What's new with Justin Stone?

A few updates with a two of the high schools I work with regularly. Lincoln, IL, downstate, just had a one day hitting clinic with me. Coach Pat Hake and his staff had me in recently to work with his team in refining their hitting mechanics. I did Digital Analysis on each of the players to get them started in their fall program. This is the 4th consecutive year I've gone to Licoln, and have to admit, I have more fun there than almost any place I go! They really appreciate my time and effort and the kids really desire to get better. I keep going back because I really feel like the kids appreciate the opportunity to work with me. Pat also goes much too far out of his way to take care of me. I enjoyed a cook-out and night out with his staff to discuss baseball related topics and the Lincoln County Fair is second to none! Where else can I do Digital Analysis and watch a tractor pull in the same day?

October 16 I will be the featured speaker at the Chicago Christain Academy Baseball Fundraiser and Golf Outing. Coach Eric Brauer was a former recruit of mine years ago when I was at Indiana State U. and I have worked with his players in the pre-season for the last few years. I am thankful Eric asked me to help raise money for their baseball program. I plan to take many of my instructors to their golf outing and hope to entertain them when I speak at their fundraiser dinner.

Working with the Australian Women's National Baseball Team

Yesterday, I worked with the Australian National Women's Baseball Team. For three hours, I took them through defensive drills and Digital Hitting Analysis. The girls were so much fun! They hung on my every word and really got a lot out of the day. I was suprised to how sound many of their fundamentals were and how advanced training was getting in a non-traditional baseball country like Australia. Women's baseball is a subject very dear to me, as I was brought up on the game by my mother, who was an outstanding baseball player in her own right. I think it's great that these ladies were following their passion in a sport with very little opportunity for advancement. They are truly playing for "The love of the game!" It was great to make some friends and memories for the day and hope they do well as they travel the United States playing in some of the legendary stadiums from the Women's Professional Baseball League of the 1940's, featured in the movie, "A League of Their Own."

Summer Success! Youth Travel Teams Score Big!

I grew up in a small town, and I have always had a sense of "small town" community where I have lived. I think its important to get involved in the communities you live in and give back what you have to offer. I have trained two of my neighborhood teams to incredible success this summer. The Welles Park 12U travel team and the Windy City Storm 13U travel teams had great summers. Welles Park, down the street from my house, had not won a travel game in two years prior to this season. I designed and led a training program this winter and spring and put a professional coach in place for them. The turnaround was amazing. After losing 40 consecutive games, the Welles team finished 15-4 in the NSBL, finishing 4th out of 20 teams, beating many full time travel teams along the way. Last week, they competed in Cooperstown, beating two full time travel teams from the East and Southeast and competing with several National level travel teams. To add, the team became fan favorites amongst the Cooperstown staff and the 120 teams present, as our boys have some dynamic and memorable personalities. I remember distinctly in January, when Mikey D. asked me, "Coach, just help us to win 1 game this year, PLEASE!" Well, they won their first game and never looked back, and more importantly than wins, it was fun to see the confidence and self esteem of these boys reach new heights this summer!

The Windy City Storm 13U Elite team won the MSBL elite championship. A very talented group of boys who have college and pro baseball aspirations got their first taste of what "real" baseball is like at the next level. They left "dad" coached travel baseball and got professional training for the first time. It was amazing to see the amount of development in each player and it certainly paid off on the field. This team, who won 5 summer tournaments, has several players that will be future prospects! Above is a picture of the 2010 MSBL Elite Division Champions.

Recently been named USA Baseball NTIS coach

September 9-11 I will be heading back to Cary, NC as a instructor for the USA Baseball NTIS. NTIS is part of the selection process to help identify the top players in the country to play for Team USA the following year. I have recommended players that I work with for this event in the past that have fared very well. In fact, last year, Andrew Owen (Chicago) was one of only a few Midwestern players to make USA Baseball's 40 man roster. I had been teaching Andrew for 5 years. Because of the success my players have had at NTIS, I am now involved as a coach and a committee member who chooses players for a 5 state region. We chose the teams today and I have several more players who have worked with me that are playing in the event. Cary, NC has become my second home for the summer and I look forward to being there for another week upcoming.

1st National Clinic Speaking Engagement

I'm very excited to announce I've been named as a feature speaker for the 2010 BCA National High School Coaches Convention in Nashville, TN Dec 2-5 this year. I will be the hitting presenter and it is quite an honor. To my knowledge, I am the youngest presenter on the National stage. I will be speaking along side people like longtime Major League Manager and ESPN analyst Bobby Valentine, several top Division I NCAA coaches and Jerry Dawson of USA Baseball, who I recently coached with at the USA Baseball Breakthrough Series. I'm really excited for this and will be taking several of my staff to assist and enjoy the weekend. Travis Kerber, will be running my video and Dan Puente with Chris LaPorta will be demonstrating my drills. We look forward to a great time in Nashville! Below is the website for the convention which will be updated as speakers committ to the event.

http://www.baseballcoaches.org/convention2010.jsp

Double Duty Classic and USA Baseball Breakthrough Series

The last few months are always the busiest for me as I'm on the field, for what seems like 10 hours a day. One of my favorite projects is the work I do with the Chicago White Sox ACE program, which is our inner city baseball project. Ran by Nathan Durst and Dan Puente, the ACE program started as an idea by Nathan, our national crosschecker, and a written proposal to the White Sox front office from myself. The Double Duty Classic celebrates past Negro League all star games that use to be held at Comiskey Park. Through White Sox scouts accross the country, we bring in some of the best minority talent to compete against our Chicago ACE program at US Cellular Field. I coached in this year's game for the third consecutive year and ran the on field workout prior to the game for college and pro scouts. This year's talent was the best we've had in the three years. Alex Santana (Miami, FL), Kris Goodman (Minnesota) and Lance Jeffries (St. Louis) were some of this year's outstanding talent from out of the region. Chicago's Quintin Richardson was named MVP of the game. Richardson, who is uncommitted, is one of the best secrets out there for the 2011 class.
It was a treat for me to coach along side Rafeal Santana. Rafeal is the head of the Chicago White Sox Dominican Academy and was a star shortstop for the New York Mets in the 1980's. That was a time where I followed baseball the closest and Rafeal was considered a premier shortstop, along with Ozzie Smith at that time and won a world championship with the New York Mets in 1986. Being a shortstop myself, I had some great conversation about Rafi's career and enjoyed his stories from my favorite baseball era.

I have never been prouder of being part of the White Sox organization than I was after this event. Watch the 3 minute piece below from MLB.COM and you will see how special this event is for all those involved.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=9908691

Recently, I spent a week at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, NC for the Breakthrough Series, put on by the MLB Scouting Bureau and USA Baseball. In this event, the top minority players in the country take part in a week of instruction and competition in front of scouts. It is one of my favorite events to work. The White Sox took a team made up of all stars from our Double Duty Classic. Coaching with Dan Puente, White Sox scouts Clay Overcash and Kenny Fullman, we had a great time coaching the kids. The last day of the event we changed venues to the Durham Bulls AAA park to play the finals. After winning the championship last year, we were 2-1 this year and took second place. Ty Washington (Texas) and Dustin Houle (Vancouver, Canada) starred for our team. Look for them as big time players on the MLB scale in the future. To note, this was by far the most fun I have ever had working with a staff. Clay, Dan and Kenny were great assistants for me, both in baseball knowledge and comic relief. Below is a link to USA Baseball's recap of Day 1 of the event where we had a big come from behind victory led by Ty Washington.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=9612588