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2020 Scout Day Spotlight: Powerhouse Training

This is part of a series of stories on summer baseball organizations that "partner" with Prep Baseball Report. The PBR Scout Day is scheduled for March 7.

Organization Name: Powerhouse Training, LLC
Year organization started: 2010 – Present (Current Location)
How many current teams and what levels (15u, 16u, etc): We have local travel teams at the 10u, 12u and 14u level. We also partner with Oneil Blackhawks and run the performance/developmental portion of their off-season training. They currently have a 17U prospect team and a 16U team
Influential coaches past and present: We have a great group of coaches and trainers for us that is comprised of several current minor league players, minor league coaches/managers and former major league players.

Top Prospects 

• Matt Shaw – Maryland Commit (Worcester Academy) – 2020
• Alex Irizarry – Maryland Commit (Amherst H.S.)  - 2022
• Dan Burnett – Hartford Commit (Southwick H.S.) - 2020
• John LaFleur – Longmeadow H.S. – 2022

Notable Alumni 

• Isan Diaz (Miami Marlins MLB – 2B,  2nd round Diamondbacks)
• Seamus Curran (Baltimore Orioles, MILB – 8th round)
• Alec Baker – Dallas Baptist. Falmouth Commodores - 2020
• Nate Florence – Hartford – Wareham Gatemen – 2018
• Bryan Goossens – Sienna, Chatham A’s - 2014
• Ken McClean  - Albany

Goals/Philosophy 

As a training facility, our primary focus is on development. Most of the athletes who start training with us lack the ability to properly absorb and produce force through a full range of motion. This creates potential injury issues and also decreases performance. As we help establish full range of motion and proper movement patterns, we are able to help players add a substantial amount of strength and explosiveness. 

Our bread and butter over the years has been helping create more athletic, explosive players.

• Kyle Trombley – 6.49 60 yd dash – PG (Started in the low 7’s)
• Alec Baker – up to 97 mph – Northwoods League (began in the mid 70’s touching 78)
• Multitude of players with exit velocities at 100 mph plus

How has the program grown? 

We started training athletes in a 500-ft storage unit with no heat or AC in 2007. It would be 50 degrees or less in the winter and 100+ degrees in the summer. Players were getting better though, and people took notice. We continued to grow and develop over the years to the point we currently have about 13,000-sq ft of indoor space in addition to three outdoor mounds and a full MLB-sized outdoor infield. 

Key accomplishments

We train athletes from all major sports. Over the last 10 years we have:

• Developed 18 All-Americans at the H.S and collegiate level
• More than100 All-Region selections at the HS level
• Two Top 10-round MLB draft picks
• Three players with MLB time
• Numerous Minor League players
• One NFL first-round draft pick
• Four baseball players with official 60 times less than 6.60 seconds
• 30 players have thrown better than 90 mph (Run in / Crow hop)

How has PBR been helpful?

PBR was one of the first organizations that we felt provided very good exposure at a very reasonable price. We saw athletes start getting attention very quickly after attending PBR events.

Ken McClean (Albany) was one player in particular. He was a UMass-Amherst verbal commit.  He had no scholarship money and had second thoughts about attending. He decided to do a PBR event in the late winter of his senior year and within days he had multiple D-I contacts, including the University of Albany. He ended up going to Albany and receiving a sizable scholarship. That was really the turning point when we started recommending PBR events to our players. 

Later down the line a friend and former Major Leaguer who is high up in the Angels’ scouting department recommended PBR as a “well-run organization that provides great exposure without breaking the bank”. When a person of that status makes that type of recommendation for a company they have no affiliation with it really says a lot.

Plans ahead 

This summer we would like to begin focusing on an in-season development program for local AAU teams that will help provide a developmental component that many players are missing from their summer. Exposure certainly matters in the summer months, but we see many players who do not have enough speed, power or tools to stand out for college coaches. We feel that a well-run training program over the summer months could make a massive difference for the borderline prospects who are lacking the tools to attract college coaches. We believe most players only think “Train during the winter and play during the summer”. We believe this is what leads to a lot of injuries and lack of development. We think the Texas and Florida baseball ranches have created a great template that would really benefit players in the northeast.