What is Lightning Baseball?
Lightning Baseball is a competitive travel program based in Port Orange, FL. Our goals are simple and long term in nature. We want to develop our kids to be the absolute best they can be, both on the field and off. We are a heavy process-oriented program that spends 100% effort on things we can control and 0% effort on those things we cannot.
OUR COACHING STAFF
The founding members of Lightning Baseball are:
- Steve Strickland
- Steve Lombardi
- Cameron McClelland
- Joe Mckinney
New Coaches (Spring 2017)
New coaches being added in January 2017 include:
- Jeff Ornstein
- Joe Cronin
- Gary Bell - Head of Pitching
- Frank Corr - Head of Hitting
A BIG RESPOnsibility
For us this is not about developing kids for the purpose of winning youth baseball games. We are focused on the long-term development of these kids into better students, better siblings, better teammates, and of course better ballplayers. Our goal for these kids is for them to become leaders in the classroom, on the field, and in the community. We promote a family environment and treat every one of our kids as if they were our own.
Coach Steve Strickland
- Program President and Head Coach
- 3 years varsity football and 4 years varsity baseball at Spruce Creek
- Core member Creek's baseball team from '96, '97, and '98, who were the first teams in school history to win back-to-back district championships and earn 3 straight trips to the state playoffs
- Bachelor's in Computer Science (UCF - '02) and Masters in Systems Engineering (UF - '08)
- Leading efforts to change the landscape of sports learning and training utilizing virtual reality
Coach Cameron McClelland
- 4 years varsity football, 3 years varsity weightlifting, and 2 years basketball at Spruce Creek
- Played college football at Emory & Henry as a 4 year starter (2000-2004)
- Head Spruce Creek Softball Coach - 8th year
- Assistant Football Coach - 13th year
- Led Creek Softball to a state regional final appearance in 2016, finishing ranked #5 in 9A
- Bachelor's in Education
Coach Joe Mckinney
- 4 year varsity contributor in cross country and track at Spruce Creek. All-Conference 3rd team as a senior in cross country, 2nd team in track. School record holder in 4x800 (1995-2002)
- Helped build Spruce Creek's cross country program which had never qualified for the state meet, into a top-5 finisher (1996-1998)
- Took over a Father Lopez cross country and track program that had 6 total athletes and built into a program that had 64 kids and finished 6th in Class 1A in 2000
- Guided Jacksonville Episcopal to 3 District Championships, 1 Regional Championship, and 1 State Championship in cross country (2000-2003)
- FHSAA Class 1A Coach of the Year in cross country
- Coached 13 FHSAA State Champions during 8 years of coaching, and had 32 athletes pursue collegiate athletics on scholarship
- Studied Mathematics at UCF
WE are focused on fundamentals
Dynamic warm-ups
We warm up everyday as a team and we do it using dynamic methods. We vary these movements daily, but the goal is always to warm the entire body and build athletic movement patterns.
