Top Velocity York Pa. About / Staff

Mission Statement

My name is Mark Shive and i'm the owner and primary Coach at Top Velocity York Pa. I was born and raised in York County Pa. I began pitching at a young age and was the kid growing up who threw very hard and had a reputation. The issue was my mechanics were never worked on by those who knew what they were doing including my college years. Due to this, by my late teens and early 20s my arm had been severely damaged - tendonitis, torn rotator cuff, endless pain and ultimately invasive surgery. I have studied the kinetic chain and Bio-Mechanics of pitchers for over 25 years. I'm currently a certified Bio-Mechanics Specialist and a USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach. I have the pleasure of being one of the few Top Velocity Performance Centers in the country. It is my mission to help those who want to master their kinetic chain to have a long term successful career on the mound/field by identifying where the areas are that will put more stress onto the arm. Make no mistake, pitching causes damage but you can severely limit it and learn how to recover properly to have a very long career.

***At Top Velocity we work with ALL position players and hitters from Baseball and Softball

Top Velocity's Focus Areas

Bio-Mechanics
Mobility Training
Plyometric Training
Strength and Conditioning
USA Weightlifting
Arm Care
Nutrition
Evaluations

My Career

Played High School ball at Spring Grove in York County Pa.
Went on to play College ball at Bloomsburg University as a starter (D2)
Was the head varsity pitching coach at Colonial Forge H.S in Stafford Va.
Began scouting / bird dogging for the Anaheim Angels under mentorship of Hall of Fame Scout Tom Burns; now with the Blue Jays
I'm a certified Bio-Mechanics Specialist and have studied thousands of hours of film
I'm a Certified USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach
Have worked with youth from 6-18+ years of age for over 30 years
I'm currently running a baseball / softball academy in the Top Velocity Performance Center within my company Kinetic Training
Mentored by Brent Pourciau founder of Top Velocity in Louisiana and his Associate Dr. Pat McNeil

Certifications

Top Velocity York Pa. Coaches

Pitching / Strength Training Coach

Austin Lescanec

-Currently the pitching coach at Penn State Harrisburg

-Played high school baseball at Bishop McDevitt High School

-Played NCAA Division III baseball at Gwynedd Mercy University

-Was a Volunteer Assistant Coach at Gwynedd Mercy University in 2019 and helped lead the team to the first ever Atlantic East Conference Championship

-Was the Head Assistant and Pitching Coach at Penn State Brandywine from 2022-2024

-Have coached youth kids all the way to college ages 8-22 for the past 10 years

“My college baseball career was a vicious cycle of injury, rehab, recovery, repeat. It is the pain and frustration that I endured just trying to play the sport that I love most that drives me to make sure that the next generations of players do not have to face those same obstacles. I am committed to helping the next generations play this great game pain free, at the highest level they possibly can."

-Austin Lescanec

Hitting / Pitching Coach

Zach Gettys

-2017 West York YAIAA First Team 10-0; 126k

College

-Penn State Harrisburg; all time leader in starts 45; leader in k's 281; most wins 21; most innings 235

-2 time conference 2nd team

-Conference 1st team 2022

-2022 conference pitcher of the year

-NE Region 4 time 1st team

-NE Region 4 pitcher of the year

-3rd team All American 2022

Professional

-Empire Greys Frontier League

Softball Pitching / Hitting Coach

Lexie Kopko

⁃3 sport athlete at Kennard-Dale High School

⁃Member of the varsity softball team for 4 years (starter)

⁃1st team all star three years (no senior year COVID)

⁃Utility player pitcher, first base, outfield

⁃Hit over .500 throughout my three years

⁃District champion freshman year

⁃Team captain sophomore and Junior year

⁃Played with the PA gators where I was an Eastern National Champion

⁃Played for the Gold Coast hurricanes and played in the Junior Olympic Cup in St. Louis

⁃After verbal commitment, played with Rock Gold

⁃Senior at the University of South Florida NCAA division 1 where I am a Pitcher/Utility (relief/closer)

⁃Pitched against power five teams

-Pitched shutout innings against Florida, Florida State, Duke, Michigan, Texas

⁃Member of the American Athletic Conference All-Academic team

Softball Hitting / Fielding Coach

Natalie Blazosky

High School:

-Four year varsity player at Dover Area High School

-2x First Team All-State YAIAA Division II Player of the Year

-Competed for the New Jersey Breakers Gold Travel Team for four years

College:

-2x CAA Champion

-3x Partcipant in NCAA Div. 1 Regionals -1x Participant in NCAA Div. 1 Super Regionals

-Fastpitch News Player of the Week in 2018

-Career .300 Hitter

Softball Catching / Hitting / Fielding / Strength Coach

NOT AVAILABLE CURRENTLY

Brianna Holder

Misc:

• Misericordia D3 Career average of .323 w/ .986 fielding % • Coached Nj Ruthless softball from

