LVBA accepting enrollment for 2011 travel teams...

LVBA and the Stealth organization are accepting enrollment now
for the 2011 Spring/Summer sessions at all age groups.

2010 in review:

35 Tournament championships
1 State championship
2 National championships
11 Division I commitments
1 player drafted, 2010 MLB draft


If you are a serious baseball player, with the goal of playing with and against other high level players in some of the best tournaments in the country. Please contact LVBA for your individual evaluation at 610-351-0013 or info@LehighValleyBaseballAcademy.com. Some of the tournament locations we will be attending are in Georgia, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Delaware, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.

LVBA Winter Workout

Slots are filling fast...

9 sessions in all...

4 on Sunday, 3 on Saturday, 1 Tuesday & 1 Thursday...

Click here for all the information: Workout

Sessions 3 & 4 are closed and Session 2 has 1 opening...

LVBA's Jeff Bittiger named 2010 Oakland A's Scout of the Year...

Congratualtions to LVBA instructor and 18-elite coach Jeff Bittiger for being named the Oakland Athletics 2010 Scout of the Year...

LVBA Player Appreciation Dinner August 6...

Here is the link for the LVBA Player Appreciation Dinner:

http://www.lehighvalleybaseballacademy.com/LVBA_Player_Appreciation_Flyer_2.pdf

All you can eat beef! All you can drink beer!
Date: August 6, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm
Place: CJ Hummels in Lenhartsville, PA
Cost: $10.00 per ticket or $15.00 per couple
(bring your family, friends & neighbors!)

LVBA 17u team moves to 4-0 at National tourney...

Tyler Hill & Chad Frankenfield combined to hold down the Mid-Atlantic Mustangs, despite a lengthy rain delay, as LVBA won 13-1 to go to 4-0 in the tourney...

Canes North is the last game on the slate in pool play, but this will be a big test for LVBA as Canes North is ranked 2nd in the country...Winner moves on...

Hammond & Hercik lead LVBA 3-0 in Marietta with 5-3 win...

Drew Hercik homered and Xavier Hammond got the win as LVBA moved to 3-0 at the Perfect game 17u National Championship Tournament in Marietta, Georgia, with a 5-3 win over the DBAT Mustangs (from Texas)...

Matt McBride named Eastern League Offensive Player of the Week...

LVBA Instructor and Cleveland Indians' AA player Matt McBride was named Eastern League Offensive Player of the Week...

McBride was 10-for-27 (.370 AVG, .452 OB%, 1.111 SLG AVG) with 2 2Bs, an incredible 6 HRs (including 3 in one game), 9 RBI, 7 Runs and 4 BB.

Article link: McBride

LVBA 17u-Elite team off to great start in Marietta, Georgia...

Our LVBA 17u-Elite team has started 2-0 in the Perfect game 17u National Championship Tournament in Marietta, Georgia, in a venue that has over 200 teams playing and just as many college scouts attending (with Pro scouts mixed in, too)...

Game 1 was Tuesday as LVBA defeated Utah Baseball Academy 10-2, with Eric Snyder throwing just 63 pitches in getting the win...Wes Baylor homered for LVBA...

Baylor continued his good start to the tourney by getting the win on Wednesday on the hill as LVBA defeated the Tri-State Arsenal 9-3...

This is what our entire program is building towards for all the kids here at the younger age groups, and that is, a chance to play on THIS team, on a National stage, in front of over 200 scouts at this tournament...

This tournament is where Tyler Vail got seen last summer and his stock went from unknown to top college and possibly a pro prospect as it took Dylan Dando an hour to get from the field to the bus after the game Vail threw in Georgia as about 40 scouts stopped him on the way to the bus for information on Vail...

LVBA baseball camps at ECTB Stadium...

LVBA Camps


LVBA Stealth Camps at ECTB Stadium


($150 per week, LVBA members price is $120)


This is not a progression with these Camps.

There is no need to attend more than one camp.


