(Editor’s Note: This article originally was published in December 2017) When it comes to being a successful hitter, there is nothing more frustrating than being geared up for a fastball only to hopelessly flail at a change up in the dirt. Believe me, as a .250 hitter as a senior in high school I can attest to this. There is no amount of hours in a batting cage that can prepare you for the challenge of off-speed pitches and tight breaking balls. Enter Senaptec and Hack Attack Pitching Machine. These revolutionary devices represent the next-wave of baseball training, something in which several Major League Baseball teams have purchased and begun to implement into their organizations. Both of these do not come cheap, however, and unless you are able to book an appointment at Yankee Stad...
What better way to learn the intricacies of hitting from a current Major League hitting coach? A group of 17 young ballplayers had the opportunity of a lifetime today in Farmingdale when current Chicago Cubs hitting coach and Astoria-native Anthony Iapoce ran a private clinic with 1-on-1 instruction. Iapoce works daily with superstars such as Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javy Baez but the New York-native is as down to earth as they come. I’ve had several conversations with him and besides being a brilliant baseball coach he never speaks down to anyone and is a great communicator. His message to the players today is to work on eliminating negative thoughts. He noted that all professional baseball players are talented and they all work hard – but sometimes they can’t hit....
For the third year, we will be co-hosting our Martin Luther King Day Showcase in conjunction with Diamond Spikes Baseball at MaX Effort Baseball in Farmingdale. The event has been well-attended the previous two years and with the uncertainty regarding the high school baseball season, college exposure is even more important than ever. Last year’s event featured over 80 players and 22 college coaches. We also co-hosted a college showcase in September which featured closed to 80 players and 20 college coaches. We will have a Rapsodo for pitchers as well as hitters – which further legitimizes the metrics to send to college coaches. With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, we will be separating the players into two sessions; position players and pitchers in an effort to stay compli...
The site was Max Effort Baseball in Farmingdale, where we hosted our second annual MLK Day College Showcase. The event drew 83 players and 23 college coaches. It featured a number of impressive individual performances. Here’s a quick rundown of some players that garnered attention from the college coaches and from myself. William Polanco Jr (Bishop Loughlin 2021) Polanco caught everyone’s attention with his play, just like the player beneath him on this list. He displayed soft hands and the ability to control his body moving laterally on defense. Big and physical, using wood he had an exit velocity of 91 MPH. His 84 MPH from the outfield was just narrowly second in attendance and ran 4.74 seconds to first. A no-doubt Division-I player, borderline pro prospect. Henry Garcia (Jam...
What do the following players have in common; Giancarlo Stanton, Adrian Beltre, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and Kris Bryant? They were all under the tutelage of hitting instructor Anthony Iapoce. The Astoria-native and current Chicago Cubs hitting coach held a hitting clinic for a group of young ballplayers today at MaX Effort Baseball in Farmingdale from 11am-2pm. Each player received personalize instruction from a coach that was hired by the Cubs to revive their offense. After two hours of instruction, the players all met in the cage for some Q & A with the master hitting coach. Here are some of the highlights of what he had to say: Hitting off a tee is good. In fact, there’s only one player on the Cubs (David Bote) that doesn’t begin his daily routine with a round off the...
We had coverage of Gameday USA’s first Long Island Tournament last month and we will have coverage of their August 17-18 tournament as well. The event featured 24 teams, including some teams from New Jersey and upstate New York. This event is expected to be an even larger turnout. “Last month was our first event on Long Island,” said Ryan Rosmonowski, Director of Operations for Gameday USA. “We were pleased with the event and we feel there is room for growth. We are excited for more expansion on Long Island,” he added. They have partnered with Max Effort to combine the credibility of Gameday with the innovation and local connection of MXE. Gameday USA is based out of the midwest but has since expanded to New York, Florida and the Carolinas. Their tournaments a...
Max Effort Baseball announced their affiliation with Gameday USA for two of their showcase tournament events this summer (June 28-30 and August 16-18) on Long Island. They had the following to say in an official statement: These will be Two Amazing Events for all of our teams to participate in, as well as all other organizations in the Northeast and Midwest. All players will all also have the opportunity to be scouted and identified to be picked to play in November 2019 through February 2020 for the 2019/2020 Jr. All-American Games held in Florida and Arizona. Players will also be scouted and identified for the Gameday USA Disney Team that competes at the ESPN Complex in Orlando Florida in December 2019. The events will take place at Newbridge Park and Baldwin Park. Game Day USA is a ...
Back in December 2017, we wrote about the state-of-the-art facility in Farmingdale that had recently opened called “MaX Effort Baseball“. Today we check back in after major renovations that added an additional 7,000 square feet to go along with their 25 ft high ceiling. Brad Jackson on the renovations at MaX Effort Baseball pic.twitter.com/lew9R6oeCs — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 24, 2018 Between the renovations and the training staff, it’s easy to see why they are booked solid through out the winter. Even prior to this year, they were gaining some traction due to the tremendous following of owner Brad Jackson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Johnson & Wales in ’15, and because of their use of some outstanding training devices. Some o...
A group of young ballplayers were treated to some high-level training by Chicago Cubs hitting coach Anthony Iapoce on Saturday at the newly-renovated MaX Effort Baseball in Farmingdale, NY. Iapoce is a New York native, who played his college ball at Division-I Lamar University in Beaumont, TX before playing 11 years of professional baseball. He was the minor league hitting coordinator for the Chicago Cubs from 2013-’15, where he played a role in developing many of their best hitters such as Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Albert Almora Jr, Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber. pic.twitter.com/PPwhGNi4Ni — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 22, 2018 He became the hitting coach of the Texas Rangers right after, where he helped them become the first team in MLB history to have nine...