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Professional Baseball & Softball Instruction
Our instructors are former and current professional players, college stars and area coaches with years of experience. They all have a love, a passion and a respect for the game that they share with their students while they teach mechanics and fundamentals.


Hank Lott - Master Instructor
Coach Lott is one of the area's top pitching coaches.
Over the past 20 years, Hank has worked with both professional and amateur players. His pitching theories have been developed from working with some of the game’s top coaches, including Dr. Mike Marshall, Tom House, Rick Peterson, Dave LaRoche, Ralph Treuel, John Hiller, Glenn Abbott, Bob Apodaca, Al Jackson, Randy Neimann, Orlando Pena and Tim Kelly.

Hank’s pitching career began at Chicago’s Kenwood High School. In 1984, he led the city in wins, ERA and strikeouts and was named All-City, All-Area, Chicago Public League MVP and Top Lefthanded Pitcher in the Chicagoland Area.

Hank headed off to the Arizona State University and in 1986 was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 2nd round of the MLB draft (42nd pick overall). He played 7 years in the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and NY Mets organizations, reaching the AAA level before an arm injury ended his climb toward the big leagues.

After his playing career, Hank coached at both the Junior College and Division 1 College level and for the past five years has worked as a major league scout for the NY Mets, Oakland A’s and Kansas City Royals.


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Ernie Young - Visiting Master Instructor
Coach Young offers a level of instruction that is unique in the Chicago area. Currently, he is the hitting instructor for the Great Falls White Sox, the minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Before retiring at the end of 2007, Ernie played 18 seasons of professional baseball. He spent parts of 8 seasons in the big leagues, including all of 1996, when he hit 19 home runs, while commiting just a single error in center field for the Oakland A’s.

In 2000, he helped bring home the Gold Medal as part of the U.S. baseball team that competed in the Sydney Olympics. Ernie continues to work with USA Baseball as a member of several committees, including one to create the selection procedure for the upcoming 2008 Olympic team.

A Chicago native, Ernie played at Mendel Catholic High School on the south side. Named All-State in 1987, he went on to Lewis University, where he was a two-time All-American before being drafted by Oakland in 1990.

Ernie currently lives in Arizona, but visits BASH as often as possible during the off-season, bringing his enormous experience, expertise and love of the game to ballplayers of all ages.


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Mike Luster
Mike is a professional scout and has over 20 years of coaching and professional instruction experience for both amateur and professional players. Adding to his experience, he has organized youth baseball development camps for over ten years. Among his other scouting duties, he founded and organizes the Chicago Fall Scout League (CFSL), which is the premiere Fall Pro Scout evaluation league in the Midwest.

Mike was named an All-City middle infielder during his high school career at Chicago’s Kenwood Academy before playing at Bradley University. He has organized/managed ten (10) men’s national tournament championship teams, including eight (8) since 2003.

His instruction places heavy emphasis on baseball fundamentals and core strength development. He is a certified John Mallee Major League Batting instructor, as well as a certified Speed, Agility & Quickness Specialist and certified SPARQ trainer - he incorporates athletic development techniques in his baseball training sessions. He is the Director of the Xpress Athletic Sports Performance Center and has coordinated the winter training programs for several professional and collegiate players. Mike currently works with collegiate and high school athletic programs to maximize the impact of their off-season training regimens.
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Dan Puente
The pride of the North Side, Coach Puente started playing youth baseball at Welles Park and eventually played his way into being drafted into the Baltimore Orioles organization. As a catcher, Dan graduated from Gordon Tech where he was All-Catholic League in 1999 and 2000. His hard work and talent earned him a scholarship to Bradley University in Peoria where he continued to star, eventually being named the Missouri Valley Conference’s Best Defensive Catcher by Baseball America.

Today, Dan is involved in another of his passions – teaching. He has a remarkable ability to work with students of all ages and all skill levels. And, as a catcher, he has an enormous amount of knowledge to share about every aspect of the game – and every position.


                                                  Career Highlights:
  • 2003 Tim Trunk Most Improved Player
  • 2003 All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team
  • 2004 Preseason All-MVC
  • 2004 MVC Baseball America Best Defensive Catcher
  • 2004 12th Round Draft Pick to the Baltimore Orioles
  • 2004 Bluefield Orioles
  • 2005 Delmarva Shorebirds

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Tony Santostefano
Coach Santostefano has taught baseball for nearly two decades and his experience shows in every lesson he gives. From 1990 – 1994, Tony managed the Wilmette Travelers Baseball Club. In 1995, he began a string of 7 years managing the New Trier feeder teams, leading his players to tournament wins all across the country. In all, Tony managed his teams to more than 1,000 victories.

Currently, Tony is the coach at North Side Prep High School.

But, as Tony himself will tell you, his players’ growth, development and success was always much more important than piling up impressive numbers of victories. In fact, he’s most proud that many of his former players have gone on to play baseball for Division I college programs.

