Steve Carp is our resident baseball expert providing outstanding instruction and drills.

Born Aug. 28, 1952
Brooklyn, New York
Graduated from Canarsie High School June 1970
1st team All City New York Daily News 1970
Drafted in the 18th round in the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft (New York Mets)
Signed to a four year baseball scholarship by the University of Georgia
Pitched and played the outfield at Georgia. Honors at Georgia: 1st team all academic S.E.C. 1974

College Highlights:
Pitched a complete game and won at the University of Tennessee as a freshman Hit 2 home runs in a row off former big league pitcher and current pitching coach of the Dodgers Rick Honeycutt.

Professional Background:
Signed with the Kansas City Royals in June 1974
Played for the New York Yankee organization 1975
Pitched at the AAA level in 1979
Managers that I played for:
Billy Goodman Kansas City Royals
Mike Ferraro, Leo Posada, Gene Michael New York Yankees
Pitched the 1977 season in Venezuela for Los Bravos De Anzuatigue in Porta La Cruz, Venezuela.
Pitched and won the championship game in Venezuela beating Cumana and future big league pitcher Albert Williams of the Minnesota Twins.

Coaching Experience:

Pitching coach Broward Community College 1980
JV Head Coach Westminster Academy High School 1993 Team went 19-0
Head Coach Westminster Academy High School 1994-1998
Pitching Coach Westminster Academy High School 1999- 2004
Hitting Coach Douglas High School 2005
Pitching Coach North Broward Prep 2006
Pitching Coach Westminster Academy 2008
Pitching Coach Calvary Christian 2009-2010
Pitching Coach Coral Springs Christian 2011-Current

Awards:

Coach of the year Ft Lauderdale Sun Sentinel 1994,1995 1998
Coach of the year Miami Herald 1994 and 1998
13 district Championships
Three final four appearances and 2 State championships 1999, 2000

Steve’s Major League Baseball Students

Matt Latos– Matt took private lessons from Steve as an 8th grader and still uses the mechanics Steve taught him at the big league level.
Eli Villanueva– Ely started working with Steve privately as a ninth grader and coached Eli much of his high school career.
Anthony Rizzo– Steve had Anthony when he was a sophomore at Douglas and was his hitting coach. Steve had influence on his ability to keep his weight back to hit with more power.

Recent Draft Picks

Preston Gainey– 12th round Milwaukee Brewers 2012
Preston came to Steve as a senior and worked with him both privately and as his coach at Calvary Christian. Preston was a true project because he never pitched before. After much work he got a scholarship to the United States Naval Academy, where he blossomed and signed professionally with the Brewers.

Luke Jackson– 1st round (45th pick 2010 draft by the Texas Rangers). Signed for 1.56 million dollars. Steve had Luke for three years and gave him the mechanics that made him successful as a pitcher. He had a strong arm and potential but could not throw strikes. The mechanical system Steve taught really suited Luke and he blossomed into a first round draft pick. Luke hit 97 mph on the radar gun in high school.

Richard Bleir– 5th round pick Texas Rangers 2008 draft. Signed for $125,000 dollars. Richard was a tall thin lefty when he came to Steve as a junior out of South Plantation High School. He wanted to throw harder. Steve worked him with on the mechanical system Steve teaches and he quickly improved. He got a scholarship to Florida Gulf Coast where he blossomed into their ace starter. Richard put on weight and muscle in college which made him a pro prospect. He is a classic example of learning the proper mechanics and was ready to be successful when his physical maturity kicked in.

Dane Artman– 4th round pick Milwaukee Brewers 2000. Signed for $450,000 dollars. Dane came to Westminster Academy his senior year and Steve worked with him as his high school pitching coach. Dane was already a power pitcher but needed some polishing thru a structured drill package that he worked at diligently. The culmination of the hard work came when we faced Gulliver Prep at Mark Light Stadium (home field of UM) and he took a no hitter into the last inning and finished with a 1 hit shutout. Many scouting directors and general managers came to Steve during the game and after the game to congratulate Steve on the job he did with Dane.

Josh Pressley– 4th round 1st pick of the draft that year for the Tampa Bay Rays. Signed for $ 650,000 dollars. Steve started working with Josh when he was 10 yrs old at Bayview Park in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Steve was Josh’s personal baseball trainer for both pitching and hitting. He also was his high school coach for five years. Josh could have gone either way as a pro.( He signed as a hitter) He could hit and pitch. He threw 92-94 mph his senior year with excellent command of his pitches. Josh was tremendous competitor on the field and one of the hardest workers off the field. When he was 12, Steve challenged Josh to take 200 swings a day, 5 days a week for the next 5 years. He suggested two weeks off in the summer for rest. This regimen would produce 50,000 mechanically correct swings a year for 5 years. The result would be 250,000 swings which would get him a college scholarship or a pro contract. While all his friends were doing other things, Josh worked and took the 250,000 swings. The result was a $650,000 pro contract. In 2005 Josh was in big league spring training with the Boston Red Sox and was competing for the first base job with Kevin Youkilis. Steve was at a game against the Marlins that Spring training and watched him in a big league uniform. Steve never had children, but he had that paternal pride when he watched him on the field. Josh has played many years in the minors and still plays in the Independent Atlantic League. Josh will be a coach or manager in professional baseball one day.

Tony Davis– Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round 2009 Draft: Signed for $85,000. Tony was by far the best all around player Steve has ever coached. He had him at Westminster Academy and North Broward Prep in South Florida. Tony is the ultimate heart of a champion type person. He went undefeated in his high school career and was a lefty specialist at the University of Florida. Tony won the Iron Gator award all three years while playing baseball at UF. The Iron Gator is a grueling physical fitness test that the University of Florida coaching staff puts its players through in the fall. Tony won the competition every year he was there. Tony is the type of baseball player that would throw a shutout, sweep the dugout after the game, do his running and then go home shower and put on a suit to meet a college recruiter. Of all the pitchers that Steve has coached. Steve would want Tony on the mound in the most important game. He is only 5’ 9” in height, but has the heart of a warrior.

Professional players Steve coached at Westminster Academy:

Danny Core– Toronto Blue Jays (All time wins leader at FAU)
VonDavid Sturtzbach– California Angels
Scott Drucker– Detroit Tigers.

Steve currently coaches at Coral Springs Christian Academy where we have some pro prospects to add to the list:

Alvie James
Touki Toussaint
Benito Santiago
Devin Myer

Steve has worked with great coaches over the years that have impacted his coaching abilities.
Don Cooper major league pitching coach Chicago White Sox
Tom House former pitching coach Texas Rangers
Dennis Rasmussen former big league pitcher St. Louis Cardinals

All the high school coaches that have worked with Steve have had an influence on his coaching philosophy and the mechanics that he teaches.