About Angels

Showcase Softball

Ryan Leahy, Founder

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy,not on fighting the old, but on building the new"

- Socrates

Angels Showcase softball is about the journey. The transformation of young and promising early teen softball players into confident athletes and proven talents who are great students and leaders, on and off the field.

Angels Mission

We take great high school players and make them even better - with a focus on being competitive on a collegiate level.

Off-season program where positional skills, hitting, softball IQ and situational training are applied and in the fall and summer, tested with stiff competition on a national level.

We stress a proper physical training regimen, nutritional assistance as well as mental strength training.

We focus on leveraging their skills on the diamond to achieve their goals of playing softball in college, at schools that are academically and athletically a good fit for the player and student.

Our Leadership Team

Ryan Leahy

Founder & Coach

Ryan was a standout player at St. John's Prep where he earned MVP honors his senior year and was inducted into the Saint John’s Prep Hall of Fame in 2010. In college, he played one year at the University of San Francisco, and finished his college career at Boston College where he was team captain for two years and earned All-BIG EAST Second Team as well as All-BIG EAST Academic Team in 2003. He was signed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as a free agent and spent five years in their minor league system, winning a Texas League championship in AA with the Arkansas Travelers and a Pioneer League championship in 2004 with the Provo Angels. As a coach, Ryan spent two years at the University of Pittsburgh and from 2010 to 2011 he was in charge of the entire Bobby Valentine (former Boston Red Sox Manager) All American national showcases. Ryan also spent 2 years as Director of player development for Legends Baseball LLC. Ryan formally served as the Area Scout for the LA Angels.

Derek Dana

Catching & Coach

Derek graduated from St. Mary's High School of Lynn in 1988. During his tenure there, the Spartans won the Division 3 state title in 1987 and 1988 under then-coach Tgettis. Dana was a pitcher and catcher in high school, but focused on catching at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants and played three years in the Giants' minor-league system. He played another couple of years of independent baseball in Texas. Derek has been the head baseball coach at St Mary's High School since 2008, winning the Div III state title in 2015 and was named the Boston Globe Coach of the Year that same year.

Dan Letarte

Assistant Coach

Dan has been the varsity baseball coach at St John's Prep since July 2013 and has led the Eagles to into the Super 8 Tournament and Catholic Conference Championships from 2014-2018. He has been a faculty member there since September 1998.

Eric Shepperson

Hitting Coordinator & Coach

Coming soon...

Colleen Newbury

Pitching & Coach

Coming soon...

Isabella Russo

Recruiting Director & Coach

Isabella graduated from Southington High School (Southington, CT) in 2015. Winning 3 state championships during her tenure, she was a part of the nationally ranked high school in the Class L division. The high honors student was a winner of several on-the-field awards, including the Selfless Award (2014) and Rally Starter Award (2015). She went on to play at the University of Saint Joseph serving as a captain for 3 years. She was a part of the GNAC winning team in 2019 and clinched a spot on the All-Tournament Team. After Saint Joe's, she went on to get her Master's in the Administration of Higher Education from Suffolk University which landed her the Head Softball Coach job at Salem State University. In her inaugural season, she brought the team to playoffs for the first time in six years. She specializes in College Recruiting and currently runs the Orientation process at Salem State University.

2023 Coaching
Staff

12U NAVY:

COLLEEN NEWBURY

St. Mary's Varsity Head Softball Coach

14U HALO:

ERIC SHEPPERSON, KRISTINA YEBBA

St. John's Prep Varsity Assistant Coach,

Infielder at the University of Southern Maine

14U NAVY:

RYAN LEAHY, CATE MURRAY

Salem State University Softball Assistant Coach,

Utility Player at Colgate University

16U NAVY:

MADISON DANA, TIANNA DAWE

Catcher at Bridgewater State / Lynn Classical '19,

Pitcher at Emmanuel College / Peabody '19

16U HALO:

LAUREN DONOVAN, JOLIE QUINTANA

Pitcher at Stonehill College,

Utility Player at Suffolk University

18U GOLD:

DEREK DANA

St. Mary's Varsity Head Baseball Coach

18U HALO:

ISABELLA RUSSO

Salem State University Head Softball Coach,

St. John's Prep Varsity Head Baseball Coach

Player Development

Best of the Best

Developing great players means starting with great teachers who both know the game and can help the players understand how small changes can make big differences. Once a skill has been learned, applying it to real game situations and then allowing those skills to translate into muscle memory with constant practice. This is a process that takes place all year long, no matter what position is being played.