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Scout Day Spotlight: Premier Baseball

VALLEY CITY - “We try to develop young people to be the best student-athletes they can be.”

That is how Dave Borgia describes the philosophy of Premier Ohio Baseball.

An organization that began as Premier Baseball roughly 11 years ago, has changed names as well as ownership since first starting out. Three owners, including Borgia and Dan Williams, are now in charge of the program, which has a 24,000-square foot training site called Premier Athletics.

Growth in the organization has taken off, with 24 baseball teams from 8U to 18U now in existence, up from the original 15 teams when ownership changed.

“We try to develop young people, not only as athletes but as human beings,” said Borgia, the operations manager. “We stress classroom first.”

There are 280 boys now part of Premier Ohio Baseball.

“If you make a team we want to make you the best player you can be,” Borgia explained. “Our philosophies are when you reach the age of showcase, we help guide you if your goal is to play college baseball.”

John Hecker, who is going into his ninth year with the organization and currently coaches the 16U team, feels that is the philosophy to take.

“We focus on development as a program,” Hecker said. “Some programs chase trophies, but our philosophy here is development first and championships come later. It’s about working to achieve their goals at the next level.”

A large group of coaches play a big part in making that happen, with Premier players going on to play collegiately at places like Morehead State, Marshall, Purdue University Fort Wayne and Cleveland State.

“We try to put non-dad coaches on high school teams while dads coach the younger kids,” noted Borgia, who currently has nine non-dads as mentors. “We have five instructors on staff with college and pro backgrounds.”

Jim Kavourias, who played in the Marlins organization, has been with Premier since the beginning.

“He’s our hitting guy,” Borgia said. “He does everything but pitching and catching.”

That is where Williams comes in. A member of the Indians organization for 23 years, Williams is not only a co-owner but the pitching and primary catching instructor.

Ryan Boros is another pitching instructor in the program while Ivanon Coffie, who was with the Cubs and Orioles organization, has been helping out Premier for six years. Former Liberty University head coach Dave Pastors is another valuable part of the operation.

“All of them also coach except Dan and Jim,” Borgia said.

The teams play mostly in the midwest during the summer according to Borgia, who listed Grand Park in Indiana, Michigan, Columbus, Cincinnati, Kentucky and Tennessee as sites for tournaments involving Premier.

But before then, Premier Ohio Baseball will be part of another PBR Scout Day on Feb. 2.

“Everything PBR does, especially the videos, helps out a lot,” noted Borgia, whose organization will be participating in its third Scout Day event. “PBR is a great tool, our kids get some great feedback. It’s all out there for everyone to see and we will also send a link to coaches that are interested.

“Our kids are really looking forward to it,” Borgia added about the upcoming Scout Day. “We promote it to our high school-aged people and invite the younger ones to come and watch.”

Hecker, who previously had a son in the organization, finds the whole Premier Ohio Baseball experience gratifying.

“The thing that’s kept me around is the facility and the access to practice there with my players,” Hecker said. “We practice three days a week and as a player with us they can also use the facility whenever they want. That’s a big draw.

“My son played with us, and while he’s older now, I wanted to keep coaching. The access and knowledge of the instructors and the owners is second to none. If I’m struggling with one of my players, I can ask another instructor for advice and they’re always willing to help. It’s one big family that looks out for each other.”