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Jeff Long
Owner/Lead Baseball Instructor
45 minute lessons = $65
Experience:
Jeff has been coaching/instructing in the Charlotte area for over 20 years, conducting over 21,000 lessons and has seen over 50 of his players reach their dream of playing collegiate baseball. He has coached every age of travel baseball and coached softball for 7 seasons as well. Before starting Pelicans in 2013, Jeff was the pitching coordinator and recruiting coordinator for a travel ball organization from 2007-2012 as well as coaching 2 teams in the organization at once while also doing lessons.
Amateur Playing Background:
Jeff played high school ball in highly recruited Cobb County, Georgia where he earned All State honors his senior year. He then went on to play collegiate baseball at Gardner-Webb University where he broke several career pitching records including 1st in innings pitched, career starts, complete games and batters faced.
Professional Playing Background:
After his senior year he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 12th round of the 2004 MLB draft. He went on to play 6 years of pro baseball compiling 33 wins and 450 innings pitched with a career professional ERA of 3.91 before retiring in 2010.
Hayden Milley
Baseball & Softball Private Instructor
Strength Training/Speed and Agility certified/
Degree in Human Performance
45 minute lessons = $60
Hayden is from Clover, SC where he was a 3 year starter at Clover High School in baseball and a 4 year starter in football. After high school Hayden attended Emory & Henry college in Virginia where as a senior he started every game. Batted .298 with a .337 on-base percentage and a .521 slugging pct. Hit seven doubles, one triple and four home runs. Posted a team-best 26 RBI, scored 16 runs.
He graduated from E&H with a degree in Health and Human Performance with a minor in Sports Management.
Coach Hayden trained with Pelicans owner Jeff Long from ages 14-22 years old. He became a summer camp coach in 2019 before becoming our lead instructor for our workout programs. He has been a full time lead instructor since May 2022 and has conducted over 4,500 lessons!
Coach Hayden is available for private hitting, pitching, catching, defensive and speed and agility lessons.
Lath Freeman
Director of Softball Development
Lead Softball Instructor
Catching/Hitting/Defense & Throwing
45 minute lessons = $60
Hit .406 her senior year at Dorman High School in Spartanburg, SC before signing to play collegiately at Presbyterian College and Stetson University as a catcher.
At Presbyterian College she played in 145 games over her 4 years amassing 403 at bats, 103 hits, 22 doubles, 18 homeruns, 79 RBIs and 54 walks with only 42 strikeouts. She earned Big South Player of the Week, All Big South Honorable Mention, and Big South All Tournament Team her junior season. She holds the single game record for RBIs with 7 and finished in the top 10 in five different career offensive categories.
6th in RBIs / 8th in walks /9th in slugging %, doubles and homeruns
She then attended graduate school at Stetson University starting 50 games at catcher, hitting .278 with 5 homeruns, 40 hits and 26 RBI. She was named ASUN Player of the Week and All-ASUN Second Team.
Lath is available for catching, hitting and defensive lessons. She will also be leading catching clinics and softball hitting groups.
Kevin Watson Jr.
Baseball Instructor
Hitting / Infield / Outfield / Catching / Speed & Agility + baserunning
45 minute lessons = $65
Kevin Watson Jr. is a 10-year professional baseball player originally drafted out of high school by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017. He has played in the Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Angels organizations. Hit .281 with 11 home runs and 28 stolen bases in 2026 with Gary Southshore RailCats. He also spent two seasons in the Charlotte area with Gastonia in the Atlantic League. Over 640 professional games, he owns a .372 on-base percentage, 65 home runs and 158 stolen bases.
A left-handed hitter who has played outfield, first base and catcher, Kevin teaches hitting the way the pros do: mental approach first, then mechanics. His instruction is built on Ted Williams' three rules — proper thinking, getting a good pitch to hit, and being quick with the bat — along with the mental-game principles of Harvey Dorfman, Ken Ravizza and Karl Kuehl. He has learned from hitting coaches including nine-year big leaguer Brady Clark, Benny Craig, Damon Mashore, and Rudy and Tony Jaramillo.
Kevin has coached and given lessons to players from youth through the professional level, including private instruction at D-BAT, camps at D-BAT Mesa, and travel ball with the Pacific Northwest Legends. He is still an active professional, with 2027 set to be his 11th season.
Kevin and his wife, Jennifer, currently reside in Charlotte.
