About Us
Our Story
5 Tool Baseball and Softball was established in August of 2020. The company is the product of a lifetime love for baseball and an opportunity to grow professionally after 13 years of experience. Our owner, Ryan Whitcomb, grew up locally in Palatine. He spent every available minute playing baseball, whether it was in his local little league or in his neighborhood with his friends and brothers. That love took him to Palatine High School where he played all 4 years. After high school, Ryan went to Division III Beloit College where he was a 4 year starter. At the time of graduation, Ryan held the single season record for most hits and was in the top 5 for most hits, runs, and stolen bases in a career at Beloit.
Not ready to stop playing, Ryan joined the Chicago Skyscraper Baseball League after graduating college. It was in this league where he met John Stutz, owner of The North Shore Baseball Academy. Ryan spent the next 13 years working for NSBA as an instructor and manager of the Libertyville turned Vernon Hills location. Given the opportunity to expand his role, Ryan started his own company to fully take over operations of the NSBA Vernon Hills location.
What is 5 Tool Baseball and Softball?
Our commitment is to develop complete baseball and softball players. In the scouting world, players are graded on 5 physical attributes:
- Hit for Average
- Hit for Power
- Speed
- Arm Strength
- Fielding ability
Our goal as coaches at 5 Tool Baseball and Softball is to develop and train our players to maximize their abilities in these areas to create athletes who can play at the highest level they choose.
