RESUME

Professional

info

I am a retired professional baseball player with 13 years of playing and coaching experience. The Houston Astros drafted me in the 3rd round of the 2000 draft at 17. Making me the youngest player in professional baseball at the time. Not only was I the youngest player in professional baseball, I was the hardest thrower in the Astros' organization and one of the hardest throwers in baseball, reaching 100 mph. My professional career took me to 3 different countries and helped me to learn Spanish. I loved playing, but coaching is my passion, leading me to where I am today.

Certifications and Awards

NFHS Certified Interscholastic Coach

NFHS Accredited Interscholastic Coach

NCCP Comp Dev Certified

USA Baseball Certified A, B, & C

Master Coach Developer

Chartered Professional Coach

2006 Max Borders Good Guy Award

2020 Baseball Canada Coach Developer of the Year

2020 Victoria Police Department Chief Constable Award

Memberships

Work

experience

Instructor of Sport Management at Camosun College

2022-PRESENT

Instruct courses in sport management and kinesiology

Manager of Canadian Women's National Baseball team

2023-PRESENT

Managed the Canadian Women's National team to a bronze medal at the 2024 WBSC Women's World Cup

Manager of Victoria Eagles PBL-Victoria, BC

2012-2016

I manage not only my team at the premier level, but travel throughout our organization to make sure the coaches and players are practicing and playing properly. My coaching philosophy filters down through entire organization.

Lambrick Park Baseball Academy – Victoria, BC

2014-2016

I am in charge of everything that has to do with pitching at the Academy. I organize the throwing programs, running programs, arm strengthening programs, and instruct students on proper throwing mechanics.

Instructor

Multiple Baseball Academies and Batting Cages – All over the United States

2000-2014
I have been hired by multiple indoor baseball facilities to help bring their instructors up
to par and to bring youth players in for camps, clinics and private lessons.

Pitcher/Coach

Multiple Major and Minor League Baseball Organizations – US, Canada, Japan

2000-2012

I was a third round draft pick out of high school in Las Vegas, NV by the Houston Astros. I played for 6 different Major League organizations and multiple Independent organizations as well as being a pitching coach and player for 3 of those years.

Association of Professional Ball Players of America (APBPA) Lifetime Member

Major Leage Baseball Player's Association - Professional member - Lifetime Member

American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)

Member

Education

University of Victoria

PhD in Kinesiology 2024-Present

Supervised by Dr. Olav Krigolson and Dr. john Meldrum

University of Victoria

MSc in Kinesiology 2014-2017

I started a MEd in 2014 and switched to an MsC in 2015 and graduated in 2017.

University of Phoenix

Bachelor of Science in Psychology 2007-2012

I played professional baseball and completed my studies concurrently. I graduated with a 3.5/4 G.P.A.

Publications

Colino, F. L., Howse, H., Norton, A., Trska, R., Pluta, A., Luehr, S. J., ... & Krigolson, O. E. (2017). Older adults display diminished error processing and response in a continuous tracking task. Psychophysiology, 54(11), 1706-1713.

Pluta, A., Williams, C. C., Binsted, G., Hecker, K. G., & Krigolson, O. E. (2018). Chasing the zone: Reduced beta power predicts baseball batting performance. Neuroscience letters, 686, 150-154.

Pluta III, A. (2017). Using background EEG to predict baseball batting performance (Doctoral dissertation).

R Hammerstrom, M., Ferguson, T. D., Pepler, H. L., Pluta, A., Binsted, G., & Krigolson, O. (2023). Using neural signals to investigate athlete burnout. Journal for Sports Neuroscience, 1(2), 10.