THE INFIELD

Don Plantz had a dream of establishing a business to provide young baseball and softball players the training necessary to excel on the diamond.   Don subsequently teamed up with Dusty Gilbreth, a former catcher at Barrington High School and North Central College, and a certified personal trainer. Their plan is to work with youth to maximize their potential by helping them to set personal goals and to meet those goals through participation in camps and lessons.  One of their principal objectives is to work with aspiring pitchers so as to develop their skill and, equally important, to prevent injury to their pitching arm.

The business was initiated in 2011 in South Elgin, Illinois and shortly thereafter Don and Dusty sought the help of SCORE, where they consulted with SCORE counselor Earl Shraiberg.  Earl worked with them to develop a marketing plan, set a budget, conduct market research and generally establish sound business practices.

Within the first six months, Don and Dusty’s business–which they call “The Infield”– grew from one team to ten teams.  They have since created a training facility which now employs three full-time instructors/coaches and which has expanded to include a fitness program. Don and Dusty said of SCORE’s contribution to their growing success: “SCORE walked us through every step, but was particularly pivotal in cash management.  When there was little capital available for a start-up through traditional bank loans, SCORE helped us to manage cash flow through offering memberships to our customers and developing a marketing plan to quickly acquire market share.”

The Infield’s website can be found at http://www.the-infield.com/