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Last time we caught up with Garrett Larkin, the metro Boston native and former pro baseball player turned girls fastpitch coach, he was looking for players to add to his “Northeast chapter” of the storied Marucci Patriots travel softball program headquartered in Louisiana.
Click HERE to read the original August 2020 article titled: Former Pro Baseball Player Garrett Larkin Starts Marucci Patriots Northeast Team, Looking for More Top Talent
As we wrote in that earlier story:
Through his connections in the South, Garrett met Darrell Landry, the head of the Marucci Patriots based in Louisiana, and father of former LSU standout Bailey Landry, and the two quickly struck up a friendship.
After having coached at the 10U, 12U and 14U levels in the Rhode Island Thunder organization, a nationally reputable and successful program led by Dave Lotti, Garrett was offered the opportunity to expand the Patriots into Massachusetts by Landry.
It’s not every day that an organization based in the Bayou forms a team in Massachusetts so we caught up with him this week to see how the expansion into the Bay State is going…
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Where do things stand today since we spoke last summer?
In a nutshell, I have expansion on the brain! Last summer we pulled together an awesome group of 2026 players that we plan to build around and expand with in the fall of 2021. Since most interest came our way last year via this age group, we think adding a second 14U team is the way to go at this time, especially if we continue to see good numbers.
The Marucci Patriots East will now offer a second team for this age group to help us attract more quality players and coaches into our program. So, if you are a quality player or coach looking for a new challenge, give me a call!
So you’re looking to expand right away, adding another 14U team…
Yes, we plan to take our offering to the next level in the Fall of 2021.
This year, coming out of COVID, we pretty much played locally in Massachusetts, and I think that was the smart thing to do for us, given our age. We have reached a point however that I am calling, “the end of the innocence,” meaning, Little League is over, and it’s time to take things to the next level.
This group has proven they can win, and I am proud of how well they have come together! We have entered three tourneys, won two and have an overall record of 30-4 with two events remaining.
What is your short-term plan to continue your growth?
My short-term plan is to increase the number of players and coaches associated with our program, so we can recreate game situations at practice in live settings.
I really want a second team of equal strength so we can scrimmage each other and increase the number of competitive reps during practices that feature real world situations at game speed. This fall we plan to shift our practice schedule to the weekend, where we will have more players working with additional coaches during longer practices (3-4 hours).
We also plan to get out of Massachusetts and do more events in Connecticut at Fastpitch Nation, so we can mix things up, and see new teams from the NJ, CT, PA & NY regions.
Finally, I want to get our program enrolled in some specialty classes, so we can teach our players the importance of always moving athletically on the field. At this age, it really is something that needs to be a part of a player’s DNA, and next level coaches want athletes, so we think something like speed school (as an example) will help us help our players.
What are you doing to attract talented players and their parents?
This Fall we are stepping things up, and we will be offering great off-season training options with professional instruction at world class indoor facilities like Planet Fastpitch, Sluggers Academy & Kingsbury Club.
We always keep our rosters small so players can max out their playing time and reps at practice, and we now have D1 college softball player Meg Gorman (Central Connecticut State) on our coaching staff, bringing a fresh perspective that we know our players want and respond well to.
When you add all that up, and you surround these players with good families that pull together and trust our process, results follow. We see players achieve personal bests and career highlights every summer, and when their teammates are pulling for their success as much or more than their own, people quickly start to appreciate the culture that we are trying to create here each day.
We also attract the player that wants to be well rounded and play multiple sports but keep softball on the brain 365. We attract players and parents that want to test themselves on the national stage someday in the not-too-distant future.
I think of our offering as “Club, Life, Balance” and that we offer a sensible way to improve and challenge your player but appreciate that not everyone has the budget to be in 6 different cities a summer at this age.
In your opinion, what sets your program apart?
As we have covered in the past, I played professional baseball so I know what it takes to get an individual player to the next level, but as I look back on my life and career, nothing happens for me anyhow, without the ability to work in a team atmosphere.
At the end of the day, we are a team-first organization, and those lessons learned will translate to the real world for our players more than any individual achievement racked up during their playing career.
