ROUND LAKE — Guilderland grad and Saratoga resident Dylan Collett played baseball at the high school, college, and professional levels. A few weeks ago, he opened the Collett Baseball training facility in Round Lake so that he can pass on his experience to future generations of ball players.
The 8,000-square-foot, all-turf warehouse features some high tech gadgets. “We have the TrackMan sensor, which is a high-end sensor that MLB uses now,” Collett said. “It gives you a tremendous amount of data on every hit and every pitch.” TrackMan allows Collett to analyze and track the development of every player.
The facility also houses a pitching lab with Plyo Ball throwing, which improves arm strengthening and conditioning. “The beauty of pitching is you’ve got to know a lot about hitting to be a good pitcher,” Collett said. “So I actually give just as much hitting instruction as pitching.”
The bulk of Collett’s playing experience was on the mound, where the southpaw was a starter in college, before coming out of the bullpen in the pros. After three years at Saint Leo University near Tampa, Florida, Collett transferred to UMass Dartmouth, where he finished with a 4-1 record and 4.30 ERA.
Collett expected to be drafted, but an injury during his senior year put those plans on hold. He took a year off before playing two years of independent pro ball for the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers outside Detroit, Michigan. As a reliever, Collett pitched 47.2 innings, earning an impressive ERA of 2.45.
“I ended up going to spring training with the Boston Red Sox the first year of COVID,” Collett said. But when he didn’t receive an invitation from the Sox to return, he decided to retire as a player. “I was kind of old for baseball at that point, for the level I was at,” he said.
Nowadays, Collett instructs all levels of players, from five-year-olds to professionals. He also leads group clinics.“Teams will actually give me five or six pitchers at a time, or five or six hitters at a time,” he said.
By his estimate, Collett has coached at least 100 players so far, with more on the horizon.
The Collett Baseball training facility is located at 17 Wood Road in Round Lake. For more information, visit www.collettbaseball.com.
