Baseball Staff – Hayner Sports Barn

MEET THE STAFF

Our instruction ranges from hitting, fielding, pitching and catching to functional strength and conditioning. Our staff knows there's more to success than physical skill - we coach the whole athlete.

Norm Hayner - Owner/Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Pitching & Catching

Head coach for the Barnstormers 17u Travel Baseball Team.
Former pitching coach at UMass/Amherst, Siena College, Skidmore College and Schenectady CC.
Varsity Baseball Coach at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake H.S. 1995 - 2000, leading the Spartans to 1998 Section II Class A title, Region IV title and runner up finish at NY State final four.
Player/Manager of Apex Printing in Albany Twilight League, achieving 3 consecutive league championships, 3 NYS AABC Stan Musial Division Titles, 1 AABC North Atlantic Regional Championship and 2 runner ups and a 3rd place finish at the 1989 Stan Musial World Series in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Former Division I catcher and graduate of Siena College ('85)
M.S. in Sport Management at UMass/Amherst ('92).
Shenendehowa Athletic Hall of Fame and Albany Twilight League Hall of Fame.

Ken Hayner - Owner/Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Pitching & Fielding

Since 2014, Ken has been the Director of the Hayner Academy Barnstormers Travel Baseball Program.
Head Baseball Coach at Hartwick College 1988 - 1998. Was named Empire Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1993. Received Louisville Slugger Coaching Award in 1994. Led '94 team to NCAA New York Regional Tournament. '92, '94 and '96 teams captured ECAC Upstate New York Championship.
Served as Assistant Coach at Siena College '84, '85, '87 and UMass/Amherst. '86.
In 1982 played professionally as a shortstop for the Utica Blue Sox of the New York-Penn League and received NY-Penn League's Achievement Award for development.
Former Division I player and graduate of Siena College '82.
Received M.S. in Sport Management from UMass/Amherst in '87.
Member of the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame, Siena College Sports HOF, Shenendehowa Athletic HOF and Albany Twilight League HOF.

Jessie Brustle - Softball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Pitching & Fielding

Jessie was a full – time member of the faculty at Loudonville Christian School from 2016-2022. Jessie taught health and physical education. She also served LCS as their Varsity Softball and Varsity Volleyball Coach.
Jessie graduated from Houghton College in 2016 with a degree in Health and Physical Education.
At Houghton, Jessie played 4 years of Varsity Softball and Volleyball and was co-captain of both programs her senior year.
Jessie was Assistant Coach for Saratoga County Hurricanes Travel Softball Program 2015-2016
Jessie is a 2012 graduate of Shenendehowa H.S. where she also played both varsity softball and volleyball.

John Craig - Baseball & Softball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting & Catching

Jessie

Carson Dunkel - Baseball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Pitching, Catching & Fielding

Carson is currently the Head Coach of the Barnstormers 14u team.
Carson played four years of Division I baseball at Siena and UAlbany as a catcher and graduated with a degree in Communications.
Carson played in our Barnstormers Travel Program for three years. In July of 2018 Carson's walk off 8th inning double knocked in the winning run in the Barnstormers 5-4 victory over Team Nokona in the championship game of the Boston Open leading the Barnstormers to a perfect 7-0 record.
Carson is a 2018 graduate of Schuylerville High School. Carson was two-time Albany Times Union Small School Catcher First Team All-Star and Times Union First Team Defensive Back in football.

Amanda Fifield- Softball Instructor

Specializes in Pitching, Hitting & Catching

Since 2013, Amanda has been the varsity softball coach at Ballston Spa Central School District where she is also employed as a teacher.
Co-Coach of the Year for NYS Class A 2019
2019 led BSpa to the State Semi-final game 20 innings long (3 hours 52 minutes long) NYS record for state championships.
Times Union Coach of the Year 2019
Large Schools Softball 100th Career Win came with a 3rd Sectional Championship with a 3-2 win over South Glens Falls on June 4th.
In 2018 Amanda led Ballston Spa to a Section II class AA Title, Regional Title, and State Championship Game where they finished Number 2 in NY for class AA. Three players were named to all-state teams.
In 2016, Amanda led Ballston Spa to the Section II Class AA Championship, Regional Championship, and State Semi-Finals. For her efforts Amanda was named Times Union Coach of the Year.
In 2017, she was named Suburban Council Coach of the Year.
In 2016, Amanda was named Albany Diocese Teacher of the Year as an Elementary teacher at St. Mary's Waterford.
Amanda served as Head Softball Coach at Clinton County Community College in Plattsburgh '05 - '09. Amanda served as an Assistant Coach there in '04.
Was MVP in both her years as a pitcher for Clinton Community College.
Amanda joined the Hayner Academy staff in 2010

Josh Hayner - Baseball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting & Fielding

Josh Hayner is a 2019 graduate of Messiah College.
At Messiah, Josh was named MAC - All Conference First Team second baseman his junior year after posting a .393 average and Honorable Mention his senior year after posting a .348 average.
A 2015 graduate of Shenendehowa, Josh was named Suburban Council Second Team All-Star as a junior and Second Team Shortstop as a senior.
2015 Josh was named Shenendehowa Offensive Player of the Year after posting a .452 average. Josh finished his 2 year varsity career with a .436 career average.
Josh joined the Hayner Academy Staff in September '19. He is available for lessons Nov - March.

