The recipient of a master's degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech, Wayne Schepens possesses more than 20 years of experience in cybersecurity and serves as the managing director of LaunchTech Communications. A former collegiate baseball player, Wayne Schepens maintains involvement in the sport through his role as the coach of a junior varsity high school team. Fielding the ball is an integral part of playing baseball. Here are three drills that coaches can use to help:1. Distance throw - Have players line up at the end of a series of cones 10 yards apart and extending to the outfield fence. Each player throws three to five balls and earns points for the balls that land in the target area between cones. This drill should improve both throwing power and accuracy. 2. Backhand drill - Emphasizing positioning, this drill has the coach roll a ball to the side of a player so the player can scoop it up with the glove in a backhand position. The player should then throw the ball to the nearest base. 3. Double-play flips - Best for second base players and shortstops, this drill begins with the coach or another player hitting a ground ball to the middle of the diamond. The player closest to the ball should catch it and then flip it to the other player, who should be covering second base.
Following nearly five years as vice president of W2 Communications in Baltimore, Maryland, Wayne Schepens founded LaunchTech Communications in 2015 and continues to serve the company as managing director. Beyond his responsibilities at LaunchTech, Wayne Schepens enjoys spending time with his children and staying active by coaching baseball.In baseball, a player can reach base by error or by being walked by the pitcher in addition to hitting a single, double, triple, or homerun. A player who records at least one of each of these hits in a single game is said to have hit for the cycle. If the player also hits the cycle in this exact order, it is considered a “natural cycle,” one of the sport’s rarest achievements.In Major League Baseball (MLB), hitting for the cycle is relatively rare. Curry Foley recorded the first professional cycle in 1888, and 323 additional cycles have been recorded since, for an average of about 2.5 cycles per season. Brock Holt of the Boston Red Sox completed the cycle against the New York Yankees during the 2018 American League Division Series, the first postseason cycle in league history.John Reilly, Bob Meusel, Babe Herman, and Adrian Beltre are tied with three career cycles each, while five players have recorded two cycles in the same season. The natural cycle has only been achieved 14 times in the history of professional baseball, most recently in 2006 by Gary Matthews, Jr. No player has hit for the cycle with an inside the park homerun since 1943.
In addition to his work with LaunchTech Communications, Wayne Schepens enjoys baseball. Wayne Schepens likes to study the ways in which baseball players develop their speed, agility, and mental stamina for the game. Pitchers can be greatly improve if they focus on the mental aspects of the game. As initiators of the action of every play, pitchers have a great deal of control over the game. However, their role is typically finished once the ball is in play, unless a ball is thrown straight back to the mound. Good pitching, therefore, requires a strong focus on what a pitcher can control.With that said, a clear, actionable plan, such as throwing a specific type of pitch or aiming for a specific location, will go much further than if a pitcher just focuses on the end result. However, pitchers can also benefit greatly from focusing on the future and pitching with conviction. Throwing the wrong pitch well will yield better results than throwing the right pitch while nervous or doubting oneself. Also, focusing on the next pitch rather than focusing on the last one helps. Furthermore, pitchers who begin to feel frustrated should take a moment to re-center themselves before pitching again.
