Our Staff

JOE DEMARCO: President & Chief Operations Officer

DeMarco started Elite Baseball in 2003. Prior to opening Elite Baseball, Joe was an assistant Coach at UCI from 2001-2003 where his responsibilities included; Roaming coach, assisted with offense, defense, pitchers and base running. He assisted in recruiting efforts, assisted in coaching efforts in practice and games, organized camp and served as head counselor at UCI Baseball School. Before coming to UCI DeMarco coached for two seasons at his Alma Mater, the University of Kansas. He was in charge of Infielders and Base Running. As a professional DeMarco Spent two seasons in the San Diego Padres organization as a member of the Peoria Padres and the Idaho Falls Braves. As a collegiate he had a standout career: Four-year letter winner, Smith Super Team Candidate, Big 12 Batting Title (.429), 1997 Mizuno All American, 1997 Team Captain and MVP, 1997 1st Team All-Big 12 Shortstop, 1996 1st Team All-Big 8 Shortstop, 1995 National Baseball Congress All-American. DeMarco oversees all Elite Baseball teams and Private instruction at Elite Baseball. DeMarco graduated with a degree in Communication Studies with an Emphasis in Business from Kansas University in May of 1997.  Joe is also currently a hitting consultant to numerous MLB & MiLB players.

MITCH HOLLAND: Hitting Coordinator

Mitch Holland started with Elite in 2017 and Holland re-joined Elite in the summer of 2019 after getting hired as the catching and outfield coach at UC Irvine. Mitch will be assisting the hitting sessions at UCI, as well as running catching clinics for Elite. Holland played infield at Saddleback College for two years and then transferred to play at UC Irvine where he was a two time All-Big West selection. After graduating, Mitch stayed on staff at UCI as a graduate assistant coach and earned his Master’s in Business Administration. While he was a grad assistant, Mitch started working for Elite, doing hitting instruction in the cages. Mitch was later hired as an Economics teacher and assistant baseball coach at JSerra High School. Then moved on to be the hitting and infield coach at Saddleback College in the spring of 2019. 

DUSTIN KELLY: Hitting Coordinator

Dustin “DK”Kelly joined the Elite Baseball staff in 2011. His role is too over see the hitting instruction and development of the advanced hitters that train with Elite. From 2007-2010 he was an Assistant Coach at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His experience and expertise in hitting, infield, and outfield helped the Mustangs reach their first ever Division 1 Regional in 2009. Dustin attended high school at St. Joseph in Santa Maria, CA where he was a 3 time All Los Padres League Shortstop. In 2002, he led the St. Joseph Knights to the 2002 Division X CIF-SS Championship and was named CIF-SS Division X Player of the Year. After graduating high school, Dustin attended Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo and helped the Cougars win back-to-back Western State Conference Championships. In 2003, he was selected to the All Western State Conference Team. In 2004, Dustin was named Western State Conference Player of the Year. Shortly after, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 15th Round of the 2004 MLB Draft. Dustin spent 3 seasons with the Red Sox reaching AA and was a member of the 2006 Eastern League Championship Team.  Dustin is currently in Player Development with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an infield and hitting instructor.

CLAY WILLIAMSON: Assistant Hitting Coordinator

Clay joined Elite in 2016 after being a student of the program for the last eight years. He will assist at the Elite hitting sessions at UCI and Santa Ana.  As a prep he was a standout at JSerra high school, a 3x All Trinity League selection.  Earned a baseball scholarship to Cal State Fullerton where he excelled as an outfielder for the Titans.  An All Big West selection he was selected in the 19th round of the MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals.  Clay spent two years with the Nationals organization

AUSTIN DIEMER: Assistant Hitting Coordinator

Diemer joined Elite in 2017, he assists with all levels of hitters at UCI and Santa Ana. As a prep player Austin was a stand out at Rocklin high school, a 3x All Sierra League selection. Player collegiate baseball at Cal State Fullerton where he was an All Big West performer. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins, Austin spent three seasons in the Twins organization.

GEORGE THANOPOULOS: Pitching & Performance Instructor

George joined the Elite staff in 2018 after a professional career with the Colorado Rockies. After his playing career, he went in and served as an international envoy coach for MLB in China. While working at the prospect development centers in China, he was in charge of arm care, weight training, and mental skills programming. Before getting drafted in 2016, he played college baseball at Columbia University where he was a part of three Ivy League Championship teams, one being the winningest in school history. George also spent a year as the varsity pitching coach at Redlands East Valley High School where he lead the pitching staff to the lowest team ERA in school history,as well as, a conference championship. George is well versed in all aspects of the game, from training protocols to mental skills training. He is currently the Pitching coordinator at Mater Dei High school.

