A Personalized Experience

Our coaches specifically tailor their instruction to each individual athlete, and encourage positive progress even outside the facility. The Athlete Factory instructors are all talented and accomplished coaches with an extensive baseball or softball background.

The following private and group lessons are offered at The Athlete Factory:

• Pitching
• Hitting
• Throwing
• Fielding
• Catching

Brett Strahin

baseball Catching, Fielding, and Hitting

Coach Brett played college Baseball at Frederick Community College and West Virginia State University where he played catcher and first base. Throughout playing in college Brett led multiple clinics and gave instruction until graduating in 2017. After graduating, Brett put his focus on developing hitters and catchers, with an emphasis on taking catchers to the next level both mentally and technically. With close to 10 years of instructing experience and multiple catchers of his own playing in college themselves, Brett continues his passion of developing players of the game.

Evan Englebrook

baseball Pitching and Hitting

Evan was selected in the 8th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft by the Houston Astros after his senior season at Shippensburg University, where he was a first team All-American pitcher. Evan went on to play 12 years of professional baseball and was on the major league 40-man roster with the Astros in 2010. He also has played professionally overseas in Venezuela and Japan.

After retiring in 2016, Evan has been giving private pitching/hitting lessons to all ages. Using his experience and knowledge of biomechanics, he helps each athlete learn how to reach their full potential. Evan is now the current pitching coach at Hood College .

Tyler Volentine

baseball Pitching

Coach Tyler started his pitching career at 7 years old and continued pitching through his senior year at Hood College. Throughout his career, Tyler pitched in a variety of roles allowing him to understand the mental and physical demands of each role within a pitching staff. Over the years, he learned how to quickly evolve pitch mixes to fit his role. In addition to his time on the field, Tyler was a student of the biomechanics of pitching under Dick and Ryan Mills as well as Lance Wheeler. In doing so, Tyler discovered the key to reducing and eliminating arm pain while increasing velocity. While properly patterning each individual’s movement will increase velocity, he knows that success is more than just fundamental mechanics. In fact, he will say success starts with preparation long before you ever pick up a baseball.

Laine Heisler

Softball hitting, fielding, and catching

Coach Laine has actively played softball for more than 20 years. In high school, she was varsity captain for 2 years, and starting 1st baseman and backup catcher for 4 years. Following high school, Laine attended Kutztown University where she played for 3 years. Coach Laine has also been utilized for all forms of bunting, slapping, and hitting, and has experience commanding the field either as a catcher or 1st baseman.

Laine assisted the Reading School District Softball Program where she ran mini camps throughout the Winters and helped with fielding, and pitcher-catcher pairs. She also coached the Reading Middle School JV team (14U and 10U teams) for the Reading Girls Softball Program for 3 years. Using her experience and knowledge of the game, Laine helps her athletes with the mental and physical aspects of the game to improve their technique and teamwork.

Emma Livingston

Softball Catching, Hitting, and Fielding

Coach Emma has been playing softball since she was 7 years old and graduated from Tuscarora High School in 2022. During her Freshman year of College at Notre Dame of Maryland University, she played DIII softball in Baltimore, MD. NDMU she had a .954 fielding percentage, with a batting average of .242. She recently transferred to Frederick Community College to continue her education in Nursing for the 2023-24 school year. Emma has also played travel softball for 9 years, including playing for Maryland Aftershock 18U B (Fowler).

Emma has extensive knowledge of both infield and outfield positions. As a starting catcher, she has extensive strategic knowledge of the game. Knowing the mental aspects of the game is just as important as the physical, and with 12 years of experience, she can deliver quality instruction on both.

Dany Thompson

Softball Catching, Hitting, and Fielding

Coach Dany started her career in baseball and switched to softball in high school. Dany is a utility player as well as a utility and switch hitter, which speaks to her ability to power hit, slap, and execute all forms of bunts. Dany has experience in coaching from leading softball clinics, coaching teams in their pre-season, assisted pitcher-catcher duos, group lessons, and private lessons.

