In the fall of 2019 Dawson Lane showed up to practice atFlorida Southern. 2 weeks late he finally was cleared after transferring in from Montreat College, an NAIA school in the Carolinas. Dawson did not see any innings as a freshman and was picked up at Florida Southern College over the summer after a successful summer ball season. Dawson came in around 6’5 185 lbs some disconnected mechanics. He had a long arm action and bailed out with his upper half. His delivery did not match his raw numbers as he showed some promise in the gym with the highest vertical and broad jump on the team. His ability to produce force quickly was unmatched against his peers. Unsure if of his role at Florida Southern, Dawson navigated his fall trying to earn innings as a soft lefty. During the shortened 2020 season Dawson saw 3.1 innings with a mid-70s fastball and a 10 ERA.
Enter Connected Performance. Dawson played summer ball during the 2020 season to get more innings. However, he soon realized that his velocity was a major contributor holding him back from earning valuable innings. In the fall of 2020, Dawson signed up to train remotely with Connected Performance. Our main goal here was simple, not easy. We noticed Dawson had an athletic and smooth arm action while throwing a football but not a baseball. Some athletes tend to look like they’ve been over coached their entire life and their movement patterns are not smooth or clean. By no means was this Dawson’s fault. Instead of drowning Dawson in verbal queues, drills, and word salad; we handed him a football and a few constraints. We told him to be athletic as possible and let your body do the work. Over time, Dawson’s mechanics cleaned up immensely while we had him on our lifting and mobility program. Dawson continued to gain weight although he was considered a “hard gainer.” By the beginning of the spring Dawson’s velo had climbed to 86-88 touching 89. Not only did Dawson add the velocity he needed, but he turned into the best reliever on the team sporting a 1.59 ERA in the 2021 season.
Dawson’s work didn’t stop there. He elected to take a hybrid summer approach to his training. He wanted to train the first half of the summer then get some innings under his belt at the end. This is something we see a lot with long time athletes who can manage and understand their program. Dawson went out during the summer and performed the best he’s ever pitched. The lefty touched 91 mph while sitting 88-89 MPH from the left side. He continued to train over the fall and winter leading into the 2022 season. At this point Dawson has gained over 12 mph in a year and a half. His average fastball has continued to rise and so has his contribution to the team.
Throughout the 2022 season so far, Dawson is statistically the best pitcher on the already impressive Florida Southern staff. He has served as the top reliever and now a conference starter. He currently has a 1.74 ERA with a 3-1strikeout to walk ratio. He has multiple wins over nationally ranked teams and has continued to dominate one of the most competitive conferences in D2 baseball.
To be Connected Performance’s next success story, emailTraining@Connected-Performance.com.