Click here for the camp sign-up form:

Camp_sign-up_form


Session 1 June 22, 23, 24

ages 8 -10 (9 am to 12) -- ages 11-13 (12:30 to 3:30)


Session 2 June 29, 30, July 1

ages 8 -10 (9 am to 12) -- ages 11-13 (12:30 to 3:30)


Session 3 July 6, 7, 8

ages 8 -10 (9 am to 12) -- ages 11-13 (12:30 to 3:30)


Session 4 July 13, 14, 15

ages 8 -10 (9 am to 12) -- ages 11-13 (12:30 to 3:30)


Session 5 July 20, 21, 22

ages 8 -10 (9 am to 12) -- ages 11-13 (12:30 to 3:30)


Session 6 July 27, 28, 29

ages 8 -10 (9 am to 12) -- ages 11-13 (12:30 to 3:30)

LVBA 18u-Elite pitcher Tyler Vail drafted in 5th round by Oakland...

Congratulations to LVBA 18u-Elite pitcher Tyler Vail, who was drafted in the 5th round, pick #155, by the Oakland Athletics this afternoon...

LVBA has Free Evaluations for our Fall baseball travel-team program...

Tuesdays and Thursdays:



June 22: 9-to-12 year olds -- 5:30 to 7:00

13-to-16 year olds -- 7:00 to 8:30



June 24: 9-to-12 year olds -- 5:30 to 7:00

13-to-16 year olds -- 7:00 to 8:30



June 29: 9-to-12 year olds -- 5:30 to 7:00

13-to-16 year olds -- 7:00 to 8:30



July 1: 9-to-12 year olds -- 5:30 to 7:00

13-to-16 year olds -- 7:00 to 8:30



Please call or email us to reserve a slot (limit 20 per session)

610-351-0013 or info@LehighValleyBaseballAcademy.com

12u & 14u take Gold while 13u & 15u take Silver on Memorial Day Weekend...

Congratulations to our travel teams for a memorable Memorial Day Weekend as 4 of our 8 teams in tournaments made it to the Championship Game with 12u & 14u taking 1st place and 13u & 15u taking 2nd place in ECTB tourneys...

Daily Log, Day 8 -- Congratulations to Tyler Vail...

Congratulations to LVBA 18u-Elite pitcher Tyler Vail for being named Rawlings Perfect Game 1st-team All-American...

Vail is a senior at Notre Dame (Green Pond) High School and he is to be commended for all the hard work he has put in over the past year-plus at the acdemy to raise his game to another level...

And Kudos to ND pitching coach Chris Parsell, who, instead of changing everything the LVBA Staff did with Vail to help get him to the level he is at now, Parsell turned Vail completely over to our pitching instructor and is allowing LVBA to lay out pitch counts and evrything else that is necessary to help Vail develop to his full potential, rather than just allowing the head coach to just throw Vail out there and throw 120+ pitches a game (like many high school coaches do) in an attempt to win meaningless high school games, which do virtually nothing to enhance the collegiate/professional status or advance the development of an individual player for the next level...

Parsell "gets it"...

Most high school pitching coaches don't get it as they think reading books or going to clinics at Cherry Hill somehow makes them an authority or some kind of expert...

LVBA wishes Tyler the best of luck in his upcoming high school season...

Daily Log, Day 7 -- How good are Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy's contacts?

Daily Log:

Day 7

Just seeing how one conversation between 2 scouts at LVBA got a Tri-County League player a shot to play Professional Baseball this spring was unbelievable, but even that true story may not be amazing as this true story...

There is a player who graduated from Liberty High School in 2008 who barely made the team as a senior...He got 3 ABs the entire season...He wasn't happy with his situation at a 2-year school, so he sat out and then wanted to see if he could get into a good 4-year baseball program...

He had been coming to the Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy virtually every day since we opened on November 3rd of 2007...He is a hard worker...He simply is not ready to play at a top-flyte collegiate baseball program, but he asked the hierarchy at LVBA whether or not there was anything the academy to do to get him a shot at making the team at Keystone College, a team that finished 40-6 last year and cracked the Top 10 in the country at the Division III level...

How could this kid possibly make the Keystone College team in 2009-10, a team ranked 11th in the country in a preseason poll?...

A kid who had 3 varsity ABs in his career at Liberty High School 2 years ago and then didn't play anywhere in 2009...

C'mon, how?...

With one phone call by LVBA, that's how...

