From Student to Teacher

By Kolten Smith –

Hello everyone! My name is Kolten Smith, and I am the new Events Coordinator at the Texas Baseball Ranch®. As a full-time staff member, I am also now one of the writers for the weekly blog posts. For this week’s article, I simply wanted to introduce myself and give you a little more of my personal story.  

 I am from the “weird” city of Austin, Texas, and played four years of high school baseball at Westwood High School. After high school, I was offered to play at Schreiner University—a Division III school in Kerrville, Texas. While at Schreiner, I played ball for all four years as a “two-way guy” (hitter and pitcher), and I majored in Political Science with a minor in Sports Management. At school, I maintained a 4.0 GPA and graduated as the Salutatorian of my class. Currently, I am doing my Master of Business Administration entirely online and will graduate with that degree this December. 

During high school and college, I spent many years training at the Ranch. My first Elite Pitchers Boot Camp was in December 2016, and I was so enthralled by the TBR experience that I visited many more times after that. I visited every summer from 2017 to 2021 as an athlete and loved the coaches, facilities, program, and environment as a whole.

I owe a lot of my development, both personally and on the field, to the Ranch, and I can’t thank them enough. At the end of summer 2021, Coach Wolforth graciously offered me an intern spot for the next summer, and I was happy to accept. I enjoyed that time so much that after I graduated college, Coach Wolforth and Jill offered for me to come back for another summer as the Intern Summer Events Coordinator. I found this new role very fulfilling, and after the summer ended, they asked me to stay on full-time. (And, of course, I said yes.)

As the Events Coordinator, I have many different responsibilities, such as answering phone calls, handling emails, putting in registrations, and much more. Over time, I have learned about the extensive work that must be done behind the scenes to run a successful business! Although I work in the office during the week, I work as a coach for the Boot Camps, Summer Programs, and Fall Classes (which I truly enjoy). 

During my time as an athlete here, I always wondered what it would be like to work at the Ranch. Suffice it to say that it has been a great experience in my short time here, and I am really excited to continue my journey—both as a coach and on the business side of things. If you’re ever at the Ranch, stop by the little red barn and say hi!

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Important TBR Updates

• Registration is now open for our ONE DAY Pitching Coaches Seminar. This event is being held at The Ranch on Dec.15th with a meet and greet the evening of Dec.14th. The event will cover the following 4 areas: #1. Keeping your best arms healthy, on the bump and eating up innings during the season. #2. Making certain your pitchers are improving their command during the season, keeping the BB and HBP numbers down and attacking the strike zone. #3. Enhancing the swing and miss percentages of your pitchers during the season and creating more strikeouts. #4. Ensuring that your best arms recover well and are the same guys night after night. There’s an “Early Bird Savings” through November 15th. If you’d like more information on the event email Jill@TexasBaseballRanch.com. To register for the event CLICK HERE.

• The dates for our Advanced/Alumni Camp have been set for January 6 & 7, 2024.  “Early Bird Savings” through November 20th (and if spots are still available). Click Here for more details and to register!

• Our 5th Annual Elite CATCHERS Bootcamp has sold out!  Call in at the office to be placed on the waitlist (936) 588 6762.

Tagged as: Baseball, baseball instruction, baseball pitching, baseball training, coaching, Pitching Central, pitching instruction, Texas Baseball Ranch, The Ranch