Illinois Baseball Edge, Ltd.

05/07/2026

Coaches love to talk about their unicorns. You know, the guys that are so good they are rarely seen. Below are texts about some of our academy's guys this Spring that might indicate unicorns aren't as rare as we think:

“Good morning. Pitched yesterday (76 pitches). 5-innings, zero runs, one hit, one walk, and 10 strikeouts.”

“Pitched one inning. 2K’s and one super weak grounder. Can probably call it a bad bunt. I did feel like I was blowing the ball by everybody, the curveball was working well too.”

“Updated stats. He’s become the go to reliever in tight spots.” The stats: 18.2 IP, two wins, two saves (2 SVO), 9 BBs, 29 K’s, 3.00 ERA, 1.607 WHIP, .280 BAA.

“Just wanted to let you know my stats from today since I pitched. Went 6-innings, gave up one hit, one walk, two HBP (one of whom tried to catch the ball while batting), and gave up one run. 67 pitches with 47 for strikes.”

“Hi Coach. It went very well. Went 6 and 2/3 innings without a hit until the last batter.”

“Sorry been busy this week, but I got the start yesterday. Threw 5-innings, 8 K’s, and 3BB. I was throwing the curve you showed me and it was really effective.” Only two hits.

A 10U squad: “We used two pitchers on Sunday and won the tournament!” Pitch counts were 11 or 12 per half inning.

“Another pitching update. 2.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K’s, 28 pitches and 18 for strikes.”

“Finally started on the mound tonight. Five innings pitched, zero walks, six strikeouts, no runs, and gave up two hits with one out in the last inning.”

Way to go guys! You are absolutely killing it!

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05/06/2026

My son Morgan is done playing baseball but he asked me to coach with him next year. Who can refuse a request like that? He will be our first base coach. We are going to take a 14U team under the Thunder Select banner for 2027 and work it up. We have our coaching staff established and _no_ family members will have any say in player personnel decisions (this is not daddy ball). As the summer advances, if you know anyone local who is good hearted, a hard worker, has decent skills, is serious about advancing those skills, is looking for a home, would like to play for an elite professional pitching coach, and would like a portion of their off-season training to include professional hitting and fielding instruction, we might be a good fit. Tryout dates, etc. will be worked out further downstream (no we are not holding tryouts in May or June). Interested parties will be kept in the loop and should reach out to me at [email protected]

04/11/2026

Winter 2025/2026 Overall Team Results for the
18 Teams Total Trained for 12-Weeks
181 Players
Ages 9U to 16U average velocity gain 5.63mph
Winter Program 15U and Up
13 Players Trained for 16-Weeks
Average velocity gain 6.38mph
Congratulations to our staff including Kathleen Ryan-Ceisel, Danny Denz, Justin Ceisel, and Morgan Smith

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04/06/2026

Had my first day off work since New Years day so ... I worked on compiling our winter statistics. Have to wait a bit to publish the overall numbers as one team is offset 2-weeks and will be finishing up their winter training this Thursday. The one thing I can share is that 15U or older players (41 of them) in our winter training gained an average of 6.51mph. This is up from an average of 6.21mph over the past three winters. Congratulations to all the guys and to our staff for a great accomplishment and continued process improvement!

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04/02/2026

For anyone paying attention to throwing arm injury rates in baseball and softball, here's a real world scenario that emphasizes the need for arm care. We have a client who is 12-years old and this week hit 82mph on a pulldown and 72mph off the mound. 70+ off the mound puts that player significantly ahead of elite throwers at his age. Now you might think I'm trying to highlight our academy's training but I think if you read this further you will understand my real purpose which is to remind folks about the need for proactive arm care, solid recovery protocols, and eliminating inefficiencies in the throwing movement pattern.

This player came to us throwing 68mph off the mound, which is slightly ahead of elite pitchers his age. His father was concerned about inefficiencies and the effect those might have on arm health. When we conducted our video assessment we found some disconnects and addressed them over an 8-session training sprint. At the four week mark, this player hit 75mph on a pulldown.and 70mph off the mound. And of course you already know the numbers at the 8-week mark.

While this progress is significant the primary question should be, "how is his arm health?" After a proper wake-up / warm-up this week, he threw 15 baseballs at max effort (simulating an inning of work), including various drills, three off the mound, and three pulldowns. Twelve of those throws were at 70mph or higher, with two above 80mph. He expressed zero pain, tightness, or tenderness, and no fatigue. We also did a full recovery session. He said, "I feel great!" We then stressed the need for consistency in arm care and recovery, making sure he understood this should be his primary concern moving forward.

