Keith Carson is the head infield instructor for the Baseball Power Plant.
Keith grew up locally, attending Ponderosa High School before going on to play two years of JC ball at Monterey Peninsula College. At MPC, Keith played under the tutelage of an up-and-coming infield coach by the name of Nate Trosky. At the time, Keith was transitioning from the outfield to the infield, so Nate took him under his wing, and Keith became Nate's protégé of sorts. Keith went on from Monterey Peninsula to play on scholarship at Sacramento State, however the foundation he learned from Nate, and the relationship they still have to this day is a huge part of what makes him the coach and infield instructor he’s become. Keith still communicates with and receives information from Nate regarding infield play and the mental side of the game, all things he incorporates in his coaching and instructional style.
While still playing at Sac State, Keith spent his off-seasons coaching middle and high school travel teams, along with former big-league pitcher, Chris Bosio. It was here Keith discovered his love and passion for coaching. After graduating, Keith got away from coaching a bit, started a career and family but it wasn’t long before he got back into it, being hired as a coach and director of operations at California Academy of Baseball, which was based out of Sacramento. He has since spent his time working at various academies in the area, as well as providing private infield instruction for many local players. Four years ago he launched the Prospects of Troy which works as an unofficial baseball feeder program for Oak Ridge High School.
Keith is a huge proponent of a long-term player development approach, with the goal of helping each individual player maximize their full baseball potential. He also places a massive emphasis on using the game as a means to teach life lessons that can help players be successful in all walks of life, not just baseball. This is a contrast to what you see now days in youth baseball where so much emphasis is placed on winning at all costs. Keith instead uses a model where his player's long term physical and mental development are at the forefront of his coaching style.
It’s difficult to go to a local high school game without seeing one of Keith’s infield pupils. Amongst the many player’s Keith has worked with are this last season’s starting Varsity SS and 3B for Oak Ridge, the starting SS/2B and 3B for both the JV and Freshman teams at Oak Ridge, the starting Varsity SS at Vista who was just a Sophomore, and the starting Varsity 2B at Folsom who was only a Freshman. Keith also had a hand in developing all but two of the players on the Oak Ridge Freshman team, as well as 75% or the JV team, and 86% of the Varsity team.
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