Tip of the Cap Athletics

09/04/2025

First ‘26 is off the board for the Kats, headed to my Alma Mater.

And just like that our first 2026 is off the board! wants to congratulate Sophmore Tyler Pagano for his commitment to continue his athletic and academic career at SUNY Fredonia!

08/31/2025

WNY Baseball and Softball Friends--

Who do i know that can re-lace gloves? One of my guys needs his fixed.

08/28/2025

If you look at your average high school player (especially in the northeast) who has a desire to play in college and then look at your average college player, even at the D3 level (NCAA or JUCO), the biggest difference you will see is the size, physicality, and overall build of the guys in college vs the guys in HS. The higher the level, the bigger the difference.

High school athletes, if you want to get a leg up on the dudes around you that your going to be fighting for a roster spot with...then you need to be in the gym AT LEAST as often as your in the cage or on the mound if not more.

NOTE: This is directed toward the players who are working on their skills 3-4x a week. Not the guy who hits 1/2x every couple weeks. That guy needs to ramp up everything if you want to step foot on the college field. And that's another story for another time.

08/22/2025

What is pregame meant for?

I’ve spent a lot of time on diamonds as a coach at all levels travel on the small and big diamonds, high school, NCAA, NJCAA…and in that time I’ve seen a LOT of variations to pregame warmup routines.

I’m well aware that the level you’re at, and the age group, directly impacts what you’re able to or allowed to do in pregame. But what doesn’t change is what your rating to accomplish…which is getting ready to play the game.

With that in mind, let’s talk about a few things your pregame should be and should not be, or should and should not include.

Should include:
- a legit warmup. Don’t just grab a ball and go. Get your body moving first
- a catch routine. Have a plan and get it done. My personal favorite is long and loose out, hard and focused in.
- game speed swings. There’s a 1000 wants to do it. Just do it right.
- a focused and planned I/O, obviously when allowed.

Shouldn’t include:
- a lack of direction. Your players should know what’s expected when they show up.
- proper equipment for the plan. If you want them hitting something, make sure they have something to hit. If you want band work in your routine, make sure they have bands etc

The biggest part for me is I/O. There’s a lot of ways to skin a cat when it comes to pregame I/O but there’s also a lot of ways it can be detrimental. Everyone has their own style and I honestly love that. For you younger coaches out there, here’s 10 quick tips for your pregame infield/outfield:

1. It’s pregame, not practice. They don’t need 80 balls each 10 minutes before the game.
2. Keep it simple. There’s no need to over complicate things.
3. No more than 2 balls to each bag from the outfield.
4. Try to focus on plays/throws your guys might actually make in a game. Your first baseman might not throw to 3rd 5x in a season. He doesn’t need to do it 8x every pregame.
5. Keep it light, and keep it fun. Nothing can crush a kid before the first pitch like getting his ass chewed for making an error in pregame. He knows. You know. He knows you know. Let it go and move on.
6. Find ways to work in PFPs. If you have P/O’s, use them. If not, have guys hop on the mound to make it work.
7. Don’t forget about your catchers. Those dudes have cannons and they love to show em off. Let em.
8. Work In some “off schedule” plays when you can. Deep throws, slow rollers, do or die plays…not everything is routine in a game so work on it
9. Start the infield portion with a throwing drill of some kind. For younger guys, I loved 1-2-3-across. When the ball gets back to the plate, start ground balls. For the order guys, I prefer the Star drill. (C,S,1,3,2,C and back again. Start close, move back with every throw)
And 10. Playing defense in baseball/softball is all about pride. Everyone wants to hit. It takes a sense of pride to watch 100+ pitches in a game and maybe never get one hit to you while staying ready in case they do. You can’t expect your players to have that pride in their craft if you don’t have pride in the way you practice and pregame it.

For you younger/newer coaches out there, I hope this helps someone. For the vets, feel free to chime in and share your thoughts, what you do, or your favorite pregame routine!

08/11/2025

If you're a high school baseball player who wants to play college baseball...I highly recommend you spend the next year or so doing a few things--

1. Learn where the weight room is. The biggest things guys DO NOT understand about playing in college is the size and physicality of the game. No, you're not big enough, strong enough, or fast enough. Step 1, get in the gym. Step 2, have a plan or find someone who can give you one. Step 3, work your ass off.

2. Learn what the college game is like. Plenty of people will tell you about college baseball with little to no knowledge of what the college game actually actually looks like. There are JUCO's with draftee's, D3's with guys pumping in the 90's, and NAIA schools with freaks who hit 450 ft tanks. Go watch college games this fall at any and all levels and look at what their athletes look like. Then look in the mirror and ask yourself if you were to stand next to them, do you look like you belong?

3. Play up and play often. (Especially the summer before you freshmen year.) The game in the summer should not feel easy. You should be testing yourself. If you're not, you're not getting ready for what your going to see at the end of August.

08/05/2025

Seems like I've gained some new followers on this page recently and i haven't been overly active, so I figured i would take a minute to re-introduce myself. My name is Derek Jozwiak, but in the baseball world, I am known as Coach Joz, or simply just Joz.

