Our Mission & Philosophy

Dig in Baseball 

Partners Steve Ballance and Will Frazier.

When we started Dig In Baseball in July 2011, we wanted a “mascot-free” image. Does that sound funny? We know it’s different. We wanted to associate Dig In Baseball with professionalism, hard work, and an aggressive style of play—we fight, we dig in. We’re not associated with a funny dog or a turtle (although we love our Terps). But we decided to build an organization that maintains ties over many years with players and their families. We know we’re a critical piece in the character development puzzle of young men, not just in baseball, but in how they approach schoolwork and their life’s work, and in how they learn to succeed in every part of their lives, not just one.

Win Every Practice

That’s why our formula is unique. Our tryouts, practices, individual training and tournament play are designed to build eager player participation. We’ve created a place where we have fun as we teach baseball fundamentals. Yet we bear down. We get players ready. We lock them in. We teach them to never be afraid to get their hands dirty as they strive to be their best day after day.

We build on longevity in the sense that we help players from ages 8 to 22, and beyond. We focus on preparation and practice, unlike organizations that meet only for weekend tournaments. We prepare in team settings and in individual instruction. We provide the total baseball experience, to equip every player to do all he dreams of achieving.

A 10-Year Path

We expose our teams to more competitive play than is typical at a county level, so we scout out tournament schedules along the East Coast to provide teams the best competition imaginable. We want to provide families living in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia the option of professional coaching from youth league to big league. We see professional coaching as the surest path to success on this journey.

We know this is a family endeavor, because a ballplayer can’t achieve his lofty goal without an extensive support network—parents, friends, and older brothers and sisters supporting him at practices and games and encouraging him along the typical 10-year path—8 to 18—to reach college play. Our common goal is your player’s heart, and keeping him motivated day after day.

We’re highly accomplished as players. We’ve had the good fortune to have coached tremendous talent, so we also quickly became proficient as coaches. Steve, a former JUCO Coach of the Year with a JUCO Championship Team, has an 83% win percentage; and over three years, Will, an associate scout for MLB’s Kansas City Royals, has a 90% win percentage, with an AAU National Champion Team to his credit. Our assistant coaches are equally accomplished. We invite you to explore their backgrounds and personal mission statements (click here for coaching bios).

Not Our Past, Your Future

We have our own lofty goal, as an organization committed to baseball training, development and placement excellence. We want to challenge the college showcase system, which we view as flawed, particularly when it comes to teams practicing together and developing as showcase talent, versus the current individualistic, all-star approach. The showcase system only allows players to be shown, wrongly, as finished products, able to hit 91 mph pitching, not as athletes developed fully in baseball knowledge, perhaps with flaws, but capable of meeting all next-level challenges. And as we redefine the future of baseball selection, we’re prepared to help you define your own future, wherever it takes you.