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TRAIN WITH THE BEST
Our trainers are committed to helping you reach and exceed the next level of performance. Whether you prefer personal instruction or are motivated in group sessions, we have a service that suits you.
Different By Design
MEET OUR TEAM
Krystal is a mother to 4 amazing kids. Prior to the baseball world, she worked at a large corporation for 6 years, with a background in marketing. Krystal and her husband successfully ran an independent baseball organization from 2013-2018. She is extremely excited to embark on this new journey at Rip City Baseball Facility.
KRYSTAL BROWN
Director of Operations
JARED BROWN
Founder/COO/Director of Player Development
Owner/Instructor Jared Brown has been in love with baseball since a young child. His experience validates his admiration and knowledge for the game. Experiences throughout his career include being selected to the Area Code Games, Long Beach California (2000), FL. JUCCO state Champion (2001 Manatee Community College, Fl.), JUCCO World Series 2nd Place finish (2001), NAIA National Champion Cumberland Bulldogs (2004), Drafted twice in the MLB draft (2001 Montreal Expos, 2005 Pittsburgh Pirates), travelling all of the US and Canada in college and professional baseball, along with 10+ years of coaching local youth.
Coach Browns experiences give him an advantage on how to teach athletes the proper methods and processes that are needed to get to the next level. Growing up around MLB all-star Carlos Pena, training with collegiate and Olympic trainer Jim Ronai, as well as spending time at the world-renowned IMG academy, he has seen and experienced what it takes to get there. Works with middle school & high school ages.
In addition:
*Certified Biomechanics specialist *Corrective Exercise Specialist *Functional Capacity Screen Certified * Functional Movement Screen Certified *Rapsodo Hitting Certified *Rapsodo Pitching Certified *Blast Motion Certified *State of FL Paramedic
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KATLYN PRUITT
Instructor
Katlyn Holmes Pruitt, grew up playing softball in Dallas, Texas. She graduated from Gunter High-school where she was the starting varsity pitcher all 4 years. Katlyn set a high school record with 1,066 strikeouts and 39 shutouts as a three-time All-State performer in the circle.
Katlyn earned scholarship offers all over the country but ended up staying close to home. She played 2 years at NCAA D2 Midwestern State University. Her favorite memory at MSU was earning Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week honors. Once after throwing the fifth perfect game in school history and the other after allowing one earned run in a win over No. 1-ranked West Texas A&M.
Katlyn later transferred to NCAA D2 Lubbock Christian University, where she played her last two years and graduated with her Bachelors Degree. While at LCU Katlyn helped the chaps win the Heartland Conference Championship back to back years. Katlyn had a career 2.7 ERA with a 28-12 record.
After college Katlyn pursued coaching to use her career knowledge and heart for the game to impact younger generations. Katlyn was a pitching coach for two years at a private high school while also giving private pitching and hitting lessons. Katlyn’s ultimate passion is to help every athlete hone in on their mechanics, athletic abilities and help guide athletes to pursue their goals to play at the next level.
ALEX MITCHELL
Team Coach
Alex Mitchell graduated from Columbia High School in Lake City, Fl, where he was part of 2 district championships and a member of the All-Decade team. Alex played college baseball and earned a bachelor's degree in 2020 from Thomas University, an NAIA school in the Sun Conference. At Thomas, he had a good 3 year playing career (1 redshirt) with a standout junior season. As a junior Alex hit .324 with 10 doubles and a HR, as well as being part of the first team at TU to win the Sun Conference championship. After a long-playing career, he decided to continue to stay in the game to coach as well as earn his personal training/ strength and conditioning certification. Coach Mitchell is a team coach and strength coach at Rip City. His goal here is to develop athletes both in the weight room and on the field to compete.
In addition:
* Blast Motion Certified
* ISSA - Ceritified
EVELYN MESSINGER
Instructor
Evelyn Messinger was born and raised in Arizona, the birthplace of fastpitch softball. Coach Messinger had the opportunity to watch and play the game at a high level while growing up.
Coach Messinger earned an athletic scholarship to South Mountain College in Phoenix, Arizona, where she was the starting catcher and caught 112 games in her career while compiling a career .319 batting average. After college, Coach Messinger played professional softball in Mexico, for team Sonora compiling 2 full seasons under her belt.
Evelyn has learned from some of the best in the game and has assisted in coaching with pitching, catching and hitting clinics at The University of Arizona, and Arizona State University.
She has coached various 12u-18u girls fastpitch teams, including 2 years as a Yuma High School Assistant Coach, and Rota High School Varsity team (Spain) as the Pitching and Catching coach. She also led the Women’s fastpitch team at Naval Station Rota, in Rota Spain. Where they traveled throughout Europe to play in tournaments.
We’re very excited to bring Evelyn’s knowledge to the Rip City family, as we continue to provide the best resources for our athletes! Works with youth ages 6 & older!
In addition:
*Blast Motion Certified
*Rapsodo Hitting Certified
* Functional Movement Screen Certified
HAILEY CARTER
Office Manager
Hailey Carter was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL and graduated from First Coast High School. After high school, she attended the University of South Carolina-Sumter on a softball scholarship where she earned her Associates in Science. At Sumter, Hailey started in every game her freshman and sophomore year catching or playing third while receiving awards for all-region and Player of the Year in 2019. Hailey transferred to play D1 softball at South Carolina State University as a catcher. She then went on to complete her bachelor's degree at the University of North Florida. Hailey now coaches at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville alongside being a part of our staff. We're excited to have her experience and understanding of the process in our organization and help cultivate the talent of our young athletes.
