Elite Baseball and Softball

Baseball Staff

Bryan Baar *Catching, Hitting* Co-Owner of Elite Baseball and Softball Bryan was a 1986 Jenison HS graduate and a 3 year letter winner at Western Michigan University before getting drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 7th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft. Bryan reached the AAA level with the Dodgers in 1993 and spent 1 year on the major league 40 man roster. Bryan founded Elite in 1995 and has passionately trained/coached and mentored Athletes for the past 14 years.

Mike Paul
Conditioning, Hitting, Pitching

Co-Owner of Elite Baseball and Softball
Mike has been involved in baseball in various levels for the past 30 years as a player, coach, and instructor. He is a certified functional strength coach and heads up our CST program. He has trained 18 pitchers that have gone on to sign professional contracts, and numerous others who have pitched at the collegiate level. He recently co-authored a book with Dr. Tom House, "Fastball Fitness" which has proven velocity can be taught. Mike currently scouts for the Minnesota Twins Organization. He continues to research and implement programs to increase the health and performance of all Elite athletes.

Jim Abbott
Fielding, Hitting, Pitching

A 1997 Caledonia Graduate, led his team with 15 home runs, and batted .589. He He went 10-1 as a pitcher, and was a 24th round draft pick by the Seattle Mariners. Jim attended college at Grand Rapids CC and Rend Lake, later becoming a non-drafted free agent for the Minnesota Twins in 1999 and playing until 2006 before finishing 2006 with the Cincinnati Reds. Jim has been an instructor since 1999 and continues to build our program.

Dave Joppie
Hitting

Joppie began his professional coaching career in 1995 with the Oakland Athletics. in 2004 and 2005 he managed the Kane County Cougars, Oakland's Class A affiliate. In 2004, Dave led Kane County to the Western Division Championship with an 83-56 record.

He was named Midwest League Manager of the Year as well as Baseball America's Class Low A Minor League Manager of the Year. Joppie served as hitting instructor for Double-A Midland (2001-03), Single-A Visalia (1999), Double-A Huntsville (1998, 1995-96) and Single-A Modesto. He also managed Short Season-A Vancouver of the Northwest League in 2000.

Dave has also coached and managed several players that have moved on to the Major Leagues, including Oakland shortstop and 2004 A.L. Rookie of the Year, Bobby Crosby, A's outfielder Nick Swisher, 2005 A.L. Rookie of the Year, RHP Huston Street and current Red Sox outfielder Jacob Ellsbury.

2008 marked Dave's 14th season in professional baseball and 3rd with the Red Sox. Boston recently named him hitting instructor for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs in the Eastern League after holding the same postion with the Wilmington Blue Rocks in 2006 and the Lancaster Jet Hawks in 2007. Joppie guided one of the most powerful offenses in all of professional baseball last season as the Jet Hawks set California League records with 1,081 runs scored, 1008 RBI's and 217 home runs. Lancaster also led the circuit in batting (296) hits (1,493) doubles (352) on base percentage (.385) and drew (672) walks.

Brent Gates
Fielding

Brent Gates, former 1st round pick out of the University of Minnnesota by the Oakland A's and 7 year big leaguer has joined the Elite Baseball staff as a fielding instructor and will assist in player develolpment at all levels. Brent played for the Oakland A's, Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners in his career. Brent coached the West Michigan Whitecaps for 1 year, currently coaches Varsity Baseball at Grand Rapids Christian HS and also enjoys coaching his son Brent Jr at the12u level for Elite Baseball. A passionate teacher of the game, Brent brings vast knowledge of the game to our program and is a great addition to our staff.