Born and raised in Lancaster NY, played varsity baseball at Lancaster High School as a first basemen and DH. After a year of football at BuffState, I was committed to play college baseball at SUNY Fredonia before I herniated 2 discs in my back lifting before getting into my sophomore year, effectively ending my college playing career. Before that, I had been lucky enough to get a part time job at Inferno Baseball Inc in Depew which lead me to into the coaching world at the ripe young age of 19. I spent a year as a 12u "b" team coach learning from the "A" team coach, Erie CC HC Joe Bauth, before becoming the 12u Team New Era head coach the following season. I would take that same team up to the 15u level before handing them off to our Showcase team. Sadly, before I could finish the following season with my new group I had to walk away from travel baseball for a job opportunity with the Erie County Sheriff's Department. (truth be told, this broke my heart to have to do).

During that time, I was fortunate enough to have Lancaster's Varsity coach Mark Dalfonso (who was my JV Coach in my time at LHS) offer me a job as his assistant program director and assistant coach, a job I held from the spring of 2011 to the end of the spring of the COVID shortened 2020 season. Late in Summer 2020, I was contacted by the new Head Coach at Medaille University who was looking for an assistant coach who brought me into the college ranks as I became the assistant head coach of the NCAA D3 Medaille Mavericks for two years. Here i was charged with running the offense and working with the catchers for 2 seasons until the unfortunate closing of the University following the 2022 school year. At that point, I was reunited with Coach Bauth and brought on as the recruiting coordinator and as assistant coach for Erie CC Kats Baseball where I am entering my 3rd season in Kats Nation.

My playing career, while not exactly what I expected it to be, did not end with my back injury. After missing the last half of 2007 season, a friend of mine would call midway through summer 2008 and say they needed a guy on his CEBA team, the Buffalo Mustangs coached by Chuck Righetti and Tony Sekuterski. While i still wasn't 100%, I knew I needed to get back on the diamond. After proving myself with them, I would become a corner piece the Team New Era AA MUNY team from 2009-2012 before taking over for Coach Righetti as the teams player/manager in 2013. Team New Era would go on to win the Buffalo MSBL-AA MUNY championship back to back years in 2015 & 2016 totaling over 50 wins and only 4 losses over those two seasons. The team would hold on for a few more years before ultimately folding after the 2018 season. In 2019 I played for Queen City in AA MUNY, and the Snappers of the BABL. Since then I have continued my playing career as part of the Erie Buffalo Baseball Club run by RJ Proulx where I was part of their 2021 championship team, a part time player for their 2023 and 2024 championship runs, and a member of the 2023 35 and over league championship. I continue to play to this day as a 1st basement, DH, and Pitcher in the 35+ division for Ralph and Erie Buffalo.

As a Coach, I pride myself on player development as well as building a relationship with my players through hard work and honesty. I became an Certified Person Trainer (CPT) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) because I never want one of my players to have to go through the pain and suffering I did my sophomore and into my junior year. I also make a point to never be content with where I am. I always want to learn more and do more to expand my knowledge base in order to help my players.

Currently, I offer private and group lessons at the Athlete Factory in Depew over the winter, at ECC North's campus in the summer, and will on occasion head to other locations to provide training to players in need.

This page started as a page for my baseball podcast, Tip of the Cap podcast. Which was WNY's First (and I'm not sure, but still might be only) Prep baseball podcast. My goal in starting the podcast was to share information, grow the game in WNY, and bring the baseball world where I live together. It was also a way for me to gain knowledge myself by talking to others in my field.

If you've made it this far, i thank you for sticking it out. Heres some quick hits for you incase your looking for other info--

- If you're looking for private lessons/training, please contact me here or via text
- If you're looking for my info about me, check out my instagram or my twitter .
-I also have a small website, which can be found here:
https://totcbaseball.my.canva.site/
- I plan on putting new episodes of the podcast out soon, but you can tune into the 72 episodes that are already out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
- If you'd like to join me on a show, feel free to reach out! I'd love to chat with anyone who'd like to join me and talk baseball.

07/06/2025

Another Kat at the next level…

Congratulations to LHH 1b Eric Calder on his commitment to Tabor College! The Jays are getting a great one!

05/30/2025

Let’s go!!!

We we want to give a shoutout to our First Team WNYAC selections this season-
Soph Konner Hauck
Soph Eric Calder
Fr Nick Gold
Hauck and Calder paced the Kats offense this season being 1 and 2 on the team in almost every offensive category. Gold had a massive season for us down the stretch, tallying 5 wins (including two in one day) with 41 strikeouts.
Congrats on an awesome season, Boys!

05/30/2025

I will forever love getting texts like this. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my athletes succeed at their craft. Kid started the season hot with a bomb on the first pitch he saw, and stayed hot hitting .400 for his senior year! LFG!! Great season, Ry!

05/11/2025

Took the #1 seed in the East down to the end in both games today but ultimately fell short today, bringing the 2025 season to a close. Not the end we wanted, but a hard fought day of baseball all day today.

05/08/2025