In 2021 Dany played for Frederick Community College and tied 22nd for overall hitting stats (Regional), tied 8th for stolen bases (Regional), ranked 5th for OBP (.492), and led the region in BB’s.

She was ranked among the top 300 in AVG, and top 400 for OBP, of National DII players. Dany also placed within the top 35 players in the region for all 2022 statistics mentioned.

Nathaniel Puryear Jr.

Baseball Hitting and Fielding

Coach Nat graduated from Tuscarora High School in 2011 where he played Varsity starting his Sophmore year. He moved on to play at Penn State York his Freshman year of college, then transferred to Hood College playing as first baseman and outfield.

Nat began coaching at Hood College in 2017 where he is still currently coaching. He assisted Hood in earning a record of 32-11 his first year as a coach, and helped them through 2 straight MAC conference playoffs.

Coach Nat is also the current coach for American Legion Post 11 where he has coached for 2 years. In addition, he currently an assistant coach for Senior Legion and Frederick High School.

Alyssa Husband

Softball pitching, fielding, and hitting

Coach Alyssa has been playing softball since she was 8 years old. She graduated from Tuscarora High School in 2023 and is currently pursuing her education at Frederick Community College where she studies Business and is a pitcher and first baseman for the FCC softball team.

With many years of travel softball under her belt, including Maryland Express and Urbana Rippers teams, Coach Alyssa is extremely knowledgeable on both sides of the plate as a pitcher and infielder as well as a hitter. A starting Varsity first baseman throughout high school, she truly knows the position down to its minute details. As a pitcher, she has developed tight spins and hard command to challenge hitters. She believes that recognizing pitches and pitch locations is one of the key fundamentals to succeed as a hitter.

Coach Alyssa will help your daughter learn and succeed at many softball skills to become a well-rounded player with a mind for the game.

Jordan Long

Softball pitching

Coach Jordan attends Hood College where she has been a starting pitcher for the past 4 years. She has been honing her pitching skills for 12 years and is passionate about teaching pitching fundamentals—from increasing pitch speed to developing spin pitches. She is great with all age groups and looks forward to helping you become the best version of yourself on and off the field.

Nathan Farmer

Baseball Pitching and fielding

Coach Nathan started his pitching career in his freshman year of high school at Linganore High, and continued up to his senior year. In Fall 2020, Nathan walked on at Frederick Community College where he gained experience as both a starting and relieving pitcher. He currently plays at Glenville State University. He believes in throwing with a intent and a purpose, and having a set plan/goal day in and day out.

John Buckley

Baseball Pitching, Hitting, and Fielding

Coach JB is a former player from Good Counsel High School and Montgomery College, where he played pitcher and outfield. Coach JB has over 5 years of experience coaching High School baseball, taking time to teach the importance of character on and off the field. In addition to coaching high school, he has led youth baseball programs including the local 2021 LOYAA Thunder team.

Kyle Brown

Baseball Catching and Hitting

Coach Kyle graduated from Frederick High School in 2021 where he was a four-year varsity starter. He was named to the Frederick News Post All-County team, Central Maryland Conference All conference team, and Perfect Game All-Region team during his time in high school. Currently, Kyle plays for McDaniel College where he hit .286 his Freshman year.

Lauren Moore

Softball Hitting and Fielding

Coach Lauren began playing softball when she was 8 years old and graduated from Tuscarora High School. During her Freshman year of college, she played at Trevecca Nazarene University, an NCAA DII school in Nashville, TN. Lauren is currently playing at Shepherd University (also NCAA DII) where she batted .400 with a fielding percentage of 1.000 this past fall.

Lauren has considerable experience in all 4 of the infield positions. She is a strong hitter who is skilled at recognizing pitches as they are coming in during at-bats. In her past coaching experiences, she has helped players fix their mechanics and grow stronger both mentally, and physically.