ABOUT US

Founded in 2022, Baller’s Baseball and Softball Academy is co-owned by Josh Thompson and Kristina Harrison. Both business partners have over 30 years of experience with the sport.

Our Mission And Values

The Ballers baseball and softball academy’s mission is to create an environment for athletes to come and have all the tools needed to take their talent to the next level. With a combination of technology and experienced coaching, our goal is to provide you with everything you need to succeed.

We value customer experience and satisfaction. There is nothing more important to us than to provide a positive experience for everyone who walks through our doors. We are determined to be exceptional and will always strive to improve in ways to meet what our customers’ needs.

Meet the Owners

  • Josh Thompson

    Owner and Director of Baseball Operations

    Josh was born and raised in Pineview, Ga, and attended Fullington Academy, graduating in 2002. He started playing baseball at the age of 5. He was a member of 2 State Champion Recreation teams out of Dooly Co. and won an American Legion State Championship as Post 202 from Vienna. In high school, he lettered in Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Track. He became a starter on the Varsity baseball team in the 8th Grade. Josh earned All-Region and All-State selections in all three sports during his Junior and Senior seasons. He is a member of the 1000-point club in Basketball and a State Champion in the Triple jump.

    After high school, he signed up to play baseball at Mercer University. He began his career at Mercer as a Pitcher/Catcher but transitioned to catching only after his Freshman year. Josh was named All-Conference his Junior year as well as All-Tournament Team. He was the Pre-Season Player of the Year for the ASUN conference during his senior season. He was awarded multiple Player of the week awards by the ASUN Conference in both his Junior and Senior seasons. While at Mercer he was the 2 Time Iron Bear award winner as well as the Male Athlete of the Year for the University his senior year. After a great college career, Josh was selected by Florida Marlins in the 2007 MLB Draft.

    Since ending his playing career Josh has coached Baseball and Softball at the Rec, Travel, Middle School, and High School levels for the past 10 years. Josh earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Mercer University in 2006.

  • Kristina Harrison

    Owner and Director of Softball Operations

    Born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, Kristina began playing softball at the age of four. She attended Pacelli High School and played multiple varsity sports including Basketball, Competition Cheerleading, Soccer, Softball, and Track. For softball, she was a four-year varsity starter, two-time All-State team select, four-time All Bi-City team select, and three-time Region 2-A player of the Year. She began travel ball at the age of 9 and played on an 18u Gold team from the age of 14 until advancing into her college career.

    Kristina chose to play D-2 receiving a 4-year scholarship to play college softball at Columbus State University. As a freshman, she played multiple positions: catcher, pitcher, third base, and outfield. From sophomore year through her senior year, she led her team on the mound and remained in the batting lineup as a power hitter. She recorded hundreds of career strikeouts and offensively ranked top in offense production and homeruns. A couple of times during her career she was named cougar of the week and conference player of the week.

    Kristina has a Degree in Business Management, over 12 years of coaching experience (travel ball and high school ball), over 10 years of experience as a certified personal trainer, experience in mindset/life coaching, and experience as the director of softball operations role from a previous organization based out of Atlanta, Georgia.

Meet the Team

  • Trey Harrison

    Rapsodo Specialist/Instructor

    Trey brings so much diversity to the academy. He has a background in pitching, power hitting, and has played multiple fielding positions, outfield being his expertise.

    He is a certified Rapsodo specialist allowing him to work with his athletes on skills way beyond the basics. His strategy is to teach and instruct skills, while using his knowledge with analytics to help athletes make proper adjustments and reach optimal performance.

    Trey’s extremely passionate and dedicated to the game and self-development. He leads by constantly learning, staying up to date with the game, and always seeking ways to better himself to provide his athletes with the best tools for success.

  • Ryla Christian

    Softball Instructor/Coach

    Ryla was born and raised in Warner Robins, Georgia. She began playing ball at a young age and continued through college. She attended Warner Robins High School and was a 4-year starter on the varsity softball team.

    After high school she attended Andrew College where she was a catcher on the softball team and led the conference in homeruns, batting average, and made the GCAA 1st Team All-Region Team. After freshman year, Ryla transferred to Valdosta State University and played softball for their program for 2 years before she had to retire due to an injury.

    Since ending her softball career, she has become a Firefighter with the City of Warner Robins and is passionate about fitness and competing in bodybuilding.

  • Denny Bryant

    Instructor

    Denny offers over 20 years of coaching experience. Coaching 12 years at Jones County High School, 5 years as a Head coach at FPD, and 3 Years as a Head coach at Perry High School.

    A few of his greatest accomplishments include:

    *2022 GHSA Region 4 Coach of the year.

    *Coaching 4 players selected in the MLB draft.

    *Coached 23 players that continued on to play at the college level.

  • Travis Grimes

    Certified Trainer

    Travis is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength & Conditioning Association. Grimes graduated Summa Cum Laude from United States Sports Academy with a Bachelor of Sport Science degree in strength & conditioning. He completed his mentorship at Mercer University working with football and freshman baseball before going on to found Playmakers Sport Performance. The organization works with athletes ranging from middle school to the professional level and provides online training for athletes and programs in need of long distance consultation.

  • Lauren Heath

    Travel Team Coach and Instructor

    Lauren was born and raised in Perry, Ga. She attended Perry High School and graduated in the class of 2018. She grew up playing softball and soccer but chose to focus on softball her senior year of high school. As a softball player she was rewarded with 1st team all-region two years in a row, 2nd team all-region, 2nd team all-state, and region offensive player of the year her senior year.

    Lauren started playing travel ball at the age of 9 and always had the dream of playing college softball. After many visits to multiple schools and prospect camps, she decided to commit to Middle Georgia University. There she played 5 years of collegiate ball and received her bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation science. While being part of the Knights program she received SSAC gold glove team as a catcher for 2 years, SSAC 2nd team all-conference, and all-tournament team for the SSAC conference tournament in 2023. She also helped lead her team to winning their first ever conference championship and for the first time in school history they made it to regionals.

    Since finishing her softball career, Lauren is now the assistant varsity coach at Perry High School and has been continuing her training skills at Totem Training for over a year now.

Visit booking page for rentals, registrations, and scheduling.

  • 1115 Ball Street Perry, Ga 31069

    Email: ballers@ballersbaseballandsoftballacademy.com

    Phone:

Explore