OC's Student Athletes Hit Home Run With Quakes College Camps

LAKE FOREST, CA — Lake Forest coach and former Houston Astros second baseman John Elliott is encouraging young baseball players to become play-makers, thanks to his one-of-a-kind, rigorous and academically focused program at Quakes Baseball Academy. This summer, more college-coached camps are coming to a field near you.

Elliott built the indoor Quakes Baseball facility to teach players, ages 11 to 18, to “dream big” and put in the work required to reach their goals of playing high school, college and/or professional baseball.

"Quakes players work out at the club’s facility up to five days a week, more than three hours a day," a spokesperson told Patch. "They hit in the facility’s five indoor cages; they perfect their pitching in bullpens and they take a strategic and statistical approach to both, including the use of Rapsodo: Proprietary technology used by MLB."

Rapsodo encourages them to dig deeper by using analytical data to reach their potential. But that’s not all. Coach Elliott also hires professionals to lead yoga, cardio, weights, VertiMax or Plyometrics training nightly for academy attendees, they said.

Even the most accomplished athlete will get nowhere without academics, Elliott says. All Quakes players are rewarded for hard work especially straight A's by being admitted into the A Club, something that nearly 35-percent of Quakes players make.

“I have coached baseball in Southern California for 24 years,” said Coach Elliott. “And in that time, I’ve learned that it’s not just about providing proper training on the field. To succeed, players need to work hard outside the chalk to find their way into the halls of four-year universities, including Ivy League institutions.”

To maximize opportunities for area baseball players to commit to – and play at – the country’s most prestigious schools, Coach Elliott instituted an annual Ivy League/East Showcase; something he’s been doing for 10 years.

“Matching Ivy League coaches with no more than 65 baseball prospects, I’m giving players the chance to be seen and catch a break in an intimate environment,” said Coach Elliott. “By keeping the group small, we’re ensuring each coach can meet and spend time with qualified student athletes. Our showcase’s coach-to-athlete ratio is unprecedented at 5:1.”

The academy and showcase are working. Some of the players who Coach Elliott has helped reach their Ivy League dreams include:

• Chasen Ford, El Toro High School graduate (‘13), attended Yale, drafted by Padres
• Randell Kanemaru, Foothill Ranch High School graduate (‘14), attended Columbia
• Tyler Duncan, Corona Del Mar High School graduate (‘14), attended Yale
• Josh Nicoloff, Santa Margarita Catholic High School graduate (‘17), currently plays for Colombia
• Will Tomlinson, Crean High School graduate (‘17), currently plays for Brow
• Harrison White, a St. Margaret’s High School graduate (‘13), also went on to play at Yale and has recently been drafted by the Miami Marlins.

Other notable alumni coming from Quakes Baseball Academy include:

• Danny Espinosa (began QBA at 10-years-old) – Drafted by the Washington Nationals
• Kyle Higashioka (began QBA at 11-years-old) – Drafted by the New York Yankees
• Will Tribucher (began QBA at 13-years-old) – Drafted by the Colorado Rockies
• Aaron Wirsch (began QBA at 11-years-old) – Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles.

Wirsch now coaches QBA players alongside Coach Elliott

June 1-2, Coach Elliott will once again match Academic coaches with Southern California high school baseball players.Coaches attending this early summer showcase include:

• YALE’s Head Coach Stuper
• PRINCETON’s Head Coach Bradley
• PENN’s Head Coach Yurkow
• DARTMOUTH’s Head Coach Whalen
• CORNELL’s Head Coach Pepicelli
• BROWN’s Head Coach Achilles
• HARVARD’s Head Coach Decker
• MIT’s Coach Carroll
• UC Irvine’s Head Coach Orloff

A second 2019 Ivy League/East camp is planned for August. Space is still available at Quakes Baseball Academy and its Academic, Ivy League/East and West summer showcases.

For more information, visit www.quakesbaseball.com.