Todd Fine
Director of Top Tier Baseball. Regional Scout for the Houston Astros
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Todd Fine, who serves as a Regional Scout for the Houston Astros, is widely renowned as one of the state’s top baseball instructors.  Todd earned All-Big 10 Honors as a pitcher at Michigan State University, and was one of the most accomplished Illinois high school players in the early 1990’s, earning All-State Honors and Baseball America Top 100 in 1992.  Fine hosts the premier Pre-Season High School Showcase Event for draft-eligible players, and the Pre-Draft camp for the Houston Astros.  With his vast knowledge of the game, Todd has Co-Founded 4 separate businesses, including the Prep Baseball Report (Illinois High School Scouting Magazine), Top Tier Baseball (5 Consecutive AABC 18-U State Championship Team: 2004 - ’08), the Amateur Baseball Report (National HS Scouting Magazine), and Full Package Athletics.  Todd’s College Placement Program (along with the aid of baseball guru and co-founder of PBR Sean Duncan) have generated over 750 college scholarships and over 70 drafted big leaguers.  Todd also has unsurpassed connections at the pro, collegiate, high school and youth travel levels, and was the Coach of the 2008 Under Armour All-American Game back in August for the best High School Baseball players in the nation. Todd has the unique ability to boost the careers of players at all levels, and he is a member of the NTIS (National Team Identification Series) and the AABC (American Amateur Baseball Congress).

Gary Bennett
Catcher: Los Angeles Dodgers
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Gary was drafted out of Waukegan High School in 1990 by the Philadelphia Phillies.  Gary has played in the major leagues for the last 12 seasons, and will be spending his 13th as a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  His long career has included a number of playoff births, and was a member of the 2006 world champion St. Louis Cardinals.  Gary's experience at the highest levels of the game give him an unparalleled understanding of baseball, and a valued member of this staff.

Dar Townsend
Senior Coach
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Not only was Dar a standout player, being awarded the team Slammers award twice at Illinois State University, but is one of the most experienced high school baseball coaches and clinicians in the area.  Dar has been coaching baseball for over 30 years.  In his 30 years of experience 28 years were coaching high school baseball, including 15 years as the head coach of Warren Township High School.  Dar will be available for pitching, hitting, and fielding lessons.

Tom Knauss
Senior Coach
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Tom Knauss' long list of baseball accomplishments include being the 1992 Illinois player of the year, while at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.  Tom was drafted out of Hersey in the second round by the Minnesota Twins.  He went on to play six seasons of professional baseball in the Twins' and Yankees' organizations.  Tom is another exciting addition to the Slammers coaching staff whose experience will benefit the younger players for years to come.

Marty Patterson
Senior Coach
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A skilled hitting and catcher coach, Marty played in the Milwaukee Brewers organization from 1997-1999 after earning All-Big Ten honors at Michigan State University. Marty has been the Lake Forest American Legion coach since 2000.

Tad Slowik
Houton Astros National Scouting Director
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Ray Borucki
Senior Coach
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After his Niles West team won the Illinois State Championship, Ray was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, where he played professionally at the triple-A level. Ray has been the hitting coach at Mundelein High School, Illinois state runner-up in 2002, for several seasons. Ray teaches hitting and pitching at all levels of baseball.

Kris Musselman
Senior Coach
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Kris played Center Field for Northwestern University, where he earned All-Big Ten Honors, hitting .370 his Junior Year.  Kris has worked Hitting & Vision Training with 4 Major League teams including the Reds, Cubs, Brewers and Diamondbacks.  Kris has been instructing baseball since 2000, and has developed over 1,000 clients in his first 8 years.  Slammers is proud to be associated with Kris, as he also is a coach with Top Tier Baseball, where his 15-U Travel Team won the 2008 State Championship last June.  Kris teaches Hitting, Pitching and Fielding and is available Monday & Wednesday – Friday from Noon to 9pm and on the weekends from 9am – 4pm.

Pat Kelly
Senior Coach
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Pat teaches hitting, fielding and pitching at Slammers and is one of the area’s top instructors.

Brian Eliff
Senior Coach
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Brian was a middle-infielder for Carthage College and does a great job teaching the proper mechanics of fielding and hitting. Brian coached the Lake Forest Scouts 14 year old team and the FPA 13's in the past. Last year, he helped coach the Full Package Athletics 13 year old team.

Derek Mitchell
Senior Coach
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Derek played the highest level of minor league ball for the Tigers, White Sox, Reds. He also played for Team USA. Derek teaches fielding, hitting and pitching at Slammers on Thursday nights.