Rebecca Hayner - Softball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Fielding & Strength and Conditioning

2021 graduate of Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) with a dual degree in Intercultural Studies and Business Administration
While at ENC, Hayner contributed to the softball program’s two consecutive conference championship wins as a starting centerfielder
Named to the All-New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) first team during the 2020-2021 season.
Named to the NECC Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons
2021 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee
2021 NECC Senior Student Athlete of the Year Nominee
Rebecca has served as an assistant coach at The Sports Barn’s various summer camps, including the Miss Shen softball camp and All Sports Camp
Prior to college, Rebecca came up through the Miss Shen program and played for the Saratoga County Hurricanes

Bill Kelts - Baseball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Pitching & Fielding

Bill has been a highly successful coach in the Waterford Nationals program for 15 years.
Bill played college baseball at SUNY New Paltz where he was a NCAA Division III All American. Bill also achieved 1st team ALL SUNYAC and 1st team All Region.
Before transferring to SUNY New Paltz, Bill was a two year starter for HVCC and earned 1st team All Region III his sophomore year.
Bill played varsity baseball for CBA and was named 1st team All Big 10 and 1st team All Section 2 in his senior year.
In November 2024 Bill was inducted in the Albany Twilight League Hall of Fame. Over a 15 year career Bill finished with a .336 career batting average and is top 25 all time in home runs and RBI's.

Ashlyn Kersch - Softball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Pitching & Fielding

Ashlyn is a 2020 graduate of SUNY Geneseo where she played softball for 4 years. Ashlyn led her team to the SUNYAC Championships and NCAA Regionals in 2018 and first ever NCAA Super-Regional appearance in 2019.
Ashlyn spent her time on the mound at SUNY Geneseo while also studying mathematics with secondary education.
In 2018, Ashlyn was named the SUNYAC Tournament MVP.
In 2019, Ashlyn was named 1st team ALL-SUNYAC Team, 1st team NFCA All - Region and received the Kentucky Regionals MVP.
In both 2019 and 2020 Ashlyn was named CO-SIDA Academic All-District Team.
Ashlyn is a 2016 Graduate of Ballston Spa where she played both volleyball and softball. In her senior season she led the Scotties softball team to their first ever sectional championship, regional championship and final four appearance.
in 2016, Ashlyn was named Suburban Council Pitcher of the Year, 1st team All -Section II, athlete of the year for large schools by The Times Union, and NYS 4th team All-Star.

Joey Lauer - Baseball Instructor

Specializes in Pitching & Strength and Conditioning

Played 4 years of Division I baseball at Siena College as a pitcher.
Graduated in 2024 with a degree in Business Analytics and Finance.
60eraguy on Social Media (160K+ Followers)
Acted as a player coach for the Siena Pitching Staff
2020 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School
All-Section for Baseball, Career 0.53 ERA
All-State for Swimming with a school record (100 yard Breaststroke)

Armando Ricci - Baseball Instructor

Specializes in Pitching & Hitting

Armando is currently serving as the Assistant Pitching Coach at Hudson Valley Community College.
Armando was a pitcher at Siena College in the 2021-2022 season before an arm injury curtailed his career. He is currently finishing his degree at UAlbany.
Armando played for Shaker High School and graduated in 2021.
Posted a 0.75 ERA in his sophomore year of high school.
Starting and winning pitcher during the NCYBA championship game against Albany in 2018 pitching 6 shutout innings to lead his team to the regionals.

Kyle Wilkins - Baseball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Pitching & Fielding

Kyle served as the Head Coach at The College of St. Rose from 2014 - 2016. Kyle was an assistant coach at St. Rose from 2012 - 2014.
Served as hitting coach for the Amsterdam Mohawks in the Perfect Game League in 2010 and 2011 helping them win the PG League Championship in 2010.
From 2004 - 2007, Kyle served as an assistant coach at Ithaca College helping the Bombers appear in four straight NCAA Regional Tournaments.
Kyle was a four year starting infielder at Ithaca College. He was also team captain and was honored as 2003 Empire 8 Conference Player of the Year.
Kyle holds a bachelor's degree in athletic communications from Ithaca and a master's in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University at Irvine (CA).

Mandy Yocono - Softball Instructor

Specializes in Hitting, Pitching & Fielding

Mandy is currently the Varsity Softball Coach at Guilderland Central School.
Was the Assistant Softball Coach at RPI for 5 seasons. In 2017 and 2018, Mandy was a part of the Coaching Staff of the Year.
Is a 2013 graduate of Siena College where she has also served as an assistant coach prior to getting the varsity position at Guilderland.
After her senior season in ’13, Mandy was named to the All MAAC Softball 2nd team.
Was a 3 - year varsity softball player for Shenendehowa Central School.
In 2008, Mandy was named Suburban Council MVP.
In 2008, she was also selected to the First Team New York State All - State Team.
Was a 3 sport athlete at Shenendehowa.
Mandy joined the Hayner Academy staff in September 2015