2019

• Head coach NJ Ruthless 16u 2020- 2022

2022

• Started in all 40 games; Caught in all 40 games

• Hit .364

• All-MAC Freedom first team

• Chosen to the MAC Honor Roll

2021

• Started all 30 games

• All-MAC Freedom second-team

• Hit .304

• Third on team with 21 RBI and tied for homeruns

• Chosen to the MAC Honor Roll

2020

• Started all 12 games

• Recorded 11 hits on the season

• Tied for second on the team with three doubles

• Had one home run and six RBI

• Led the team with 82 putouts and converted all 92 chances in the field

• Chosen to the MAC Honor Roll

2019

• Appeared in all 42 games with 41 starts

• Chosen to the All-MAC Freedom second-team

• 5 home runs

• Ranked second on the team in home runs and third in extra base hits • Chosen to the MAC Honor Roll

2018

• First-team All-MAC Freedom

• Honorable mention All-ECAC

• Wendy’s Athlete of the Month

• Had a team-high 12 doubles and .759 slugging %

• Had two four-hit games

• Had a team high 14-game on-base streak • Hit .398 with 19 extra-base hits

• Chosen to the MAC Honor Roll

Softball Pitching / Strength Coach

AVAILABLE STARTING OCTOBER

Courtney May (Coppersmith)

2019:

-America East Pitcher and Rookie of the Year

-AE All-Conference First Team - Pitcher

-AE All-Conference Second Team - Utility

-AE All-Rookie Team

-AE Most Outstanding Player

-ECAC Rookie of the Year

-All-ECAC First Team - Pitcher and DP

-NFCA All-Region Second Team

-2019 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division 1 National Freshman of the Year Top 25 Finalist

-Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division 1 Pitcher of the Week

-Softball America All-American Honorable Mention

-School Records for: Strikeouts in a Season (346), Most Shutouts (14), Lowest Single Season Opponent Batting Average (0.157), Single-Game Strikeout Record (14, 17/17)

-Justin's World of Softball All-Freshman Team (Utility/DP)

-UMBC Dr. Charles Brown Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year

-UMBC Gritty's Female Newcomer of the Year

-UMBC Gritty's Record Breaking Performance of the Year

-America East Helping Hands Team

2020:

-NCAA Statistical Champion - 0.19 ERA in 37 innings pitched

-CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team

-America East All-Academic Team

-AE Softball Scholar Athlete

2021:

-Third-Team Academic All-American

-National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Mid-Atlantic All-Region First Team

America East Female Scholar Athlete of the Year

- America East Softball Scholar-Athlete

-CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team for second-straight year

-America East Pitcher of the Year

-America East All-Conference First Team

-America East All-Academic Team..America -East All-Championship Team

-America East Elite 18 Award Winner for having highest GPA among student-athletes competing in the championship round

-Tied for the lowest single-season ERA in program history (0.93), finished top-3 in the NCAA in ERA

-UMBC Dr. Charles Brown Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year

-UMBC Gritty's Record Breaking Performance of the Year

2022:

-Third-Team Academic All-American

-America East Woman of the Year

-ECAC Pitcher of the Year

-All-ECAC First-Team

-D1Softball Top 150 Players (135)

-Senior CLASS Award Second-Team All-American

-National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Mid-Atlantic All-Region Second Team

-America East Female Scholar Athlete of the Year

-America East Softball Scholar-Athlete

-CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team

-America East Pitcher of the Year three times in her career

-America East All-Conference First Team as a pitcher

-America East All-Conference Second-Team as an outfielder

-America East All-Academic Team

-America East Championship Most Outstanding Player (second of career)

-America East All-Championship Team

-NCAA Statistical Champion in Strikeouts per 7 Innings (13.2)

-Became school's all-time strikeout leader in over 200 less innings than previous record-holder

-Broke her own school-record for lowest ERA in a season (0.78)

-Had a school record six saves

-Became the UMBC all-time leader in saves with nine

-Set a school-record with 20 strikeouts in a perfect game against Brown on 3/11

-UMBC Retriever Award

-UMBC Gritty's Performance of the Year

2023:

-Became first player in school and America East (and 99th in NCAA DI History) history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts

-Concluded career with an America East record 1,023 strikeouts and ranks eighth in NCAA history with 11.36 strikeouts per seven innings

-First student-athlete to win America East Pitcher of the Year four times in her career

-America East All-Conference First Team as a pitcher

-National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Mid-Atlantic All-Region First Team

-All-ECAC for fourth time

-First student-athlete to win America East Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year three times in her career (21-23)

-America East Softball Scholar-Athlete for fourth-straight year

-America East Woman of the Year finalist

-CoSIDA All-District Team

-UMBC Dr. Charles Brown Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year

Overall Career:

10 no-hitters, including three perfect games

Hitting: 0.297 with 132 hits in 445 appearances totaling 44 extra base hits and 81 RBIs

Pitching: 178 GP, 121 appearances, 630.1 innings, 1.39 ERA, 1,023 strikeouts, 62 wins, 14 saves, 0.142 batting average against

Finished career as UMBC's all-time leader in strikeouts (1,023), saves (14), ERA (1.39), shutouts (34) and lowest opponent batting average against (.142)...Was second in UMBC history in wins (62), innings (630.1) and appearances (121)

America East Tournament Career: 12-0 (11 GS), allowed just six earned runs in 80 innings (0.53 ERA) and struck out 116, threw two no-hitters and also had a 33.1 inning scoreless streak in America East Tournament play that was snapped in the fourth inning of the championship game.