Jeremy Lee
Senior Coach
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Jeremy is currently teaching Special Education and Health Education at Lake Forest High School, where he has been the Assistant Varsity Baseball Coach since 2006.  He is also coach of the 17-U Top Tier Baseball Coach, one of the best programs in the nation and has been teaching at Slammers since 2004.  Jeremy is active in the Lake Forest Baseball Association as well (coached teams since 2005), and the Lake Forest Legion Baseball Head Coach since 2006.  Jeremy also coached at St. Charles East HS and Rock Valley College earlier in his career.  His playing experience includes 2 years from both Western Illinois University and Rock Valley College.  Jeremy teaches hitting, fielding and pitching at Slammers by request, and is available starting in September.

Ed Zeifert
Senior Coach
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Ed brings to Slammers years of coaching and instructing experience. He currently works for Benedictine college, and used to be the head coach at the College of Lake County. Previous coaching jobs include Assistant Head Baseball Coach at Clark College in Dubuque, IA, and Head Sophomore Coach at Carmel High School in Mundelein, IL. Z played college ball at Clarke College.

Ed Tolzien
Senior Coach
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Ed played the corner outfield positions and also First Base as a member of Illinois State from 1998 - 2001 where he was voted 3 times as an All-Missouri Valley Performer ('99, '00 & '01).  Ed was also named Strength & Conditioning All-American in 2001, and drafted in the 18th round by the Aneheim Angels in '01.  He played with the Provo Angels and the Cedar Rapid Kernels, and has taught baseball for over 6 years.  Ed teaches here on request which you can inquire about via Email to: kyle@slammersillinois.com.

John Bradley
Senior Coach
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Slammers presents to you a great pitching coach in John Bradley, who played for Lewis University (2001 - '04).  John attended Loyola Academy HS and has coached baseball in Niles and Lake Bluff for the past 5 years.  John is available on various weeknights throughout the year, which you can inquire about via Email to: kyle@slammersillinois.com

Matt Macri
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In 2001 while at Dowling High School (West Des Moines, IA), Matt was named Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball for the state of Iowa.  He was an All-American and selected out of High School in the ‘01 Draft by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round.  Attended Notre Dame from 2001-'04, and was a third team All-American, led the Big East in Hits, Doubles, Homeruns, RBI’s, Batting Average and Slugging Percentage.  Drafted in 2004 in the fifth round by the Colorado Rockies.  In the fall of 2004, Matt was selected to the Northwest League All-Star team, and in the fall of 2007, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins and currently plays with the Twins at the Major League Level.  Matt will be available once the season is over (by the end of October) and should be available for training once again.

Samantha Mercier
Senior Coach
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Slammers Fast Pitch Hitting Instruction is the best in the State due to our great staff.  Our Senior Instructor at Slammers and Girl’s Fast Pitch Hitting Guru is Samantha Mercier, who teaches advanced ages and she runs several camps in the area for multiple Big Ten Colleges.  As a player, Sam enjoyed a storied career at Purdue University, earning All-Big Ten honors on four occasions, and twice receiving All-Midwest Region accolades. A three-time team captain and most valuable player, Sam ranks among Purdue's career leaders in several offensive categories.  Sam coached 2 years at Purdue (1999-2001), 2 Years at Loyola University (2002-04 – where she led the Ramblers to one of their most prolific offensive seasons in school history, as they set a school record for home runs and had the school's highest overall batting average since 1996.).  She has also been instructing softball for almost 10 years, and working with our staff for the past 6 years.

Shavaughne Desecki
Softball Coach - Hitting
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Slammers is very pleased to announce the addition of Shavaughne Desecki to our outstanding softball coaching staff. Shavaughne played her college ball at DePaul University where she earned all conference and all-region first team honors in 1999, 2000 and 2001. In 1999, her freshman season, Shavaughne was named 2nd Team All-American! She also was named to the All-World Series team in 2000. Shavaughne also brings 3 years of training experience. Call now to schedule lessons with this big-time fastpitch softball instructor!

Christine Slobodnik
Softball Coach - Hitting and Pitching
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Slammers is excited on our new Fast Pitch Softball Hitting and Pitching instructor Christine Slobodnik.  The most available of all the softball trainers, Christine is a Coach of an Adult League Women's Travel Team, coaches the U-12 Libertyville Orange Girls and has been instructing softball for a few years now with steady clients.  During her playing career, Christine got a scholarship to Loyola University of Chicago and also played for the College of DuPage.  She attended Warren High School and played under owner and former coach Dar Townsend.