11u – Cristian Gonzalez
11u – Tony Rescan
After graduating from Purdue University, Tony has written for and analyzed data for large companies. He brings a very detailed approach and analytical mindset to our organization.
12u – Frankie Perino
Frankie played college baseball at Harper College and Roosevelt University in Chicago. He has coached high level youth baseball and brings a patient yet informative approach to his players.
13u – Alex Gabbard
Alex was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois where he attended Lane Tech high school. He was a varsity starter as well as captain. Alex started his coaching career while sidelined with injuries during college. Since then, Alex has held various coaching positions for a variety of ages from 12-18U and three years with Lane Tech’s Varsity program.
Previously, Alex was a Program Coordinator for Lil’ Sluggers and Chicago Baseball Academy where he was in charge of curriculums for classes and camps as well as lesson scheduling for himself and other coaches. Alex has been coaching on Chicago’s North Side community (the same community he grew up in) for 7 years now and is always looking to learn and grow as a coach and player.
He currently oversees the 10-12u divisions and is the head coach for our 12u A team. His team finished 40-19 and won 4 tournament championships in 2021 while playing in elite level competition.
13u – Matthew Touhy
Matthew Touhy was born in Edgebrook Suganash on Chicago’s North side. While playing travel ball for Academy Elite in high school, his 18u team was ranked No. 1 in the Midwest fall of his Senior year. A 2 time all conference and all region SS and Closer at North Shore Country Day School, Touhy went on to play college ball at a top tier Academic Liberal Arts school – Centre College.
13u – Juan Silva
Juan has extensive experience in youth baseball and is highly dedicated and organized on the field. He is a true asset to the program.
13u Blackburn/McDonald
14u – Jake Miller
Jake Miller joins the Elite Baseball Training staff after a stellar prep career was cut short due to a career ending arm injury.
The Providence Catholic product was part of the Elite Baseball Training class of 2018 and was one of the top prep arms in the Midwest. Jake’s velocity climbed all the way up to 92 mph and he was being courted by several major Division I universities before he had to hang up the cleats due to injury.
Miller spent his prep career training regularly with Elite Baseball Training Director of Player Development, Travis Kerber, and he brings that same detail oriented approach to his lessons. He also has a strong technology and analytics background and will be working on professional and collegiate consulting projects with Kerber and the rest of the Elite staff.
14u – Noel Pagan
15u – Nick Shelton
After graduating from Carl Sandburg HS, Nick pitched collegiately at Bossier Parish CC in Louisiana. In college Nick’s fastball reached 94mph, and he brings a high level of pitching knowledge to the organization.
15U – Dan Kennon
After growing up in Deming, NM, Dan attended the prestigious IMG Academy in Florida. After IMG, Dan Kennon played Division I baseball at New Mexico State, and spend two seasons playing professionally as a middle infielder. Dan currently works on all Elite Baseball Training consulting projects at the D1 and Pro level.
Dan spent years learning from Justin Stone, and has extensive knowledge of hitting patterns and technology. Since 2017, Dan has been a full time instructor for Elite Baseball Training, and is the lead for all of our technology and hitting programs. He is one of the most sought after hitting instructors in the midwest, and he brings a tremendous amount of passion to his job.
16U – Efrain Mendez
Efrain Mendez is the current head varsity baseball coach at Hope Academy in Chicago, IL.
16u – Dave Simmons
After graduating from Lockport Township High School, Dave played collegiately at Olivet Nazarene university. Dave is a highly dedicated coach who excels on the field, and brings a tremendous amount of preparation and organization to each game and practice.
16u – Joba Ferrell
Joba Ferrell is an alum of Chicago’s Kenwood Academy where he enjoyed a stellar prep career that saw him ranked amongst the country’s top 500 prospects by Perfect Game USA.
Ferrell committed to JUCO powerhouse John A Logan out of high school and eventually moved on to Central Methodist University where he completed his college career. He then went on to play four seasons of professional baseball.
