The story
History
Baseball Factory was founded in 1994 in Columbia, Maryland by current CEO Steve Sclafani, in order to train and educate high school players on the college recruiting process. Alongside Baseball Factory, Inc., an inner-city middle school baseball program called B.A.S.E.-H.I.T. Foundation (presently the Baseball Factory Team One Foundation) was also launched. As the B.A.S.E.-H.I.T. Foundation continued to evolve in downtown Baltimore, Baseball Factory took their program nationwide. By 1997, the program reached over 1,000 players from 46 different states and had placed 90% of their players in a college baseball program.
In 1999, the National High School Baseball Coaches Association recognized Baseball Factory as the number one recruiting service in the country. The company also reached the $20 million mark in scholarship money offered to Baseball Factory players. By 2002, Baseball Factory players had received over $65 million in college scholarships. In addition, former Major League manager for the Colorado Rockies, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, Clint Hurdle, joined the Baseball Factory team as a hitting advisor.
The summer of 2005 marked the first ever Baseball Express Cape Cod High School Classic, powered by the Baseball Factory. The game featured 36 of the best rising senior and junior high school baseball players in the nation, including 17 future selections in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft.
On January 1, 2007, Under Armour selected Baseball Factory as the amateur baseball company to launch their baseball products through a grassroots effort. This partnership has included the Under Armour All-America Game, powered by Baseball Factory and held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, bringing together 40 of the top high school athletes in the country, selected by a committee of Baseball Factory scouts. Since the game's inception in 2008, 284 of the 323 draft eligible players from the Under Armour All-America Game were selected in the MLB Amateur Draft including 83 first round picks. In 2017, the game celebrates its 10th anniversary, and will again be broadcast on MLB Network.
In March, 2009, Baseball Factory announced a strategic partnership with Little League International in order to provide youth players worldwide with increased player development and college placement opportunities. Little League International named Baseball Factory as the Exclusive and Official Player Development Partner of Little League Baseball. The primary focus of the partnership is the Little League Youth Clinic and Skills Challenges, powered by Baseball Factory. Baseball Factory conducts these events for Little and Junior League division players. The events are held at Little League, minor league, college and high school facilities nationwide.
In July, 2009, Baseball Factory partnered with American Legion Baseball in order to provide amateur players with new opportunities to develop their skills. Together the organizations will provide American Legion players with instructional camps, showcases and baseball clinics to supplement their experience with their local American Legion team.
In 2010, Baseball Factory teamed up with Roberto's Kids, an international non-profit organization, and the Pittsburgh Pirates to host an equipment drive that sent donated baseball gear to underprivileged communities around the world.
In February 2011, after 16 years of success assisting baseball players, the organization announced the launch of Softball Factory, a new division of Baseball Factory. Softball Factory was created to provide authentic training and college recruiting programs for youth and high school softball players. Softball Factory is led by Lea Ann Jarvis, the Director of Softball Operations. Lea Ann was a two-time First Team NCAA All-American while a standout performer at Louisiana Tech University. She went on to coach Division I college softball for 17 years and also played professionally. She then won two World Championships as a player with the USA National Softball Team. In addition to Lea Ann's experience, the Softball Factory's coaching staff of former college coaches, former professional players and former college players provides expert softball training and guidance for players nationwide. In January 2017, Softball Factory welcomed USA Olympic Gold Medalist and former collegiate All-American at the University of Arizona, Jennie Finch to the All-America Pre-Season Tournament held at the Scrapyard Sports Complex in Conroe, Texas where she spoke to players and their families during the welcome meeting and worked on-field with both pitchers and catchers.
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Looking to build upon the success of Baseball and Softball divisions, Volleyball Factory is launched in 2013, led by former National Player of the Year and All-American at UCLA, Kristee Porter and the company transforms into Factory Athletics. Volleyball Factory now hosts over 40 events across in the country as well as high-level Player Development events such as Select Training at the NCAA Championship in that year's host city, Advanced Training in Colorado Springs, CO and at the Lake Placid Training Center in Lake Placid, NY. The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) recognized Volleyball Factory as the Preferred Player ID Partner of AVCA Volleyball. This partnership allows Volleyball Factory to review all players attending an Under Armour Volleyball Factory National Tryout or College PREP event and recommend top players to the AVCA for Under Armour All-American Match and Phenom Program consideration.
Volleyball Factory teamed with DataVolley to provide players with an edge in the recruiting process. The top-rated DataVolley system is used at every Under Armour National Tryout and College PREP event and the video-capture software is used by nearly every collegiate program. Using DataVolley, the player videos record each player performing at their very best during live in-game action in a statistically relevant way.
In 2017, Baseball Factory continues to see a growing number of former alums reaching their dreams of playing collegiate baseball as 100% of NCAA Division I & II rosters and 96% of Division III rosters have at least one Factory alum on a roster. 41% of the players who played in the 2017 NCAA Division I College World Series were Factory alums.
Factory Athletics Foundation
The Baseball Factory Team One Foundation (originally the B.A.S.E.-H.I.T. Foundation) was established alongside Baseball Factory in 1994, by current CEO Steve Sclafani.Factory Athletics Foundation promotes baseball & softball education and quality of life for children across America. It provides underprivileged children an opportunity to enhance their experiences through player development camps, national tournaments, showcases and college recruiting programs within Baseball & Softball Factory. In addition, the Foundation provides college scholarships to select candidates based on need.
Factory Foundation By The Numbers:
2,000+ Players awarded Baseball & Softball Factory scholarships or college scholarships
3,000+ Pounds of used equipment has been collected and donated to all corners of the world
$750,000+ of Support provided by Factory Foundation
From Wikipedia’s article on Baseball Factory, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3