COLTON PLAIA: Catching Coordinator & Player Development Staff

Colton joined the Elite staff in 2019. He was a standout catcher at JSerra Catholic High School and was a two time All Trinity League selection. In 2009, helped the Lions to their first-ever Trinity League title. After finishing his time at JSerra, Colton began his time at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. During his tenure at LMU, Colton was twice selected to the All West Coast Conference First Team. During the 2012 season, he led the team in hitting and threw out 42% of base stealers. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 33rd round of the 2012 amateur draft but chose to return to LMU for his senior season. He joined the USA Collegiate National Team that summer helped the team to a bronze medal in the Honkbal Tournament against countries from around the world in Amsterdam, Netherlands. After being named to Baseball America's Top 100 prospects list, he finished his collegiate career leading the team in hitting, throwing out 42% of base stealers, and being named WCC Defensive Player of the year. He received his degree in Liberal Arts and was then selected in the 15th round of the draft by the New York Mets. He has played 6 seasons in the Mets organization 2013-19 with the last two seasons at the AAA level.

Brendan Campbell: Assistant Pitching, Hitting & Catching Coordinator

Brendan Campbell “BC” joined the Elite staff in 2019 and assists with hitting as well as pitching sessions for all levels.  Brendan played two years at Citrus College from 2013-2015 where he was a catcher and third baseman.  He then transferred to the University of La Verne and played his last two years for the leopards from 2016-2018 and helped La Verne win the SCIAC Conference Championship in 2018. 

DJ Daniels: Assistant Hitting Coordinator & Player Development Staff

Daryl Daniels Jr “DJ” started at Elite in 2019 and assists with Elite hitters and team practices.  He attended Bishop Amat High School and started his college career at Oregon State. After transferring his first year, he played 2 seasons of Junior College baseball at Mt San Antonio College.  Playing in 30 games with a batting average of .345, OBP .447  and slugged at .440 clip, helping him finally land at Lynn University. His best performance came his junior year, when he posted a .336 average and a .451 slugging percentage. After graduating in 2018 he went to winter ball to play with the Palm Springs Chill where he led the team in RBI’s. DJ was then invited to Spring Training in Mexico with APER Force de Ensenada. Currently coaching the Downey Dirt Devils.

Cody Van-Es: Assistant Hitting Coordinator & Player Development Staff

Cody Van-Es joined the Elite staff in 2021 and works with player development.  He is a Village Christian High school alumni where he was 1st team all league, silver slugger, MVP, and 2X golden glove winner. He received a scholarship and graduated from Bristol University with a bachelor's degree in business administration. After graduating from college he pursued his dream and played independent professional baseball for one season until an injury prevented him from playing. Ever since, Cody has been coaching athletes from elementary school to minor leaguers. Along with private baseball training, he has coached at Village Christian High school, baseball academies and baseball camps for the Los Angeles Dodgers and for the University of California Irvine. Coach Cody has been training players and teams for more than 10 years now and instructs in all aspects of the game such as infield, hitting, pitching and the mental part of the game. 

Dane Stankiewicz: Assistant Hitting Coordinator & Player Development Staff

Dane Stankiewicz joined Elite in 2021.  Born and raised in Arizona, he chose to play for his father at Grand Canyon University. Throughout his career at GCU he played all four positions in the infield and won three WAC titles. Graduating a year early and getting his senior year back due to Covid he finished his MA in leadership where he intends to use it for coaching college baseball. He is currently an assistant baseball coach at Saddleback College.

Daulton Hanks: Assistant Director of Baseball Operations

Daulton joined the Elite staff in 2019 after spending two years as the Assistant Director of Baseball Operations at the University of Oregon.  There he played for and worked under the legendary college baseball coach George Horton. Daulton is an advanced young coach with high level of knowledge in all areas of baseball. Hanks runs all levels of developmental teams as well assists with Elite hitting, pitching & catching sessions. As a player Daulton started his career as a Catcher at Shasta College before transferring to the University of Oregon where he played through 2014. After he was done playing he became the Graduate Assistant coach, outfield coach, and in game bullpen coach. In his first summer after coaching at the U of O he became the Assistant GM and Head Coach of the Klamath Falls Gems of GSBL Collegiate Summer Ball League. At the age of 22 he led the Gems to the best record in franchise history since joining the league. After he returned to the U of O to be the Assistant Director of Baseball Operations for one year before moving to Southern California joining the Elite staff in 2019.