In addition:
* Blast Motion Certified
JOSEPH DEASON
Strength Instructor
Joseph Deason grew up in Jacksonville, FL and graduated from Bishop Kenny High School. After high school, he attended the University of South Florida where he earned two bachelor’s degrees in finance and international business. Joe has been a lifelong workout enthusiast. He
worked in finance for some years but during the pandemic when gyms closed and re-opened Joe decided to learn more about strength and conditioning and return to school at the University of North Florida for Kinesiology. At UNF, he interned in strength and conditioning working with all of UNF's athletics including softball and baseball. He also interned in strength and conditioning at University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV.) Joe worked directly with the UNLV baseball strength coach. While at UNLV, he also worked for Slamball as an assistant performance coach. Once returning from Las Vegas, he interned at the University of Florida where he primarily helped with collegiate, professional, and Olympians for track and field and swim. In his free time, he enjoys to workout through a wide range of modalities such as CrossFit, Olympic weightlifting, and hiking. One of his achievements that Joe is proud of is that he completed a hike of the Appalachian Trail without any previous hiking experience. He also enjoys helping his nephews’ baseball team. He will be completing his degree in Kinesiology in the summer of 2024. He looks forward to teaching speed, agility, and strength by optimizing movement to help athletes excel on the baseball/softball field. We are excited to have Joseph join our team!
In addition:
* USAW-L1 Certified
* CSCS Certified
CODY CRAWFORD
Instructor
We are excited to announce that Coach Cody Crawford is joining our team. He brings 10+ years of coaching experience & an abundance of knowledge. Coach Crawford from Jacksonville, FL, graduated from Trinity High School, where they won 3 state championships and he was awarded the Golden Glove winner his senior year. Cody then went off to play collegiate baseball at Salem University, DII. After, he came home to Jacksonville to give back to the game. He has done it all, from coaching at the youth level to college baseball & private instruction, welcome aboard!
CASON SHURLING
Instructor
Cason is the son of Jared and Krystal Brown (owners of Rip City). He has been absorbing the high-level fundamental knowledge since the age of four; alongside Coach Jared. Cason has played the game from a young age, currently a Junior in High School playing for his school's Varsity team. When he is not on the field or in the cages training, Cason can be found coaching our 10U select team, running summer camps and instructing our weekly classes for the last 3 years. Cason's baseball IQ is a great asset to the facility.
In addition:
* Blast Motion Certified
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BEN BLISS
Instructor
COLTON CLARY, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy
Ben Bliss is originally from Maine. He attended the University of NF where he walked on as a RH Pitcher & held down 3rd base. Once his baseball playing days had ended, he quickly missed the clay and soon found himself on the coaching side of the game. Mr. Bliss is currently the Head baseball Coach for Arlington Middle School and is building their program back up with a fundamental focus. Ben also has a background in sports specific strength & conditioning. Rip City is thrilled to have Bens's enthusiasm inside the facility and our athletes gravitate towards his positive vibes while learning a difficult sports.
Colton is a Licensed Physical Therapist who received his Doctorate at UNF in 2018. Dr. Clary provides movement screen assessments inside of Rip City that are used to identify how our athletes are moving, and mitigate injury, in connection with the objective data provided through our Rapsodo and Blast Motion technology findings. All of this is done in an attempt to improve overall athlete performance. Dr. Clary is also the head of Athletes Advantage/Rip City Baseball in house developed arm care program. Our goal is to provide Patient-centered care that is measurable and specific to individual student-athletes..
STEPHEN M. BROWN, ED.D
Academic Advisor/Consultant
Dr. Stephen M. Brown was the academic advisor to a Division 1 Baseball program for 8 years. We are blessed to have him on the team to help assist our student-athletes and parents in the process.
Dr. Brown is Professor Emeritus of Management, and the former Dean of the John F. Welch College of Business at Sacred Heart University. At Sacred Heart University he also established SHU Online, corporate campuses at three major corporations, and the Center for Not for Profit Organizations. Previously, Dr. Brown was the Dean of the Graduate School and the School of Management at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA where he was credited with establishing programs innovative in both delivery and content. Dr. Brown is a frequent presenter and trainer to professional groups and conferences. Among the groups to whom he has presented are: The National Conference on Adult Learners, American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Professors’ Group, Digital Equipment Corporation’s (DEC) Education Management Council, The National Center for Excellence in Adult Learning, The Massachusetts ASTD Training of Trainers Program, The Association for Continuing Higher Education (ACHE), Techlearn, and the National Conference on Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation. He has also produced a TEDx talk on Purpose.
Dr. Brown is the author of over thirty articles, co-author of Outsourcing and Human Resources: Trends, Models and Guidelines, co-editor of Evaluating Corporate Training: Models and Issues, and author of Tips for Facilitating On-line Learning and Tips for On-line Training. His current research interests are: Purpose, Nonprofit Management, learning in an organizational context and developing ethical leaders. Dr. Brown has developed over thirty curricula that have been used in business and higher education and numerous funded grants.