Great facilities don’t develop players. Great coaches do. The tools, the technology, and the indoor space all matter, but what happens between a coach and an athlete in a single session is what actually moves the needle. At Lone Star Diamond Academy, the coaching staff brings something most Dallas baseball facilities can’t match: real playing experience at the highest levels of the game, combined with a genuine commitment to developing each player as an individual.
Here’s a look at the people behind the program.
Cameron Dobbs — Director of Baseball
Cameron Dobbs built LSDA around a simple belief: no two players are the same, and training them like they are is a waste of everyone’s time. That philosophy didn’t come from a coaching manual. It came from years of playing and coaching at a high level and watching what actually works.
Dobbs played shortstop at Dallas Jesuit, earning three All-District honors, two Defensive MVP awards, and an All-Texas Region First Team selection. He was selected for the 2015 Area Code Games, one of the most competitive showcases for amateur players in the country. From there, he took his game to Oklahoma State, where he started at shortstop as a freshman and was part of the 2017 Big 12 Championship team.
After a medical retirement ended his playing career, Dobbs turned his focus fully to coaching. He coached infield and first base at UT Arlington from 2019 to 2021, worked the Jesuit Varsity program from 2023 to 2025, and has provided private instruction at every level from tee ball to professional players since 2020. He’s worked with hitters, fielders, and pitchers, and he understands the mental side of the game as clearly as the physical side.
When Dobbs talks about development, he means the whole picture. Physical tools, mental performance, and the willingness to be coached hard are all part of what he builds at LSDA.
Hunter Markwardt — Hitting Instructor
Hunter Markwardt knows what it takes to get drafted. The former Philadelphia Phillies draft pick brings professional-level hitting knowledge to every session at LSDA, working with players on swing mechanics, approach, and plate discipline.
Markwardt leads the hitting clinic alongside Cameron Dobbs, using video analysis and personalized instruction to break down each athlete’s swing and build something repeatable and powerful. His background gives him a clear picture of what a swing needs to look like at the next level and what the gaps look like between where a youth player is and where they need to go.
For DFW hitters working toward high school varsity, college recruitment, or beyond, learning from someone who has played at the professional level changes the quality of the instruction. Markwardt brings that standard to every rep at LSDA.
Chris Muller — Strength and Pitching Specialist
Chris Muller’s path to LSDA runs straight through the Dallas baseball community. A Dallas native and Jesuit College Preparatory School graduate, Muller went on to play at Paris Junior College before transferring to UTSA, where he developed into one of the more compelling pitching prospects in the program’s history. The Tampa Bay Rays selected him in the 17th round of the 2017 MLB Draft.
That professional background gives Muller a lens on pitching development that goes well beyond mechanics. He understands how arm health connects to physical conditioning. He knows what a durable pitcher looks like at the professional level and what the physical habits are that get a pitcher there. At LSDA, he works with athletes on both ends of that equation, building the strength foundation that lets mechanics hold up over a long season while developing the pitching skills that make a player worth watching.
For Dallas-area pitchers, working with a coach who has lived the professional development process is a different experience than working with someone who has only coached it. Muller brings both to the mound.
Casey Mayes — Speed and Agility Coach
Baseball is an athletic sport. That gets forgotten sometimes when the conversation stays focused on swing mechanics and arm strength. Casey Mayes doesn’t let that happen.
Mayes played outfield at Michigan State, where he earned Academic All-Big Ten honors four times and was named to the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar list. His playing background gave him a deep understanding of what athleticism looks like on a baseball field and how it gets built through deliberate training.
At LSDA, Mayes works with players on the physical qualities that show up all over the game. First-step quickness, lateral movement, sprint mechanics, reaction time, and change-of-direction efficiency are all part of what he develops. The work he does connects directly to what players need in the outfield, on the bases, and up the middle. Speed and agility aren’t separate from baseball at LSDA. They’re built into the development plan alongside hitting, pitching, and fielding.
For parents who have watched their player get thrown out on the bases or struggle to track down a fly ball, Mayes is where that starts to change.
Sam Mrstik — Movement and Motor Preference Specialist
Not every player learns the same way. Some players are visual. Others need to feel a movement pattern before they can repeat it. Some respond to verbal cues, others to physical feedback. Sam Mrstik works at that level of individual learning, helping players understand how they process information and how to train more efficiently as a result.
His role as LSDA’s movement and motor preference specialist adds a layer to the development process that most Dallas facilities don’t address at all. Mechanics matter. But if a player can’t absorb and apply a coaching cue in a way that fits how they learn, the instruction doesn’t land the way it should. Mrstik bridges that gap.
A Staff Built Around the Whole Player
What stands out about the LSDA coaching staff isn’t just the individual backgrounds. It’s how those backgrounds work together. Hitting, pitching, strength, speed, movement, and mental performance are all covered by coaches who have played the game at a high level and understand how each piece connects to the others.
That integration is what makes youth baseball development at LSDA different from taking lessons at a facility where coaches work in isolation. When a hitting instructor, a strength specialist, and a movement coach are all working from the same development plan for the same athlete, the progress compounds. Each part of the program supports the others.
For DFW baseball families searching for a baseball training academy in Dallas where the coaching staff is as serious about development as the technology on the floor, this is the team. Come meet us, walk the facility, and see how the program works firsthand. Reach out to schedule a visit or explore our membership options to get started.