MARK DORAN - ( Baseball & Softball Hitting, Fielding, Catching, Owner)

Mark Doran is known internationally as a premier batting instructor. He played baseball and football at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned All-American award in baseball. Out of college, Mark was drafted in the first round by the California Angels in 1983 where he excelled at every level in the minor leagues. He was on the major league roster for both the California Angels and Chicago White Sox. After learning hitting from Hall of Fame baseball player Rod Carew, Mark began teaching the proper techniques of hitting and fielding to young athletes. Through training premier baseball athletes, Mark began meeting with top collegiate coaches in softball to learn the game of fastpitch. As one of the only coaches nationally to train both major league baseball players and Olympic softball athletes, Mark has been known as one of the best hitting instructors in the nation. He has trained several USA Olympic softball players, Greek Olympic softball players, Canadian Olympic players, Major League baseball players, and NCAA baseball and softball athletes. Mark currently mentors coaches from national powers Washington, Florida St, Arizona St and others.

Theresa has been a pitching instructor here at Diamond Sports Academy since we opened in 1995. Through the years she has also served as a coach for recreational leagues and 14U – 18U travel ball. Last summer, she co-coached (with Ginny Posey) the 16U New Lenox Lightning to the ASA National Tournament in Texas. She has coached and instructed girls from 7 years old through college. You can see some of her students currently playing travel ball for various local programs and High School ball for Lincoln Way Central, Lincoln Way East, Marist, Homewood- Flossmoor, Ottawa, Andrew, Oswego East and Northside Prep. Theresa has the unique opportunity to train with some of the best coaches and pitchers in the nation, which she uses as continued education of the game. Theresa believes every girl can be a successful pitcher through hard work, solid fundamentals, great mental preparation and proper pitch sequencing and location. Things you can expect from your training with Theresa are a strict focus on proper throwing and pitching fundamentals and a strong emphasis on leg drive and spin. Without these very important elements, girls will overthrow with their shoulders, reach a plateau in speed, and possibly end their careers due to injury.

Jay Ahrendt is a hitting/ catching instructor and was a product of Diamond Sports Academy. After being an All-American catcher at Illinois Wesleyan in 1996, Jay signed with the Baltimore Orioles in which he played 2 seasons. From there he went to Philadelphia Phillies organization and then played independent ball with the Atlantic City Surf of the Independent Atlantic League. He then signed with the San Diego Padres and finished his professional career in 2000. Through the years Jay has learned from some of the best instructors for both hitting and catching and passes that knowledge on to his students. Jay’s goal is to get each of his players to the next level thru work ethic and handling the mental approach to the game.

Bill Leffler is a hitting/fielding instructor and is a product of Diamond Sports Academy. Bill played high school ball at Victor J. Andrew (Tinley Park, IL) where he was voted team captain and team MVP his senior year. He played his college ball at Millikin University (Decatur, IL) where he was voted new comer of the year as a freshman and team captain as a senior. While in college he played two summers of semi-pro ball for the Italian American Sports Hall Of Fame Redshirts. After college he went on to be the freshman assistant coach at Victor J. Andrew in 2009, sophomore assistant at Carl Sandburg in 2010, and then accepted a position to instruct with the Chicago Cubs Summer Camps. While with Chicago Cubs Summer Camps he taught over 500 students how to play ball the Chicago Cubs way! Most recently (2018) he was the assistant freshman baseball coach at Carl Sandburg High School. Bill's overall goal is to provide each student a solid foundation of hitting mechanics, mental approach, and championship attitude.