What if this player had continued to throw with disconnects / inefficiencies in his movement pattern? He would not have been throwing as hard and would have been at a higher risk of injury. What if this player didn't follow good arm care and recovery practices? At a minimum he would't recover as well and would perform inconsistently. Most likely he would be dealing with soreness / tenderness which would not only impact performance but also enjoyment of the game. And he would be looking at a higher risk of injury.

All players will benefit from strength and mobility assessments, video assessments, arm care, and recovery programs. The harder a player throws, and the longer they stay with the game, the more these items become critical to arm health and advancement. Let me be clear: if a player is serious about advancing to the next level we are talking about requirements, not options.

03/24/2026

you killed it this winter! Way to go guys! A special thanks to Ryan Moran and Jeff Meyer for all that you guys do but more importantly how you do it. Always putting the boys and a positive experience first. Good luck this season!

03/10/2026

For years now I have understood that physical constraints limit an athlete's ability to perform. However our performance therapist Kathleen Ryan-Ceisel says, correctly, that people only think about such things after they need it. They don't proactively approach strength and mobility assessment but rather reach training plateaus or get injured before seeking out the reasons why they plateau'd or got hurt. As an example, we find that often weight lifting programs designed more for basketball and football build strength but limit baseball and softball specific strenth and mobility. Players who are progressing their skills by gaining velocity over time have no clue that they could be throwing better or with less stress on the arm. And in such situations it is hard to convince them that regular strength and mobility assessments are essential.

Our video assesments do a great job of identifying movement pattern issues that sometimes indicate physical constraints. But my eyes alone cannot see the exact rotational speed of the pelvis, torso, or lead arm. They cannot see the exact angle of hip / shoulder separation or measure, precisely, stride length. And most folks have no idea of what constitutes a good or a bad number that might indicate a physical constraint.

That's all changing. The , our elite overhead throwing academy, is out in front of this issue. We are introducing AI to our assessment process and dovetailing it into a very successful program. We have it in-house and are learning all the in's and out's. We are going to be even better at advancing player performance while reducing the chances of injury. And we will be adjusting our service offerings so that folks can take advantage. More to come.

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03/04/2026

Our Illinois Baseball Edge, Ltd. elite overhead throwing academy just completed the winter program with elite 15U and up players. This winter average velocity gains (6.38mph) outstripped the average from the last three years (6.21mph). These guys are killing it in high school tryouts and in their college programs. Now we've added artificial intelligence to our assessments and this year looks to be even more effective in preventing injury and improving performance. On a related note, two more of our students joint he 90+ club but in this case both did it off the mound. Max Dailey, a senior at Jacobs High School hit 91mph and Gavin Fuscone, a senior at St. Charles East, hit 92mph. Way to go guys!!!

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02/04/2026

Want to welcome three new members to the 90mph or better club using pulldowns. A 16-year old sophomore, Roman Quezada, hit 90mph on January 25th. A 17-year old junior, Owen Perrone, hit 91mph on January 26th. And another 16-year old, Connor Saip, hit 91mph on January 26th. Although these guys will be going head to head for different high schools this Spring (and at that time will "take the gloves off"), they've been spending the winter helping each other get better. It is a fantastic thing to train with similarly minded guys. And last but not least, Max Dailey, a 17-year old senior, hit 87mph off the mound on February 1st. I'd like to congratulate Max on signing with the Milwaukee School of Engineering to study cyber security next year. Way to go guys!!!

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10/15/2025

Last night we notched our 30th home grown player to reach 84mph or higher. Now this number may seem arbitrary and to some extent it is. What I mean is guys who were throwing below that threshold who surpassed it. The two who made it onto our white board were both lefties. One is 16 and the other 14. The 16 year old had been stuck at a throwing velocity plateau of 81mph and asked us to help break through it. Last night on pulldowns he hit 86mph which was a 5mph gain on the top end, after only eight training sessions. This reinforced our baseline numbers where the average player who trains with us gains 4.85mph in the first eight sessions. The 14-year old started training with us as part of a team last winter when he was 13. He began last winter at 67mph. Yesterday he hit 85mph on pulldowns and had his first 80mph pitch off the mound. This is an example of what can happen in some cases on the top end (18mph in less than a year) but is a poor example of typical training results. I would expect to see this kind of result over a longer period of time such as 2-to-3 years.

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