Baseball Staff

Neal Packanik

General Manager

Brandon Szink

Director of Baseball Operations & Player Development

• Played Collegiately at Notre Dame College
• Former Program Director and General Manager for ACE Baseball
• Former Cleveland Indians Youth Baseball Development Instructor
• Tampa Bay Rays Player Development Intern, 2020
• Former Assistant/Infield Coach at St. Petersburg College (FL)
• Rapsodo Hitting Certified
• Current 16U BJE Coach

Brian Thacker

Youth Baseball Director & Player Development Coordinator

• Played collegiately at Bowling Green State University (1998-2001)
• Assistant coach at Pickerington/Pick North High school
• Head Coach at Bloom Carroll High school for 11 years where he was the district COY 4 times and Regional COY in 2014.
• 2013 State Runner up and 2014 State Champion at Bloom Carroll High school
• Has coached summer travel baseball teams for 8 years
• Current 15U BJE Coach

Zarley Zalewski

Hitting and Infield

• Drafted in the 40th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates
• Played collegiately at Kent State University 2013-2016
• Four-year Varsity Baseball Letterman
• 3-time All-Mid-American Conference First-Team
• 2-time All-Region First-Team
• Played professionally with the Joliet Slammers
• Current 14U BJE Coach

Conor Crotty

Pitching (R)

Eric Stamets

Hitting/Infield

• Graduated from Dublin Scioto High School in 2009 where he played baseball, basketball and football
• Attended the University of Evansville
• Starting shortstop for three years before being drafted by the Angels in the 6th round in 2012.
• In 2015 was traded to the Cleveland Indians and has spent some time at their AAA affiliate the Columbus Clippers.

Stephan Hernon

Catching & Hitting

• Played collegiately at Otterbein University 2014-2017
• 2x OAC Champion (2016, 2017)
• First Team All-OAC, 2017
• OAC All-Tournament Team, 2017
• OAC Record holder for RBI’s in a game (10)
• Current 15U BJE Coach

Zach Dezenzo

Hitting & Infield

• 12th round draft pick Houston Astros 2022
• 2nd team All-Big 10 2022
• 2x Big 10 player of the week
• Tied single season HR record 2022 (19)
• Freshman All-American 2019

Mitchell Bault

Pitching (R)

• Graduated from Moeller High School, 2015
• Played Collegiately at Ohio Dominican University (2016-2019)
• Second Team All-GMAC, 2019

Clay Strausbaugh

Hitting & Catching

• Current High School coach at Bishop Watterson High School
• Current 17U BJE Coach
• Played collegiately at Northwood University
• Played high school baseball at Hilliard Darby where he was a 3 time All-OCC player

Connor Pauly

Hitting, Pitching (L), & Outfield

• Played collegiately at Triton College (2016-2027) & Morehead State University (2018-2019)
• Two-time first-team All-OVC selection at Morehead State
• Two-way player (outfielder & left-handed pitcher)
• Coached three seasons with the University of Illinois Springfield

Cole Andrews

Hitting & Catching

• Played collegiately at Miami (OH) (2019-2022) and Ohio State University (2023)
• Earned Second Team All-MAC & Academic All-MAC honors in 2021
• First Team All-MAC honoree in 2019
• Buster Posey Award Watchlist (2023)

Marcus Ernst

Hitting & Infield

TBA

Evan Hall

Pitching (R)

TBA

Izaiah Withrow

Hitting, Infield(1B) & Outfield

• Played high school locally at Bloom-Carroll, where he was second team All-Conference his Junior year, First Team All-Conference his senior year & part of the 2014 State Championship Team.
• Played 2 years collegiately at La Roche University (PA), where he was part of 2 AMCC conference championships, prior to finishing up his collegiate career at Ohio Wesleyan University
• Owns OWU’s single game RBI record with 9
• Current Head Junior Varsity Coach at Dublin Jerome High School
• BJE 17u Coach

Chandler Day

Pitching (R)

• Drafted in 7th round by the Washington Nationals
• Pitched collegiately at Vanderbilt University
• Perfect Game All-American in 2015
• Pitched locally at Watkins Memorial High School

Chris Follina

Hitting & Outfield

• Played collegiately at West Liberty University
• Attended High School at Holy Name in Parma Heights, Ohio
• Named Second-Team All-Ohio Division-II as an Outfielder in High school
• Current 16U BJE Coach

Genesis Hillard

Hitting & Outfield

• Played collegiately at Ohio Dominican University
• GMAC First Team All-Conference, 2019
• 2-Time GMAC Player of the Week

Jared Solomon

Pitching (R)

• Drafted in the 11th round by the Cincinnati Reds in 2017
• Debuted for the Cincinnati Reds in 2022
• Pitched collegiately at Lackawanna College, Xavier University and Alderson Broaddus University

Justin McConnell

Hitting & Infield

• Played Collegiately at Wright State University
• Played SS, 3B & 2B
• Named to the 2021 Horizon League All-Tournament Team
• Career .953 fielding percentage

Taylor Hutchison

Hitting & Infield

• Played collegiately at Otterbein University
• Named honorable mention All-OAC as a sophomore in 2014
• Garnered first team all-league honors three times as Whitehall-Yearling High School

DJ Neff

Hitting/Infield

• Hit .350 his senior year at Grove City leading his team to a regional semi-final appearance
• 4 Year Starter at Ohio Wesleyan University where he has 123 career hits for the Bishops
• 3rd Team All-Conference (NCAC) in 2023
• 12th all time leader in Home runs at Ohio Wesleyan University
• Current 14U BJE Coach

Zach Sterry

Hitting

• Played collegiately at Oakland University
• Was the 2016 Valley League MVP
• Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 8th round of the 2017 MLB Draft
• Current 18U BJE Coach

Jordan Peck

Pitching (R)

TBA

Brandon Riley

Catching & Hitting

• Played 3 years at Defiance College as a catcher
• Catching and hitting instructor for the Midwest Prospects prior to becoming an instructor and coach with Bo Jackson Elite
• Current 17U BJE Coach

Adam Madias

Catching & Hitting

• Graduated with Honors from St.Edward High School in Cleveland, Ohio (2013)
• Played Collegiately at Muskingum University
• Led Muskingum in home runs in 2015
• Current 17U BJE Assistant Coach

Tyler Miller

Pitching (R)

• Played 4 years of high school baseball locally at Central Crossing High School & Jonathan Alder High School
• Won a state championship while at Jonathan Alder where he also achieved First Team All-State honors
• Played 4 years collegiately at the University of Evansville
• Part of the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Championship team at Evansville

Cole Revels

Hitting, Infield & Outfield

• Originally from Charlotte, NC where he attended Providence High School
• Played collegiately at Ohio University
• Volunteered with the Cincinnati Reds Rookie League inner city baseball camps in 2019
• Current 16U BJE Assistant Coach

Roger Danison

Hitting & Outfield

TBA