Baseball is Tony’s love and his passion, which is abundantly clear to anyone who has ever seen (and heard!) him teach the game. Every day, Tony proves that you don’t have to be a former pro ball player to be a great instructor. His players and students are all the proof you need of that.



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Ralf Rodriguez
Coach Rodriguez grew up playing baseball on the north side of Chicago. Today, his passion is sharing the knowledge he's gained from his many years of playing and coaching with the current generation of youth ballplayers in the area.

As a Senior at Schurz High School, he was named to the All-City team. That same season, he led his team to the city championship game at Wrigley Field.

Ralf went on to play college ball locally at North Park University and Northeastern Illinois University.

Today, he coaches both teams and individuals. He's a fixture here at BASH and is also the hitting coach for the Niles West High School varsity baseball team.

Ralf has taught hitting, fielding and pitching for several years all around the north side. He has built a reputation as one of the city's most knowledgeable coaches, combing old school drills with new techniques, along with an easygoing personality that helps kids of all ages become their very best.
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Kate Madden
Kate Madden started her softball career in her hometown of Aurora, Colorado. As a standout at Smoky Hill High School, she earned a full scholarship to Southwest Missouri State University where she pitched and hit her way to becoming the MVC Player of the Year in her Senior season. That same year, she was named the MVC Tournament MVP after leading the Lady Bears to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 13 seasons. After graduating, Kate joined the Durham Dragons in the inaugural season of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch Softball League, pitching, playing infield and batting leadoff for the North Carolina team. She finished second in the race for the batting title with a .343 average as the team’s leadoff hitter and also played in the infield. An injury cut short her professional career after that season.

                                                       Career Highlights
  • 1996 - Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year
  • 1996 - Set league records for batting average (.450), hits (86), runs scored (60) and stolen bases (37)
  • 1996 - MVC Tournament MVP
  • 1997 - Hit .343 for the Durham Dragons (Women's Pro Softball League), 2nd highest average in the league
  • 1998 - Hired as assistant softball coach at Georgia Tech
  • 1999 - Named Head Coach of Georgia Tech's Lady Jackets team
  • 2002 - ACC Coach of the Year

In 1998, she became the first full-time assistant softball coach at Georgia Tech University. After just one season as an assistant, Kate was named Head Coach of Tech’s Lady Jackets. In 2002, her Lady Jackets compiled a 52 – 18 record, earning her the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year award.
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Sam Incandela
Coach Incandela graduated from Fenwick High School with honors and as captain of the baseball team in 1995. From there, he attended Indiana University as a recruited walk on for the varsity baseball team. In 1996, Sam was part of the Big Ten Tournament Championship Team that advanced to the College World Series Regional Tournament. He went on to have a great career with the Hoosiers, where he was named to the Big Ten All Academic Team ’97 – ’99. Sam was named captain of the team during his senior campaign, and at the conclusion of the year was named team MVP.

After Sam’s playing days ended, Coach Morgan asked him to stay on at IU as a coach. Sam worked with the infielders, outfielders, and served as assistant hitting coach until 2001, when he left to become lead hitting instructor at one of the top baseball academies in Chicago’s south suburbs.

In 2003, Sam was recruited to head coach a summer team comprised of collegiate players from all over the country. With his assistant coach, former big leaguer John Cangelosi, the team won championships in both of the leagues they competed in.

Currently, Sam is head coach of the nation’s #1 ranked 16U team.

Many of Sam’s students are now playing in college or in the minor leagues. His commitment to excellence, attention to detail, and respect for the way the game was meant to be played makes every lesson a fun, rewarding and memorable experience for players of all skill levels.

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Estuardo Mira
By the age of 16, Coach Mira was Rookie of the Year, pitching in the Guatemalan League. Three years later he was the league MVP.

Estuardo pitched for the Guatemalan National Team in two Centro American Games, two Pan American Games and two World Tournaments.

In 1996, he came to the United States to play baseball for Iowa Central Community College. His 9 - 4 record helped the Tritons reach the Division II Junior College World Series. In ’97 Estuardo went 11 – 1 with 104 strikeouts in 101 innings, leading his team to the NJCAA Division II Finals.

Estuardo went on to Southern Arkansas University, where, as a relief pitcher, he set the record for most saves in a single season.

For five years, he taught pitching to youth ballplayers in Guatemala City and served as the pitching coach for the Guatemalan Little League National Team, which competed in the World Tournament in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

                                                  Career Highlights:
  • 1991 – Rookie of the Year, Guatemalan Baseball League
  • 1994 – Most Valuable Player, Guatemalan Baseball Leauge
  • 1996 – First Team All-Region (Iowa Central Community College)
  • 1997 – First Team All-Region (Iowa Central Community College)
  • 1997 – Set Iowa Central single season records for Most Wins, Most Strikeouts and Most Innings Pitched
  • 1997 – NJCAA Division II World Series All-Tournament Pitcher
  • 2000 – Set Southern Arkansas University record for Most Saves in a Single Season


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