Brian is a teacher’s teacher.  He earned a degree from SUNY Oswego and a master’s degree in education from Fordham.  A positive and upbeat instructor, Brian finds the good in people and brings energy and a positive mental attitude every day.  He is a teacher at Millennium High School in Park Slope and also serves as head coach of the women’s basketball and softball teams. Jasmine, his wife, heads up our Brooklyn camp admin and comes to HRBC with 15+ years of administrative and teaching experience with children’s physical education programs in NYC. They live in Brooklyn with their twin Pomskies, Cash & Janet. 

Sammy Thorner has been a player and coach with Home Run Baseball Camp for 28 years. A master teacher and grade A motivator, Sam blends technical instruction with clear expectations for all his players. 

Sam earned a B.A. from New York University, where he was an Academic All American on the wrestling team. Sam also has master’s degree in education and is currently a teacher in the Montgomery County School system. He lives in Montgomery County with his wife and two children. 

Officer Glover spent 29 years on the force with the DC Police. He worked in many areas and was stationed in the Second District. Chief oversees all our child safety procedures and training. He is on site at our camps in Washington all summer. Chief is a people person and man of high character and deep understanding of the human condition. He is available to work with any parent or guardian about our camp’s safety and child safety approach any time on site. Chief grew up in Brewton, Alabama and attended Troy University in Troy, AL on a full men’s basketball scholarship. He earned a bachelor’s degree. Chief enjoys spending time with his family, good BBQ, long rides on his Harley Davidson and looking forward to for ways to help people who may be in danger around Washington. This is the man you want next to you in a time of crisis.

One of HRBC’s most popular and charismatic coaches, Anttonio works closely with our staff across the board on two key areas: outreach to economically distressed neighborhoods and training young coaches to be enthusiastic and technically proficient. An outstanding coach, Anttonio has carte blanche to visit HRBC programs in Washington, Brooklyn or the Dominican Republic anytime to work with players and coaches. He is a humble, high character, energetic and technically skilled coach. A natural Ambassador with a genuine outgoing personality, Anttonio was one of Coach Mac’s mothers’ favorite ballplayers. You could often find them sitting and talking after camp.

Now in his 28th year as a player and coach with HRBC, Anttonio was the first four year old to attend a full summer of our camp. Anttonio and older brother Anthony attended HRBC all summer from age 4-12. He earned a bachelor’s degree on a full football scholarship from Virgina University of Lynchburg. He never missed a class and earned two  Academic All American honors. He went on to earn a master’s degree as well. A lover of books, Anttonio is one of our most socially conscious and curious coaches. He played professional arena league football all over America for over a decade and was beloved by fans for his outstanding defensive instincts for open field hitting, team spirit and constant volunteering for community team events in whatever city he was playing ball in.

Around ten years ago Coach Mac nominated Anttonio to join the United States Department of State Sport Diplomacy program and he recently spent two weeks in Santiago, Chile, running baseball clinics for youngsters. He had a number of high school and college coaching offers upon retirement from pro football and accepted a position as a varsity football assistant at Archbishop Carroll here in Washington. He also works closely with Wake Forest University head baseball coach Tom Walter on a special outreach project to better foster understanding between high school students in America.

Anttonio is raising a young son and loves spending time with his family, reading, attending church, fitness, polishing his pickup truck and training his outstanding pit bull Remy.

Nathan is a Home Run Baseball Camp lifer, who began as a hard-hitting rookie and then joined the staff at age 13.  He currently works closely in our efforts in the Dominican Republic supporting the works of the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, specifically in their public health and education arenas.  A member of the Colby College class of 2021, Nathan earned a degree in economics and is one of our camp’s most well rounded coaches.  He throws outstanding batting practice and blends enthusiasm and industriousness every day.  Nathan also works with our Coach in Training Program to prepare the next generation of HRBC rock stars!  Nathan speaks fluent Japanese and Espanol as well. 

Nathan is spending this school year living in Consuelo, a small town near San Pedro do Macoris, working with the Grey Sisters.  He also is an assistant coach on several youth teams.  In his free time, Nathan enjoys reading, Dominican Winter League games and an ice cold Presidente! He will be attending graduate school in the fall.  

Now in her 10th year with HRBC, Julia is one of our most experienced team members and has worked in every division of our organization. She has strong self-discipline and learns new tasks well. Julia began as an enthusiastic, reliable and industrious 14-year-old in our Coach in Training program. She has outstanding social skills and blends positivity with grace naturally in working with all our families, coaches and ballplayers. She grew up a few blocks from Turtle Park.

She is a graduate of the University of Vermont and is currently earning a master’s from American University in public policy, with a specialization in international development. She has a particular interest in strengthening democracy abroad. She is also working and coaching at her alma mater, Edmund Burke School, in the learning support department.

Julia spent a school year living in Consuelo working alongside our allies there, the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. She focused on teaching English classes and working with the sisters in their health clinic. Julia hosted our annual family trip with over 90 people in 2020. She speaks fluent Español.

Julia is currently helping with administration, customer service, and our tree and landscaping team and working closely with Coach Mac in support of the Grey Sisters’ medical efforts in Consuelo. Julia is considered one of our ambassadors and can visit any HRBC location and roll her sleeves up where she can be of help.

