Driveline Baseball of Kent is where brawn meets brains, physique meets physics, and where strength meets science.

The player development facility is located only 10 minutes from Highline’s campus and exists at the junction of athletic training and scientific research. Its renown success in the industry resonates to baseball’s highest level, attracting some of the pastime’s biggest stars.

Stars like Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer, who fly themselves into the Seattle area specifically to utilize Driveline’s services.

This is where the best get better.

Field Denny, marketing manager at Driveline, said that Driveline’s success can be attributed to their perpetual experimenting to develop constant understanding of training methods and their efficacy.

“At Driveline, we’re constantly testing and retesting everything that we do,” Denny said. “That way we constantly expand on what we know, and what we don’t.”

Such shifting perceptions upon gathering fresh data lies at the core of the scientific process, one that Driveline founder Kyle Boddy experienced firsthand following a shipping error for sporting equipment. 

“Years ago, our founder, Kyle Boddy, was a weighted ball skeptic,” said Denny. “He was sent weighted balls by mistake after he had ordered shot puts.”

Weighted balls are precisely as they sound: baseballs that are much heavier than regulation used as a form of sport-specific weight training. 

“Instead of immediately returning them, he saw it as an opportunity for an experiment.”

More importantly, an opportunity for an experiment that had not yet been documented. Before the inception of Driveline, Boddy developed an interest in player development. Upon browsing through several peer reviewed journals, he realized that little research existed in this field of study.

This provided Boddy with the opportunity to collect initial data firsthand, transforming a normal athletic training facility into a sports science laboratory.

“The result? Weighted balls have been a staple of our programming ever since,” said Denny.

Denny said that their training program helps athletes maintain development even after they return to their home clubs.

“We want to give athletes a data-driven plan to produce real, replicable results,” Denny said. “Ultimately, we want to give players that train with us the knowledge to be their own best coach.”

It’s easier said than done, as Denny said that athletes who come to the facility need to be patient in order to see results.

“Progress isn’t linear. It can be hard to go to work every day when you aren’t seeing results,” said Denny. “Accepting that failure will be part of the process is a fundamental part of what we do.”

He says that all baseball players are unique, along with their skillsets and talents.

“For staff, every athlete is different, with unique strengths and weaknesses. The challenge is identifying those qualities so that every athlete can succeed,” Denny said.

Field Denny truly means EVERY athlete.

Luisa Gauci, who has ties to Driveline, will play baseball at Green River.

“Our recently promoted Baseball Technologies Coordinator, Luisa Gauci, committed to Green River Community College,” said Denny. “She will become the first woman to play in the NWAC and only the second woman ever to receive scholarship money. We’re excited to see her on the field.”

With the Major League Baseball season finally upon us, Driveline can let out a long sigh of relief after surviving a long period of uncertainty during the ongoing public health crisis.

“It has been challenging. We were shut down last summer during one of our peak training times,” said Denny. “We were forced to furlough trainers during that time. Fortunately, we continue to be diligent with in-gym protocols keeping cases [of COVID-19] to a minimum.”

Like any professional athlete, the facility adapted to the challenges that it faced.

“It has also been an opportunity. We bolstered our online offerings to better serve players everywhere. We opened temporary facilities in Texas and Arizona to meet athletes in their home states, rather than see them traveling. We focused on improving internal systems and securing partnerships that will help us as we grow into the future,” he said.

While restrictions still exist in the South King County area, it is apparent for the first time since the pandemic tightened its grip on our world that the finish line may be just over the horizon. The facility is no longer closed, and a full 162-game Major League Baseball season will occur in 2021.

“We’re looking forward to a full season of baseball,” said Denny.