Future Stars Baseball Academy in Mokena, IL

We offer hitting, pitching, and catching lessons for baseball and softball players 8 years of age and older. Lessons are one-on-one with the player and an instructor of your choice. Instructor backgrounds and pricing can be found here. Lessons are 30 minute time slots, by appointment only.

Lessons can be scheduled weekly or bi-weekly.
Permanent lesson spots can be booked, if available.
Lessons are booked on a first come, first served basis.
There are no package deals for booking multiple lessons in advance.

SCHEDULING

• Front Desk
• 708-752-3933

Looking for team scheduling & rates? Click here

Hitting Instructors

Pitching Instructors

Catching Instructors

Eric Welsh
Baseball & softball hitting

Eric graduated from Sandburg High School where he received All-Area Honors in football and baseball. After high school, he attended Northern Illinois University, serving double duty pitching and hitting for three years. Eric’s college career was cut short after being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds, but not before he became the school’s “All-Time Career Homerun Leader.” Eric spent eight years with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox organizations. During his career, he made three All-Star teams, three All-Defensive teams, and led his teams in home-runs five times. During this time, Eric and his teammates won two League Championship titles.

Eric is the co-owner of Future Stars Baseball Academy and co-founder of Chicago Elite Baseball. He has trained some of the best athletes in the Chicagoland area.
 

Brian Forystek
Baseball pitching

Brian graduated from Sandburg High School with many baseball and soccer accomplishments that include USA Today All-American honors, Chicago Tribune Pitcher of the Year, and being drafted by the Florida Marlins. He decided to continue his education and attended Illinois State University before pursuing a professional baseball career. As a four year letter winner, Brian totaled the second most strikeouts, third most innings pitched, and sixth most wins in school history. He graduated with a bachelor’s of Science and was then drafted by the Baltimore Orioles. Brian pitched nine professional seasons and earned a spot on the 40 man roster for two and a half seasons. He pitched at every level in the minor leagues (Rookie-AAA) where he accumulated numerous honors. During the off season of his professional career, he pitched in the Arizona Fall League and Venezuelan and Puerto Rican winter leagues. Over the last twelve years, Brian has dedicated his talent to teaching pitching mechanics, arm strength, and arm conditioning programs to kids of all ages.

Brian is the co-owner of Future Stars Baseball Academy and President of Chicago Elite Baseball. He has trained some of the best athletes in the Chicagoland area.
 

Eric Dubek
Baseball pitching

Eric graduated from Providence Catholic High School in 2014 where he was a member of their first state championship team. He attended Concordia University Wisconsin and was a four year member of their baseball team where he also served as the team Captain. Eric was amongst the winningest graduating class in the program’s history. After college, Eric has helped implement an extremely popular arm strength and conditioning program at Future Stars. Eric also coaches for Chicago Elite Baseball, Chicagoland’s premier travel baseball program.
 

Jill Harvey
Softball hitting/slap bunting

Jill is currently coaching her 16th year with Sparks Softball. In her first three years with the Sparks, her teams accumulated over 230 wins including two Chicago Metro ASA ‘A’ Championships, numerous tournament championships and three ASA ‘A’ National appearances. Jill played softball for 12 years including ASA ‘A’ travel and NCAA softball. As an instructor she specializes in hitting, slapping/bunting and fielding.
 

Amanda Santay
Softball pitching

Amanda attended High School at H.L. Richards in Oak Lawn where she played varsity for 3 years and accumulated over 50 wins as a pitcher. Amanda was named All-Area and All-Conference her junior and senior year. She was Bulldog of the week 3 times; Sun-Times player of the Week, Southtown player of the week, and her senior year was named Female Athlete of the Year. After graduation, she was asked by Bob Sakamoto to go with a group of outstanding athletes to go to Europe, where she played national teams from Holland and gave clinics throughout. She did not play in college, due to a music scholarship, but she started coaching various teams in Chicago Ridge, which is where she is originally from. She gave pitching clinics and helped teach beginners the basics of windmill pitching, which she breaks down into 5 easy steps. She then left college early to get married and raise a family. She has been married for 15 years and has 8 children, 2 of which played softball and pitched. She has managed and coached in-house teams as well as the part time travel girl’s teams.
 

Scott Spoolstra
Baseball & softball hitting

Scott was drafted by the New York Mets in the 46th round of the 1987 MLB Draft from Moraine Valley Community College.
 

Mark Gentile
Baseball pitching

Mark graduated from Carl Sandburg High School and as a senior, was part of a team that was ranked number two in the country by USA Today. After high school he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks as a free agent and spent time in the Chicago White Sox organization. While with the Diamondbacks, he was part of the starting rotation that won a Pioneer League Championship. Mark was also chosen to represent the Diamondbacks on two separate occasions in the Arizona Winter Instructional League. A league dedicated to what the organization feels is their top young talent. He’s worked one on one with pitching coaches like Tom House and former CY Young winner, Mark Davis. After his baseball career, Mark graduated from Lewis University and has worked for 10+ years at STATS LLC in their baseball analytics department.
 

Billy Quirke
Baseball & softball hitting

Billy graduated from Providence Catholic High School. Billy moved on to play two years at Triton College where he earned all region and all conference as sophomore. He then moved on to play two years at UW-Milwaukee where he received second team all conference as a junior.
 

Jackson Dvorak
Baseball hitting

Jackson attended Providence Catholic High school in New Lenox, graduating in 2016. In his time there he was a member of back to back state titles in 2015 and 2016, all-area in both years. WJOL Tournament MVP in 2015, and all CCL Blue in 2016. Beginning in the spring of 2017 he played two seasons at South Suburban College. In 2018 Jackson was named NJCAA All-Region. Jackson finished his collegiate career at Lewis University, ending with 238 collegiate hits. Named All-Midwest Collegiate League in 2019, and played for the Rockford Rivets of the Northwoods League in 2020. Most recently Jackson played professionally for the Joliet Slammers in 2021. They are a member of the MLB Partner League the Frontier League.