With no promises of any playing time and a promise from the kid to maintain a positive attitude and hard work ethic while at Keystone, LVBA pulled in a favor and got the coach to put him on the team...

The kid is on the Keystone College baseball team and their website verifies it for any non-believers...

What high school coach in the Lehigh Valley could pull this off?...

Answer: Nobody...

What travel team coach or legion coach or ANY coach in the Lehigh Valley could pull this off?...

Answer: Nobody...

Only at LVBA can a true story like this take place anywhere in the Lehigh Valley...

And LVBA has other college connections all over the country...

What can LVBA do for you?...

If you think you have it what it takes to play collegiate baseball, you may want to join a team at LVBA and get noticed...LVBA's professional staff WILL find the best fit for you at the collegiate level...

LVBA: Amazing happens here...

Daily Log, Day 6 -- LVBA gets another player a shot at professional baseball...

Daily Log:

Day 6

LVBA has had more or less what can be described as an amateur adult-league "affiliate team" in 2008 and 2009 and that team has been the Limeport Bulls of the Tri-County League...

Many top-flyte players in college or just out of college in the area have played for the Bulls the past 2 seasons, hoping to land a spot in professional baseball somewhere thanks in part to the dozens of Independent League coaching contacts that Jeff Bittiger and Dylan Dando of LVBA have made over the years...

So today, at LVBA, Oakland A's scout Jeff Bittiger mentioned that he was looking for a slick-fielding shortstop who can throw about 90 mph off the mound and Los Angeles Dodgers scout and former manager of the Limeport Bulls, Dylan Dando mentioned that Chris Tonte fits that bill...

Tonte, who played at Pitt, has dazzled the Tri-County League and Limeport Stadium crowds with some of the most incredible defensive plays imaginable the past two summers...Last summer, Bulls' manager Steve Smull was looking for a closer and put Tonte (who has a cannon at SS) on the mound, and Tonte was throwing bullets...

So today, another Tri-County League player gets a shot at Pro baseball thanks in part to the Limeport Bulls affiliation with LVBA the past 2 years, as Tonte will sign a contract to go to spring training in North Dakota with the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks of the Northern League, one of the best Independent Leagues in the country...

There is no guarantee that Tonte will even make the squad, as the level of baseball in the Northern League has been compared to AA baseball in affiliated leagues...

But the bottom line is, Tonte will get a chance to play professional baseball because of the professional contacts that LVBA has all over the country...

Are there any high school coaches or even college coaches in the Lehigh Valley who can make one phone call and get a player a shot to play professional baseball overnight?...

The answer is, "No"...

Are there any travels teams in the Lehigh Valley area who has coaches who are professional scouts with the professional contacts that Bittiger and Dando have?...

The answer is "No"...

Is your kid interested in having a shot to play baseball at a college that is the best fit for him?...

Is your college-age kid good enough to have a shot at playing professional baseball?...

You may want to play at LVBA and find out...

Daily Log, Day 5

Daily Log:

Day 5

Something must be going right at LVBA, when players from Texas and Florida are looking to play for our 18u-Elite team here in the Lehigh Valley...

The LVBA 18u Elite-team was created this past Fall and the team was an instant hit, competing well against the top travel teams on the East Coast...Coached by Los Angeles Dodgers scout Dylan Dando, full-time Oakland Athletic scout Jeff Bittiger and Mike McDaniel, this team finished with a winning percentage over .800 last fall...

And yes, LVBA is getting phone calls from players in Texas and Florida because these players want to play in front of major league scouts on a daily basis...

Daily Log, Day 4

Daily Log:

Day 4

Eight more hours of the winter workout today. Really amazing to see this program take off. But what is even more amazing is what happened 2 weeks ago on SuperBowl Sunday.

The winter workout runs for 2 hours and there are 4 sessions on Sundays that go from 1 to 9 p.m. Well,, very few kids skipped the workout on SuperBowl Sunday. And the biggest shock of the day was the 7 to 9 p.m. session with the 14 and 15 year-old kids. At most, 1 or 2 kids skipped this session, which is amazing considering this entire session took place while the SuperBowl was being played.

What more proof does anyone need to know that the kids are enjoying the quality instruction they are getting at LVBA?

