OUR STAFF

Tejay Antone is a Major League pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds and has been playing professionally for 9 years. Tejay brings fresh insight to Kova by playing at the highest level in the world. He sees the day-in and day-out procedures of big leaguers and knows what the best players do to be great daily. Tejay helps with pitching programming during the MLB season and the behind-the-scenes operations to ensure Kova's success.

Jeremy Kivel is an ex-professional pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Jeremy played professionally for 6 years and underwent Tommy John surgery and returned throwing 100 mph before getting injured again. That is when he decided to jump head first in player development to help the next generation become elite. Jeremy is a mechanical analysis expert and has an eye for movement inefficiencies.

David Lucroy is an ex-professional player for the Milwaukee Brewers. David’s brother, Johnathan Lucroy, played in the major leagues for 10 years. David comes from a family with a history of playing the game at elite levels. David knows what it takes to hit at the highest level and is an expert with years of experience developing hitters. David has a great eye when it comes to spotting flaws in the swing and prescribing drills that will help with corrections. 

Cameron Landon is an ex-collegiate pitcher at Tabor College. He has been training with Kova for over 2 years and has worked as an intern since December of 2020. Cameron has been a very versatile trainer for Kova helping with lifting, pitching, & hitting. He also helps with the behind-the-scenes operations in order to ensure Kova’s success. He has spent the last 3 years at college independently studying mechanical inefficiencies, efficiencies, and elite movement patterns. He also just graduated with his bachelor's degree in business administration and his master’s degree in business administration of sports management.

Easton Miller was a 3 sport athlete coming out of high school (Football, Hockey, Baseball) and played college baseball until getting injured. This injury caused Easton to become obsessed with the body and training. Easton started as an intern with Kova in the fall of 2021 and has worked his way up the ranks as Head of S&C of Kova Sports. With Easton's background in multiple sports, he knows how to coach all athletes, from youth multisport athletes to major league baseball players. 

Sam Mahofski is an ex-collegiate baseball player at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. He has been coordinating the Youth Program at Kova since February 2022. He works with hitters and pitchers, focusing on teaching kids how to move efficiently and prepare them to play at the next level. 

Jake Smith has been training with Kova since the summer of 2020. He became a floor trainer this past November. Jake specializes in pitching along with rocking a mustache. He is currently working full-time at Kova and playing college ball next year. Jake is a goob, but he's our goob.

Riley Blanton is a former college baseball player at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He then transitioned to a strength conditioning role at the same university. After 2 years at SOSU, he took a position at The University of North Texas where he was the Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, responsible for the Track and Field team. During his time at UNT, he was working on his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and his athletes won conference gold medals, as well as setting 3 school records. 

Mike Austin is a former collegiate pitcher from southern California. He brings an energy and passion for the game that he passes down with the knowledge he has gained from being around top-level talent. He will also be coordinating the Select Teams with Kova ages 9-16.

Trace Blakesley is a native of Augusta, Kansas. He grew up playing competitive baseball across the country. Trace attended and played college baseball at Tabor College, graduating with a degree in Exercise Science and Biology. His experiences have taught Trace how to recognize a wide number biomechanical discrepancies and breakdowns in players mechanics. Trace’s goal at Kova is to focus on player development through positive motivation and disciplined work ethic. Working with both youth and college athletes is the perfect opportunity to share the knowledge and experience he has gained in order to help athletes succeed.