Colonel's Cadence Blog

Massanutten Military Academy to Offer Post Graduate Baseball

Massanutten Military Academy is excited to announce that it will be adding a post graduate baseball program to its academic and sports offerings for the 2023-2024 School Year.
Facilities director Mike Hottinger came up with the idea and with the support from MMA Head of School, Kim Elshafie-Layman, it didn’t take long to find the right person to start up the program.
Long-time Valley League manager Mike Bocock, who this past summer surpassed 700 wins in the Valley League, recently moved to the Woodstock area and expressed interest in the position of heading up the new program.
“Coach Bocock is one of the best in the area, and MMA is lucky to have a great coach with a proven track record taking the lead. Go Colonels!” Elshafie-Layman said.
“Bocock approached me when he heard what we had in mind,” Hottinger said. “We wanted to give kids another year to play baseball and be better prepared for college or maybe get to a better college situation.”
Bocock, who currently manages the nearby Woodstock River Bandits, sees both the challenge of starting a new program from the ground floor and the opportunity for players who may need an extra year of development.
“I’m excited to get this going,” Bocock said. “We expect to have 30 or so ballplayers with a few scholarships available, plus we feel that we will be a lot more affordable than some similar post-graduate opportunities.”
Bocock also mentioned that some baseball players may need additional coaching beyond the high school level before entering college and that some may be able to improve their SAT scores, gain up to 12 hours of college credit while at MMA without using up a year of college eligibility.
Massanutten also intends to offer an indoor baseball space to help attract prospective players.
Former Shenandoah University pitching coach Rick Croushore will join the staff as assistant head coach and will handle the pitchers as well as serve as recruiting coordinator.
“I couldn’t be more excited in coming back to Virginia and continue teaching and developing talent,” Croushore said.
With just about four months time to get their first class of players to MMA, the initial challenge is immediate.
Bocock and Croushore embarked on their first official recruiting trip to talent-rich Florida this past week.
“We hope to be able to attract both local and national talent to MMA,” Bocock said. “The community is definitely behind this.”
Massanutten Military Academy is Virginia’s premier, co-ed military academy. MMA’s mission is to prepare students for lives of meaning, purpose, service and leadership, within a supportive and structured community in which all members of a diverse student body feel a true sense of belonging.
Check out our Facebook page for great photos of our cadets daily lives at MMA.  At Massanutten, cadets are provided with a superior academic and cadet life experience. They will be set up for success while they are on campus, and learn the tools necessary to be successful in their academic endeavors and career pursuits. Enroll your student at Massanutten today, click here.
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You know your child can do more but is not getting the attention needed in their current environment to reach their full potential. We know that choosing the right school for your child can be difficult because each child is so unique. We believe students should experience school as it should be, a place where children are educated in an environment that leads them to thrive and encourages their maximum potential.
Massanutten Military Academy is a co-educational, non-profit military boarding and day school in Virginia for students in 8th-12th grades with post graduate studies. We welcome all faiths and live by our motto: Non Nobis Solum (Not For Ourselves Alone).

Massanutten Military Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.
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