Daily Log, Day 3:

Daily Log:

Day 3

The Founder of the Stealth baseball team, Jason Mengel, has brought the Stealth Winter Workout to LVBA and it has taken off. Almost 200 kids participating in 2010, up from about 50 or 60 last year. And it is no surprise why the participation has skyrocketed since the merger between the Stealth program and LVBA.

With two sessions of the winter workout running today (and four more sessions tomorrow), I just took one look around and can see why it took off: The instructors LVBA was able to add to this workout has taken this to a new level.

Mengel himself and former Mets' farmhand Josh Perich do a fantastic job instructing the kids, but as I walk around, I also see Sam Walls, who pitched for the Reading Phillies in 2009 and Fuhrman (formerly with the Detroit Tigers) doing the pitching instruction and Mark Angelo (currently with the Seattle Mariners) doing the fielding drills. Josh Baltz (Muhlenburg assistant coach) also does a great job with hitting drills.

The goal of the winter workout is to prepare kids (ages 7 through 15) for their spring/summer seasons that start in April. The workout starts the first weekend of December and runs through the last weekend of March and many parents mentioned last year that the kids who participated in the workout stood out over everyone else in their local town leagues because the kids had a huge head start and got professional instruction for months leading up to the start of their season.

Just another success story at LVBA as I wouldn't be surprised to see over 300 kids doing the winter workout in 2011.

Daily Log, Day 2:

Daily Log:

Day 2

LVBA has been making some nice pick-ups for their travel/tournament teams for the 2010 spring/summer season. After picking up one of the best 13u players in the Lehigh Valley a few weeks ago, Dylan Dando has added another stud pitcher from Bangor for the 18u Elite team.

With the exposure that travel teams are getting now, the importance of high school baseball is quickly disappearing. In fact, there will be a day some time very soon where high school baseball will be virtually obsolete in terms of importance compared to tournament baseball at the elite level. We are already at the point n the Northeast where high school baseball is the equivalent to club teams when compared to the elite tournament teams that are now playing tournament baseball. Elite travel teams are going up against some the best competition in the country, while high school teams in this area are, well, going up against other high school teams in this area.

And where are the college and pro scouts?

Not at high school games. They are at tournaments where elite travel teams are playing. By the dozens or more in some instances. And people are already realizing this. As LVBA now has enough talent to put 4 of its teams on the National stage in 2010 as LVBA will have a team at the 9u, 12u, 13u and 18u level participating at the National level, going up against the best competition in the country.

Daily Log

Daily Log:

Day 1

There is a stigma in the Lehigh Valley and the Northeast in general when it comes to the lack of quality baseball at the amateur level. That lack of quality baseball in the Lehigh Valley is further exacerbated by the lack of quality coaching going on at every level. EVERY level. From little league right through high school and even the collegiate level in some instances.

Baseball just isn't taught the same in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas as it is down south or in Texas, Arizona and Southern California.

And this is why it was incredibly refreshing when I looked around Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy today and was amazed at what I saw. I saw Mark Angelo (currently in the Seattle Mariners organization and head coach of our 10u team last fall) giving a hitting lesson in Cage 4. Next to him in Cage 3 was Craig Muschko (currently in the Chicago Cubs organization) giving a pitching lesson. In Cage 2, Mike McDaniel (who was the full-time hitting coach at Arkansas Fort-Smith last year and long-time hitting coach at DeSales University) was in the middle of a hitting lesson.

I start to walk down the hall and see Matt McBride (currently in the Cleveland Indians organization) working out at FASST, and adjacent to the FASST portion of the facility was Aaron Fuhrman (formerly with the Detroit Tigers' organization) doing a pitching lesson in the tunnel. I walk further down the hall and see Jeff Bittiger (Oakland A's scout and former major league pitcher) and Dylan Dando (Los Angeles Dodgers' scout) working out a pitcher on the LVBA 18u Elite team, a team that had an outstanding fall season in 2009.

All I could think of was, "Wow, where else can you find this many professional instructors under one roof in the Lehigh Valley?"

Answer: Nowhere.

And the amazing part is: From December through February and part of March, this kind of scene happens almost every day at LVBA.