Julia enjoys running, yoga, cooking and travel. She likes Nats home games but prefers an Estrellas game in San Pedro with a cold Presidente.

Innes has been player and coach at HRBC for over 11 years, debuting as a hard-hitting 4-year-old. Innes oversees our older groups and is a dedicated student-athlete in his own right. He played varsity ball at Wilson HS and then took a gap year in Consuelo, a small town just outside San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. He played in Julio Franco’s developmental program, coached a youth team and helped the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception with their programs of social uplift. Innes is a freshman on a baseball scholarship at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia, Alabama. He plays for Steve Helms, a widely respected college coach.

 

John is a longtime player and staff coach for us who blends genuine motivation, technical advice and positive energy when running a group. A long time HRBC camper, John is an alum of BCC and currently attends the University of Colorado – Boulder. He is studying public relations and sociology and made the Dean’s List this fall. Some of his best qualities are his ability to adapt and be flexible. John is one of our most well trained and experienced coaches. He can run groups for older and younger players with equal skill.  

John McCarthy, a.k.a Coach Mac, is a native Washingtonian and a product of the DC Public Schools and Police Boys and Girls clubs. He is a nationally renowned youth baseball coach and educator who has spent the past 24 years creating opportunities for children in Washington, New York and Dominican Republic in critically acclaimed youth baseball and literacy programs he has created. John’s a motivator’s motivator who is a sought after speaker to companies, organizations, teams and events. He has been invited to speak and coach all over America and overseas in such places as Augsburg, Havana, The Hague, Paris, San Pedro de Macoris and Tokyo. After graduating from Wilson High School, John received no interest from college baseball. He walked on at the University of South Alabama and later played at Enterprise JC (AL) and Troy University (AL). He earned a scholarship by his sophomore year and was chosen as a tri-captain for his senior year. He was voted MVP by his teammates at Enterprise, threw a no-hitter and set a school record by not giving up a single home run his junior year at Troy. Three seasons his teams were ranked in the top 15 and twice played in the NCAA regionals. He set league records playing for Utica in the Northeast Collegiate Summer League for complete games and innings pitched. Five of his college teammates went on to play in the big leagues. After earning a degree in broadcast journalism, he signed a free agent contract with the Baltimore Orioles and played for their rookie league team in Sarasota. In 1994, John came back to his hometown and laid the groundwork for his career as an educator and coach. He returned to his alma mater, Wilson High School, and began teaching a course called Alternatives to Violence on the adjunct faculty, which explores the successes of such Hall of Fame peacemakers as Mandela, King, Day, Gandhi and Schweitzer. In 1998, John was honored with the Ray A. Kroc Teacher Achievement Award for the Washington area. John is the founder of Home Run Baseball Camp, a unique and well-loved baseball program in Washington and New York City. Now thriving in its 24th year, HRBC offers programs year round in Washington and New York City. Thousands of young players have trained with Home Run Baseball Camp.  A testimony to John’s leadership and values is the fact that a majority of coaches on staff are themselves former players. In 1994, John blended his passion for coaching and his commitment to education and created Elementary Baseball, an after school literacy and baseball program for boys and girls ages 6-12 in Washington DC’s Shaw neighborhood. With encouragement from early supporters DC Superior Court Chief Judge Eugene Hamilton and DC Court of Appeals Chief Judge Annice Wagner, more than 80 court employees – including 15 judges – volunteered as mentors to the youngsters in the program. In 1997, the US Department of Justice funded Elementary Baseball and named it a Pathways to Success program. To date, Elementary Baseball has helped more than 600 students and recruited over 700 volunteer tutors from area high schools and colleges. It has served as a model for DC’s own Field of Dreams program and the University of Notre Dame’s literacy program, “Teamwork for Tomorrow.” In 1999, John joined forces with former Major Leaguer Pepe Frias and educator Sister Lenore Gibb (Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception) to start Beisbol y Libros in a small town called Consuelo in the Dominican Republic. A co-ed after-school program, Beisbol y Libros had 400 kids enrolled ages 5 – 15.  Beisbol y Libros was the first program of its kind in the baseball-loving Dominican Republic. John has written for National Catholic Reporter, was a contributing editor for the Sports Illustrated Pitching Book Series and recently contributed to the book What Do You Stand For? (Jim Lichtman, Scribblers Ink). He is a frequent speaker around the country on service and leadership to schools, companies and organizations. Visits include Brown University, Howard University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, American University, Yale University, Greenwich Country Day, WH Council ES (Satchel Paige and Hank Aaron’s alma mater), All for One gang prevention program in California, The American Psychiatric Association annual convention, Greenpark Financial, Fannie Mae and The Fulbright Scholarship Dinner. John was featured in the documentary “A Season in the City” and wrote and directed the film “Bandit,” which premiered July 31, 2008 at the Avalon Theatre in Washington. John has been profiled in Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, Education Week and on the Today Show, NPR, CNN, Univision, Voice of Americaand Nightline. In 1998, John was named by MTV as one of America’s top community leaders under 30. In 2000, Chief Judge Eugene N. Hamilton awarded him the D.C. Superior Court Medal of Excellence. In 2001, John was named an Irish American of the Year. John and his wife live in Washington.