by Will Conerly

A Quincy University student plans to maximize his three month hiatus from school this summer in a unique manner.

Charlie Bourneuf, a sophomore on the Hawks baseball team, is set on going to Driveline Baseball at the end of the school year.

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Driveline Baseball is the industry leading data-driven baseball performance facility located in Kent, Wash.

“I want to go there because I know it’s a place where I can maximize my training for the summer,” Bourneuf said. “They are the leaders in pitcher development.”

Bourneuf is a right-handed pitcher who is not happy where he is with his current velocity.

Luckily for Bourneuf, Driveline offers a proven solution.

Training at Driveline worked for fellow teammate Nathan Blauser, a junior pitcher on the Quincy University baseball team.

Blauser went from throwing 84 to hitting upper 80s consistently in his first semester back at Quincy after training at Driveline. This was the summer of 2017, after Blauser’s freshman year at Quincy.

“I would like to be able to sit 85-87 mph after leaving,” Bourneuf said. “This would also allow myself to compete at a higher level.”

Blauser thinks he can get it done.

“I think Charlie will thrive in the environment that Driveline provides, and will walk away a better player and person after his training there is done,”  Blauser said.

Pitching development doesn’t only focus on velocity. Driveline baseball has the latest technology for pitchers to track their spin rate, spin efficiency, as well as horizontal and vertical movement with a Rapsodo.

Bourneuf will spend five days a week throwing and lifting in the facility.

‘Helping serious pitchers become the best they can’ is what Driveline Baseball proclaims on its website.

All this sounds great, so what is stopping Bourneuf from making the cross-country trek to Seattle?

“The price, it’s quite expensive since I’d have to live in Seattle all summer while training.”

Driveline prides themselves on getting results and believes that there are certain qualities every pitcher needs to have a long, successful career: Throw hard enough. Throw quality pitches for strikes. Be strong and mobile. Compete your tail off.  

Hundreds of pro athletes train and develop there every year, such as MLB all star pitcher Trevor Bauer.

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However, that does come with the cost of thousands of dollars to train there for the summer.

Bourneuf believes he would gain those qualities if he ends up committing to the program.

“Going would leave me with zero ‘what if’s’, which in my opinion is always something I’d like to be able to say. If you have no ‘what if’s’ then you have no regrets with it,” Bourneuf exclaimed.