A Winning Pitcher’s Performance

It has been our privilege at The Pitching Academy to work with many talented pitchers over the years.   Our best pitchers have an “I can” attitude and an impeccable work ethic.  Every once in a while we work with athletes that are a step above the rest.  There is something very unique about these athletes and it’s not just their natural ability to throw the Baseball.  It’s character, attitude, optimism and a million other great characteristics that enable them to stand out from the rest of the competition.

I want to share a video clip of one such pitcher (Blake Brailsford) that has all of the qualities any coach would want on his team.

See Blake in action

We have worked with Blake for the last four years.  I can honestly say I have never in my life seen a pitcher work so hard and have so much passion for the game.   After each one of his lessons he ensures that he completely understands what is taught and often asks for additional drills to improve his pitching.  Because of his work ethic and desire for perfection; he consistently improves his game daily.

One of the talents that Blake has is his ability to spot a hitters weakness and throw against it.  As you will see in this video he dominates the hitters with a great fastball and an excellent circle change.  Since this video Blake has made a few minor mechanical adjustments to ensure better balance and has added an outstanding curveball to his arsenal.  By the time he graduates, I am confident he will be D1 material.  He has been developing his curveball for a couple of years, but is now finally starting to throw it in games.  This obviously gives him much more leverage against his competition.

Last year (as a sophomore) Blake’s performances against 5A High Schools in Utah such as Jordan, Alta, Brighton, and Taylorsville, were all good, but one of his best performances was against Cottonwood.  He pitched 6 innings and had 10-12 strike-outs.

As a Jr. this year, he is 3-0 with wins over Pine View, Cottonwood, and Jordan.

I am confident that Blake will continue to do well and we will see much of him in the near future.  After all, He’s a Brailsford!

Learn to dominate hitter’s this year (keep them off balance) by learning how to throw these different off speed pitches. As you can clearly see from Blake’s video, there is a need for off-speed.