Instructors

Kevin Sprague: Pitching and Hitting

(913) 706-1194

Kevin Graduated from Washington H.S. in 1995 where he went on to Allen County Community College. From Allen County he went to McNeese State University where he was named Most Valuable Pitcher for 2 season and 2nd team all conference. Kevin also received Southland Conference player of the week award multiple times.
Kevin was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 10 round of the 1999 amateur draft. He played 5 seasons in Johnson City TN 1999, Peoria IL 2000, Potomac VA 2001, Potomac VA/ New Haven CT 2002, Knoxville TN 2003 and Fargo ND/Sioux City IA/ KC T-bones 2004.
Kevin Retired in 2005 to start the career of teaching young player the technique of playing baseball.
Kevin and his wife Carmen own Strike Zone baseball and have 4 children together Ali, Nolan, Corbin and Vivian

Tim Sturdy – Pitching

(913) 426-8564

Tim comes from Albuquerque, New Mexico where he graduated from La Cueva H.S. in 1997. Tim was drafted as a pitcher by the Minnesota Twins in the 23rd round of the 1997 amateur draft.  He played six seasons up and down the Twins organization before retiring in 2004.  His accolades included two No-Hitters, Player of the Week, and one league All-Star Team nod.
After retiring, Tim returned to school to complete his college degree from the University of New Mexico and has since moved to Shawnee, KS where he has resided for the last 8 years.  He is married to wife Nora, and they have three children, Ryan, Sophia, and Josiah.
Tim has extensive experience working with kids in baseball settings over the years, including ABA club in New Mexico and Sandlot in Iowa.  More recently he has coached his son’s teams over the last four seasons in addition to giving private lessons.

Pierre Burris – Hitting

(913) 238-1545

Pierre is entering his 23rd year of formal baseball training. Pierre was a standout 3 sport athlete at Raytown South H.S. (Baseball, Basketball and football) in the mid 80’s before attending KCKCC and the University of Kansas. he was drafted in the 1990 amateur baseball draft by the Cincinnati Reds as an outfielder and was converted to a pitcher in 1992 after a back injury. Pierre has worked privately with many former and current Major League Players; however his passion is working with elementary to high school aged kids

Matt Reed – Hitting/Fielding/Catching

(913) 706-3411

Matt Reed has been a Strike Zone Instructor since 2015  in addition to coaching  Strike Zone High School teams. He does private instruction on hitting, fielding and catching.

Andy See – Hitting/Pitching/Catching/Fielding 

(913) 909-6364

Ryan Dwyer – Catching/Hitting

(913) 908-2652

Ryan has been an instructor and coaching for more than 20 years, and is currently one of the coaches in the High School program. Ryan primarily trains catchers and hitters at all levels. He Graduated from Wellington High School where he continued playing baseball at the collegiate level at Barton County College and Emporia State University. Since then he has continued instructing and coaching teams in both baseball and fast pitch softball.

Derek Youngman – Pitching

Alex Jones-Hitting/Pitching/Fielding and Strength/Conditioning/Speed/Agility

(913) 904-2921

Alex Jones joined the Vikings baseball staff as an assistant coach for the 2018 campaign.
Jones was formerly and assistant coach at Lewis University. Jones Ran the strength and conditioning as well as speed and agility program for the Flyers for two years. Jones was the third base coach and hitting and infield coach for the flyers. Jones Coach multiple All conference and All area sections for the flyers in his two years. Coached the 2016 and 2017 seasons

During the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Jones served as a volunteer assistant coach at Miami (Ohio).
Jones coached first base for the RedHawks, compiled scouting reports and kept charts.  He coached right fielder Matt Honchel who hit .367 and earned All-MAC First Team honors. He also coached Jake Romano who was named to the All-MAC Defensive Team after making zero errors in 124 tries. The RedHawks were Mac west champs in Jones first season beating out #15 Kent State.

Jones served as the assistant hitting/infield coach for the Albany Dutchmen in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League in Albany, New York in 2015.

Jones played collegiately at Northern Illinois University where he was a four-year starting shortstop for the Huskies. He was All-MAC and All-Midwest Region in 2011. He was a Brooks Wallace Award Simi Finalist two year in a row (top 25) 2011 & 2012. This award is given to the top shortstop in the country. Jones was Mac player of the week 3 times. He finished his career second in school history in hits (264), third in doubles (55) and fifth in runs batted in (144). For his career, he hit .321 at NIU. Jones set the triples record for a single season and career. Jones also holds the hits in a game record and RBI in a game record while going 5 for 7 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 single and 8 RBI’s against Western Michigan. Jones was also ranked as a top 10 athlete during his time at NIU.

Jones graduated in 2013 from NIU with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education/health and Masters in Organizational Leadership.  He is currently a physical education teacher at Hocker Grove Middle School.