to instruct your developing young ballplayer.

Although Chris is known for his fielding, offensively he finished in the top ten in hitting 5 out of the 10 years he played pro ball. Chris set offensive records at Miami University and played on two championship teams: the Billings Mustangs in 1993 and the Louisville Bats in 2001.

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

Coach Magno brings with him over 20 years of baseball experience as a player, coach and instructor.

Chris was a catcher in the White Sox organization but an arm injury derailed his dream of catching in the big leagues.

Collegiately, Chris was a key member of the 1985 NCAA National Champion Miami Hurricanes, where he received All College World Series and All Region honors. Chris was the team leader in game winning RBI's and was a main cog in the Hurricane's offense in 85 and 86.

In 83-84, Chris played in the Junior College World Series with top ranked Seminole, OK. He also won a Cape Cod college summer league championship with the Harwich Mariners.

Chris has developed his coaching skills by playing for some of the best coaches in the country, including University of Miami Hurricane coach Ron Fraser “the wizard of college baseball” who compiled a record of 1271-438 (3rd all time) and Lloyd “Zero” Simmons, Coach of Seminole, OK JUCO, who held a national record for the most wins by a coach at any collegiate level with a record of 1599-294 (.844 winning percentage).

Coach Magno currently coaches the 15u Cincinnati Crusaders Baseball Club which has quickly established itself as one of the top programs in SW Ohio. He also has been an off season hitting/Catching instructor at Moeller H.S. since 2005.

Chris instructs on all phases of the game but specializes in hitting, Catching, first base and outfield play as those where all positions he played throughout his career.

Chris Resides in Loveland with his wife and two children.

Son of Cincinnati Reds all star second basemen Tommy Helms. Ryan played his high school baseball at Western Hills where he was a four year starter and a two time first team all city selection hitting over .400 in 3 of the 4 years. He was chosen to play in the summer for the Midland Redskins alongside Brian Conley and helped lead them to 3 national championships in 3 years. As a Connie Mack World Series all tournament second basemen he was selected as an all star to represent the AABC in the future stars game. In 1994 he was picked by USA TODAY as one of the top 50 high school players in the country and was drafted in the 8th round by the Chicago White Sox where he played his minor league career working hands on with legendary hitting instructor Walt Reniak. He has since worked as a hitting and infield instructor in Dayton and now here with us. Ryan resides in Cincinnati,OH.

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.