In 2018, Ferrell was named the Hitter of the Year for the Trinidad Tigers after posting a .378 average with 16 home runs. In 2020, he was part of the Joliet Slammers team that claimed the Frontier League championship.
17u – Marcus Murphree
A Texas transplant, Coach Murphree brings more than 25 years of baseball knowledge and experience to Elite. In addition, he has been a varsity baseball coach for Lane Tech for the past 5 years. Marcus grew up playing Little League in Beaumont, Texas and spending summers at the Mark Cresse School of Baseball in Irvine, Calif., while tacking on four years in Southeast Asia before returning to Texas and rounding out his career playing collegiate club baseball for Texas Christian University.
Following his time as a catcher and outfielder on the diamond, Murphree continued his involvement with competitive baseball from the press box as a sports writer and editor for The Dallas Morning News, covering the 2014 MLB Draft and various interscholastic prep tournaments.
His coaching mission is to create smarter, more game-aware ballplayers that can transition to higher levels of play in a variety of positions.
17u – Matt Van Mill
Matt Van Mill is coming to Elite after six years as an Assistant Coach at his alma mater, Saint Xavier University (SXU). Matt brings with him successful coaching experiences at a variety of levels.
In his playing career, Matt went to Bishop McNamara High School (BMHS) in Kankakee, IL where he was a three-year starter on the baseball team, and a two-time All-Chicago Catholic League selection. After high school, Matt was the starting first baseman for SXU from 2006-2009 where the team’s overall record was 142 – 83 and 74 – 14 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC). During Matt’s time at SXU, the Cougars earned three CCAC champion titles, two Region IIV titles, one Super-Regional title, and an NAIA World Series appearance in 2006.
As a baseball coach, Matt started in 2011 at Summit Hill Junior High (Frankfort, IL) where the team finished the season second in the state. In 2012, he coached the Lincoln-Way North High School (Frankfort, IL) sophomore baseball team to win their conference title. Matt then moved on to coach the offense at his high school alma-mater; BMHS, where they won a regional title in 2014. In the fall of 2014, Matt took the opportunity to focus on the outfield at his collegiate alma-mater, SXU. After one year, his role was expanded and he took the ownership of the team’s defense. The Cougar defense went from being ranked 167th in 2016 NAIA fielding percentage, to 6th in the country in the 2020 shortened season. While Matt was coaching at SXU, seven Cougars earned CCAC Rawlings Gold Glove Honors. The Cougars went from an overall record in 2015 of 13-28 and a 11-18 conference record, to a 34-17 overall and a 24-4 conference record in 2019. In that five-season span, the team won two conference championships (’16,’19) and earned bids to the NAIA national tournament.
Matt graduated with honors from Saint Xavier University and earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a minor in physical education. Since 2014, in addition to coaching, he has been a junior high physical education teacher in Chicago Ridge, IL. He currently resides in Chicago with his wife, Blakely.
18U – Alex Hales
Alex began coaching in 1995. He has a vast coaching experience, including assistant coaching at the high school and collegiate level and head coaching for national travel teams. In addition to team coaching, he is also heavily involved in private lessons, camp and clinic instruction, small group hitting programs, and position-specific training, including outfield, middle infield and base running.
Alex is known for high high level of organization, and his teams are extremely prepared going into competition. Alex is a Certified and Accredited NFHS Baseball Coach.
18U – Darius Lugo
Darius has spent entire life around the game of baseball. From winning championships as a kid on the little league fields in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood to playing Division II College Baseball at Eckerd College in Florida, Darius has always worked hard on improving his game. Darius has great energy and is a tremendous role model, and he does a great job of implementing work ethic into his players.
Jupiter – Shane Wilson
Shane has coached on the national travel circuit for many years. Shane has extensive knowledge and connections in the high school and collegiate baaseball world, and maintains strong relationships with many of the top programs in the country. He has a great vast of experience in coaching teams that have competed on the national stage. He is currently an assistant coach at Waubonsee CC.