Another differentiator is our connection to the National team for the Marucci Patriots out of Louisiana. This partnership provides a level of access to the national stage, reserved for elite players who dream of playing at the national level.
Since joining Marucci, what have you learned about yourself as you’ve watched a new program go about its day-to-day operations?
I have learned that this game is all about having the passion to teach!
Our owner and one of my coaching mentors, Darrell Landry, recently invited one of our New England based players to guest play with his 16U national team at Boulder IDT. My wife Nikki (who also serves as my assistant coach) and I went out to observe and learn how Darrell’s staff prepare and coach his teams each day.
This was an incredible experience that will help us show our parents the value of playing at the national level against all the best programs from California, Texas, Georgia, Florida and other states across the country.
When that player returned to her local club team this past weekend (Central Mass Xplosion), she homered five times! Exposing players to the next level is what we want our program to be all about. Until you experience fastpitch softball in that environment up close and personal from the front row, you really cannot visualize how fast the game is played at the next level.
Watching the College World Series on TV is great but watching those very same legendary coaches take in games as they sit right next to you while scouting their next big impact player was next level stuff for us.
Now we just need to apply what we learned, so that is why we are really looking forward to this fall more than any other to date. New information and methods are a powerful thing and I sincerely want to thank Darrell Landry and Tim Brown for all their support.
Talk about your current 12U team and what has helped you compete this summer…
I could write a book about every kid on our team, but for the sake of keeping it simple, I want to highlight how our pitching staff has helped us this summer. And they all love to hit as well, which is my specialty from a teaching perspective. We have three solid pitchers ready to go at a moment’s notice!
Erin O’Day has been with us for a couple years now, and she can show our opponent a couple of different looks with her fastball and off-speed stuff, plus her hitting has improved a ton this offseason. We are starting to see Erin hit the ball out of the ballpark, and that is exciting for any young player.
Jillian Ondrick is a true power pitcher and power hitter as well! At 5-foot-9 and still growing, she is just plain fun to watch, especially when she’s hitting 57 mph on the gun, because you can see that she has what it takes to offer a high-end college program the total package someday soon. Observing her journey has been a real pleasure this past summer.
Preslie Boo (one of the coolest names in club softball) is your traditional bulldog type of athlete that loves to compete! Preslie likes to come out of the bullpen and have the final say or be up there with the game on the line when we need a big hit. Preslie is unique because she also plays what I like to call a “lockdown” centerfield with a ton of unbridled energy and will even catch when needed, so a true gamer and team first kid.
All three have very different personalities, so it’s been fun and interesting for me to learn what makes them tick and how to best utilize them.
What spots do you need to fill for the Fall of 21?
I will say that even though I feel spoiled to have this much pitching, the addition of a second team of equal strength will require us to add more talent in every corner of the diamond! The good news is, I am not the parent of a pitcher. My kid is a catcher and she wants to improve her secondary position as well.
So, if you are a pitcher or catcher, this is the program for you because you will not be in that situation that tends to occur in programs where the coach’s kid gets a better look.
With the Patriots, the best players take on their primary position and own it on Sunday because they earned it, but we also challenge them by moving them around on Friday and Saturday so they can learn the total game while playing for us.
What is the plan for this group in 2022?
We always want to improve, so we can play in more competitive events with this group in the future. We are looking for well-rounded athletes who love to compete, play with energy, and have that team first mentality.
We believe that with an influx of the players I just described, combined with this exciting pitching staff and all the changes we have in store for the Fall of 21, we can take this team to the next level, and that’s our primary goal.
Our plan is to play all over New England next year as we keep our eyes on at least one national event as well, so we are looking for players and coaches to help us get there.
If this sounds like you, see you in August! We will be hosting tryouts every Thursday night at Shonda Schilling Field in Medfield, Massachusetts. If you’re a parent and are interested, call me (c: 508-310-3599) to register. Also, if you’re interested in a private tryout because Thursday nights don’t work for you, we can make that happen as well.
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Click Here to link to the Marucci Patriots Northeast Softball Facebook page.