Great Lakes Baseball is home to a number of renowned professional instructors, including current major and minor league hitting and pitching instructors. Our staff employs their numerous years of professional baseball playing and coaching experience to provide lessons tailored to meet individual player needs.
Bruce Fields
Director of Hitting Instruction
Coach Fields is a graduate of Lansing Community College where he then broke into the major leagues joining the Detroit Tigers in 1986. After retiring from MLB, he joined the Detroit Tiger Baseball organization as a coach and hitting instructor. Coach Fields has held multiple coaching positions with various Major League Baseball organizations and is currently the Hitting Coach for the Cleveland Indians Baseball Team. His son, Daniel Fields, was recently drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 2008.
Ken Howell
Director of Pitching Instruction
Coach Howell is a graduate of Tuskegee University and was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1982 where he pitched in the MLB for seven years. After retiring from the MLB he became a pitching coach for various minor and major league teams. Recently Coach Howell was named Bullpen Coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Barbaro Garbey
Hitting & Fielding Instructor
Coach Garbey was a member of the 1984 Detroit Tigers and is a former Tigers hitting coach. He is currently the AA hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs.
Jordon Banfield
Owner - Hitting & Pitching Instructor
Coach Banfield brings his experience as a high school and national travel coach to the athletes at Great Lakes Baseball Academy. Prior to coaching, Jordon played for the Ann Arbor Braves, a travel team that won two national titles, and was a member of the Michigan All-State baseball team in 2004. Coach Banfield recently graduated from the University of Michigan majoring in Sports Management. He currently is manager of the Ann Arbor Travelers, a premier national travel team with a number of D1 and pro prospects. Jordon also works for the Texas Rangers as an Associate Scout and is involved with a number of the top camps and showcases in the midwest. A number of his students have gone on to receive Division I college baseball scholarships.
Trevor Brewster
Owner - Hitting & Pitching Instructor
Coach Brewster attended Colorado State University where he played in NCBA for four years. After college he played on the Northern Colorado Bandits semi-pro team for two years. He returned home to become a member of the Ann Arbor Pioneer coaching staff where he has coached for the last five years and was on the staff for the 2004 State Championship Team.
Bobby Malek
Hitting Instructor
Coach Malek attended Michigan State University where he was an outfielder for the baseball team. During his time at MSU, he was an All-American as well Big Ten Player of the Year. Coach Malek was a fourth round draft pick of the New York Mets in 2002 and is currently a hitting coach for a minor league affiliate.
Chris Yates
Hitting & Pitching Instructor
Coach Yates is a former player for the Houston Astros organization. He specializes in Hitting and Pitching for players of all skill levels. Coach Yates is currently coaching several youth travel teams in the area and believes fundamentals and hard work are keys to becoming a great baseball player.
Tony Shourds
Hitting and Pitching Instructor
Coach Shourds is a former pitcher for the Texas Rangers Organization (1996 22nd Round Draft Pick) as well as the Waterbury Spirit (Northeast League). Prior to his professional career he attended a Junior College out of Norwalk, CT where he was an All-American as a shortstop. After transplanting from the east coast to Michigan, he has helped coach multiple area schools, teams, and individual players (from Little League to College level) and is currently volunteering his time to develop a pitching program for the Pinckney High School baseball team.
Nate Recknagel
Hitting and Catching Instructor
Coach Recknagel is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he was a catcher and first baseman. During his time at U of M, he helped the team to 3 Big Ten Championships and 1 NCAA Regional championship. He was also an All-American (2008), Big Ten player of the year (2008), 3 time All-Big Ten Conference player and holds the U of M single season homerun record. In 2008, Coach Recknagel was a 19th round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians and played for 3 years in their minor league system. Last spring, he was an assistant coach for the Lake Orion High School Varsity baseball team. Most recently, he coached a 16 year old team with Top Tier Baseball based in North Chicago.
Josh Mason
Hitting Instructor
Coach Mason joins the Great Lakes Baseball Academy from Anderson, Indiana. He comes to the Ann Arbor area from a very baseball savvy background. Currently, Coach Mason is an Assistant Baseball Coach at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Coach Mason has spent the past years coaching at Highland High School in Anderson, Indiana in which the program was ranked as high as fifth in the state. Throughout past summer seasons, Coach Mason has spent that time coaching the American Legion Post 128 Anderson Hockett team. Played his High School baseball at Anderson High School, and spent a brief time with the Anderson University, Div. III, baseball team who was coached by Hall of Famer Don Brandon. In the past, Coach Mason has previously took advice and lessons from Mike Shirley, professional scout for the Chicago White Sox, and currently works personally with professional player Michael Earley, OF in the Chicago White Sox organization, in the off-season.
Justin Barber
Pitching Instructor
Coach Barber is a Canton native. He recently graduated from Spring Arbor University where he majored in Communication and was a left-handed pitcher for four years. He is currently coaching for the Indiana Chargers Organization, a travel team based in Northern Indiana. In high school, Coach Barber was a 1st-Team All-State Pitcher in 2007 and finished his high school career with over 250 strikeouts. At Spring Arbor, he was a team captain his senior year and was part of a team that made it to the NAIA World Series, finishing third in the country in 2008. Coach Barber has a passion for pitching and teaching kids the things that make them successful on the mound.
Alex Newland
Hitting and Pitching Instructor
Coach Newland was a 3-year varsity starter in High School, played one year at Concordia University, and has helped coach the A2 Travelers as well. He has been teaching at Great Lakes Baseball Academy for 2 years and focuses on teaching the fundamentals of hitting, pitching, and fielding.
Bridger Hunt
Hitting Instructor
Coach Hunt was born in Florida, played high school baseball in Florida. His resume includes, 2003 1st Team all American. 2006 9th Round First Year Player Draft. Hit .300 for 5 years with the minor league Dodgers, and 1-week big league camp time. He still plays professional baseball with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. He understands the concept of hitting and knows what it takes to make it to the next levels. He had the pleasure to learn from some of the great hitters, and all around players. Include, Maury Wiles, Tommy Davis, Don Mattingly, Steve Yeager and Lance Parish, including many more.
