About Us
Staff
JIM FINCH (Co-founder). Jim’s involvement with the Chattanooga Baseball Club comes more from the parental side of things. Unlike all of the other staff members at the Chattanooga Baseball Club, Jim did not play baseball at the collegiate or professional level. Not that it compares, but he did play in middle school and a little in high school. However, he has coached in rec ball and also been involved as a parent in rec ball and travel ball for over ten years. He has seen, up close, the challenges and frustrations of the travel ball scene in Chattanooga and surrounding areas. Those frustrations included things like “Daddy Ball” (if you’ve ever been in it, you know what it is) and paying hard-earned money to play with an “elite team,” only to witness none of the players get anything in return in the way of teaching or helping them to actually learn the game. It was a combination of those frustrations that led him to co-found the Chattanooga Baseball Club. He felt like someone could do better, so he set out to do just that. Jim believes that the Chattanooga area has an abundance of young talent, but the game is not being taught the way it should, so that potential never materializes in the boys today. It is his belief that, if you hire talented, accomplished coaches with the proper attitude and perspective on life, the players will come out with a much better chance to reach their God-given potential. He also believes that the coaches, as well as the club, has a responsibility to help teach young players how to grow up to be responsible, respectable members of society and sports can help accomplish that.
DAVID EASTMAN (Co-founder). David is the Chair of the Bible Department at the McCallie School, where he also serves as Head Coach of the middle school baseball program. After college, he spent two years playing semi-professional baseball in France as the player-manager of the Poitiers Chauve-Souris (“Bats”) in the National Division of the Fédération Française de Baseball. Before moving to Chattanooga from Ohio, he was the faculty athletic representative and a broadcaster for the Ohio Wesleyan University baseball team and managed a youth travel team. He volunteered with several teams in this area before co-founding the Chattanooga Baseball Club. The apostle Paul complained of a thorn in the flesh that was a consistent source of anguish. David’s thorn is cheering for the Cincinnati Reds, who break his heart every year.
ALEX KIMSEY (15U Head Coach). Alex played 2 years of junior college baseball at Sinclair in Ohio, where he was part of 2 conference championship teams and competed in the NJCAA regional tournament. He then moved to Indiana Tech (NAIA) and was part of 2 more conference champions and tournament qualifiers. He was also a 2013 NAIA Academic All-American and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. Alex went on to pitch professionally in the Pecos League. He has 4 years of varsity high school coaching experience in Ohio, where he helped lead the team to school records in wins and Team ERA.
JON STEPHENSON (14U Head Coach). Jon earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from Indiana State University with an endorsement in coaching. Jon has coached multiple levels of baseball including American Legion, middle school, travel teams, and local rec leagues. He is currently the Head JV Coach for the middle school baseball program at the McCallie School. Jon also served as the head basketball coach for the Special Olympics in Williamson County, TN for 15 years, with another 6 years serving as the Area Director. In 2018, he represented the state of TN as the bowling coach for the Special Olympic USA Games in Seattle, WA. Beyond the sports arena, Jon is a business coach helping business owners stretch beyond their normal reach and achieve extraordinary results. He has seven children.
KRAIG GIVENS (13U Head Coach). Kraig is a graduate of Tennessee Temple University, where he played baseball for 4 years and was an assistant coach for 1 year. He is currently the high school Bible teacher and head varsity baseball coach at Oakwood Christian Academy in Chickamauga, GA, where he started the baseball program 13 years ago. He also served as Athletic Director at OCA for 10 years.
JAKE MADOLE (12U Head Coach). Jake played D1 baseball at both UNC Asheville and ETSU from 2017-2021. At UNCA, he was a two year captain, and in the spring of 2019 he was the Male Bulldog Award winner which is awarded to a singular athlete that leads and excels both on the field and in the classroom. At ETSU he was also a captain and was the 2020 Southern Conference Most Impressive Senior. He was also ranked the #3 Senior Hitter in the country according to D1 Baseball. In 2021 he was a SoCon pre-season 1st Team All-Conference selection before tearing his ACL, meniscus, and MCL which brought his baseball career to a close. Jake is currently a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) as well as a Champion Performance Specialist (C-PS) and works at D1 Sports here in Chattanooga as a strength coach and personal trainer.
Club philosophy and values
The Chattanooga Baseball Club is a youth travel baseball organization that focuses on teaching the game of baseball the way it should be played. We are governed by a Christian philosophy and believe that, as important as it is for our boys to properly learn the game of baseball, it is more important that they grow up to be responsible young men and respected members of society. Furthermore, not everyone will play in the MLB, but everyone will spend eternity somewhere, so it is absolutely crucial for everyone to get that right.
In our organization, we also understand that the demands of travel ball aren't for everyone. With that in mind, we have recently added a Local Select Division in addition to our original Travel Select Division. While the primary differences between the two divisions is the level of competition and the amount of travel involved, we offer very similar programs within each division that are designed to give your player the best baseball training in the area while matching them up against the best teams we can find in their respective division. However, our overall goal for our Local Select Teams is to develop the players to move them up to Travel teams that will give them exposure at a higher level and allow them to play teams of better competitive levels.
Travel Select tournaments will be Perfect Game, PBR, and Net Elite tournaments played primarily in the Atlanta area. However, we may also venture outside of that to play in other tournaments of an equally competitive level. In our Local Select Division, we will play the most competitive tournaments we can find local to Chattanooga with one potential travel/destination tournament also on the schedule within a 2-3 hour drive.
In each of our divisions, we have coaches that are paid to coach your son. So, parents are free to just be parents, and not have to worry about coaching. Just sit back and enjoy watching your son play. The experience level of our Travel Select coaches are High School and Middle School coaches while our Local Select coaches include a range of anywhere from the High School and Middle School coaching level to coaches with higher-level travel coaching experience as well as current or past college players. most of these gentlemen have coached in a wide variety of high-pressure situations including multiple state playoff games as well as Perfect Game, PBR, Net Elite, and other tournaments of similar competitive levels for several years. They know how to get the most out of your son and help him reach his potential as a player as he prepares to play in high school, college, or beyond. Additionally, all of our personnel, including coaches, are required to have a criminal background check before becoming a member of our club so you can have the assurance that the environment is safe for your player.
If you have been looking for a baseball organization (local or travel) for your son that will give him an honest look and play him in the position that he is best suited for according to highly esteemed, accomplished coaches, while helping him to improve his skill set, you have come to the right place. This is baseball. It doesn’t need to be complicated or political. It just needs to be taught and played correctly. Just like our tagline says, we are making the game we love better for the kids we love.
We are also an organization that puts an emphasis on family-first values. Even though we are competitive, and each team is coached in a professional manner, parents are part of our teams as much as the players and we want them to have fun too. After all, we don't exist without their trust. With them in mind, we also have various ways that they can get involved. These are always voluntary, but it gives parents a chance to become more involved in their player's team if they so choose.
Furthermore, we recognize that, while each player has a unique set of talents that they bring to their respective team, they aren't going to win anything by themselves. We appreciate the fact that baseball is a team sport and not an individual showcase for a select few players and we have a sincere desire to win as a team.
If you are a coach and would like to have a conversation about potentially coaching with us, we would love to hear from you as well. If you have an interest, please follow this link to contact us: Chattanooga Baseball Club - Announcements.
This may be a little different approach than what you've traditionally seen but, if this sounds like something you have been looking for, check our announcements section to see when the next opportunity is to join us. Tryouts are free because they should be, so you’ve got nothing to lose.