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Our Mission

Our staff strives to create the optimal environment for player development. We teach players how to physically, emotionally, and strategically improve their skills in order to succeed in competition. 

meet the coaches

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Zach Racusin

Owner & Director of Player Development

A Morris County native, Zach Racusin is the owner and director of player development at Rax Hax Pro Performance. Racusin’s playing career has taken him through 8 professional seasons, an accoladed season in the Big East at Georgetown University, a strong career at Marist as a .320 hitter in the MAAC and an All-American NJCAA season at CCBC-Essex in Baltimore. Racusin’s professional career has included stops in all three of the MLB Partner Leagues; Atlantic League, Frontier League, and American Association. As a coach and trainer, 70+ of Racusin’s former academy clients have moved on to collegiate programs since 2017. 52 of these players have earned scholarships at Division 1 or Division 2 institutions. Racusin has had over 20 NJ All-State / All-County athletes and numerous all-conference and division players train in his programs. 17 RaxHax hitters have signed professional contracts. Racusin has 5 years of collegiate coaching experience, including assisting with the recruiting at CCBC-Essex and as a hitting and defensive coach at the County College of Morris. Prior to joining the CCM staff, Racusin recruited over half of the starting position players that appeared on the 2018 CCBC-Essex roster, a 2018 NJCAA D2 World Series team.  With CCM, Racusin was part of multiple Garden State Athletic Conference championships and appearances in the NJCAA Region 19 tournament. At CCM, over 15 positional players moved on to 4-year college programs during that time. 

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In 720 starts between collegiate and professional baseball, Racusin has amassed 783 hits, a .304/.381/.425 slash line, 159 stolen bases, 150 extra base hits, over 360 runs scored, over 320 runs batted in, and 59 outfield assists while starting at all three outfield positions and three infield positions. Through 8 years of professional baseball, years in the MAAC, Big East, and elite summer collegiate baseball, Racusin has struck out only 243 times in over 3000 plate appearances. 

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Racusin was one of 6 players in the Frontier League to register over 100 hits, 20 extra base hits, and 25 stolen bases in the 2021 season, and the only player to do this playing 5 positions. Racusin also led the league in outfield assists while playing errorless defense at 2nd and 3rd base. In 2019, Racusin became the 8th player to register 100 hits in a calendar season in Lake Erie franchise history. A .291 hitter in professional baseball, Racusin has appeared alongside over 100 ex-MLB players and competed against 140 pitchers with MLB time. In the Covid-Shortened 2020 season for the New York Boulders, Racusin won the batting (.475) OBP (.529), and OPS (1.129) titles in the 6 team AABC Pro League.

 

Racusin’s senior offensive season at Georgetown remains in the record books, including registering the 6th most single-season hits of all time at GTown. Racusin led the NCAA East District in hits and outfield assists that season, was named a CoSida Academic All-District CF for his efforts, and was the second toughest hitter in all of college baseball to strike out (10k in 285 plate appearances). In his summer collegiate career, Racusin re-wrote the record books for the Silver Spring Thunderbolts of the Cal Ripken Collegiate League, setting franchise records in single-season hits, runs, outfield assists, and placing top 5 in franchise records in those categories as well as on-base percentage and batting average. Racusin was twice named a CRCBL All-League player, made two All-Star game appearances, and was named a league Top Draft Prospect in 2015 by Perfect Game.

 

Racusin attended Gill St. Bernard’s School and Salisbury School during his prep years, earning NJ All-State/All-Area/1st team All Somerset County honors in 2011 as a utility player, and first team all New-England honors as a senior at Salisbury in 2012. At Gill in 2011, Racusin hit .508 and led Somerset County in ERA, wins, and strikeouts. Racusin was named to the Central Jersey HS All-Decade team for 2010-2019. In 2012, Racusin was a starting CF on an undefeated Salisbury team that won a New England championship and finished nationally ranked in the high school baseball polls.

 

Racusin earned his undergraduate degree in history at Marist, his Master's in Sports Management at Georgetown, and has an extensive background in strength and conditioning, TPI-certified movement instruction and sports-based data analysis. Racusin's work has been featured in the Star-Ledger, Men's Health Magazine, the ABCA, and he has been a guest on a number of baseball related podcasts and interview platforms discussing his unique background as a player and a coach. 

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Nate Miller

Performance Coach / Media Associate

In addition to his role as performance coach for RaxHax, Nate is a current hitting coach for the Drew University Rangers. A 2024 graduate of Drew and a Morris County native, Nate recently finished an accoladed collegiate career at Drew University after stops at the County College of Morris and Post University.

 

At Drew, Nate wrote his name into the program record books in a number of offensive categories finishing Top 10 in single season/career home runs, fielding percentage, total bases and on-base percentage en route to an All-Landmark Conference nod in 2024. His home run and fielding percentage totals are tops in program history. Nate earned All-Conference/All-Region and NJCAA Academic All-American nods while at CCM from 2019-2021.

 

A RaxHax program alumnus who trained here throughout the entirety of his collegiate career, Nate will bring valuable insight to our athletes. With defensive experience at 5 positions throughout his collegiate career, Nate is available for offensive and defensive training here at RaxHax. 

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Liam MCarthur

Performance Coach / Manager - Program Design

A Somerset County native, Liam McArthur brings an accomplished collegiate and professional career along with NCAA Division 2 coaching experience to our organization.

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Liam was a 4 year letter winner for Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, NJ where he collected over 100 hits for the Red Devils, being twice named to the NJ All-State team in 2014 and 2015. 

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Collegiately, Liam received a scholarship to Seton Hall University and made Big East appearances for the Pirates over two seasons before transferring to Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania in 2018 and 2019. An everyday player for LHU, Liam hit .384 and .408 in his final two collegiate seasons en route to First Team All- PSAC and All-Atlantic Region honors in three publications.

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In summer collegiate baseball, Liam was a .316 career hitter in the prestigious NECBL for the Ocean State Waves, and a Cal Ripken Collegiate League All-Star in 2016 for Alexandria. 

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Liam served as an assistant coach at Lock Haven University from 2020-2021. In 2022, Liam signed a professional contract with the Empire State Greys of the Frontier League, a Professional Partner League of Major League Baseball. Between Empire State and Ottawa, Liam finished up with a .326 batting average and .415 on base percentage in his 85 games. In addition to participating in our pro training group, Liam is available for offensive, defensive, and throwing instruction.

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Justin grippo

Performance Coach / Baseball Operations Associate

Mahwah, NJ native Justin Grippo brings a background as a successful collegiate pitcher and hitter to the staff at Rax Hax.

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A Rax Hax academy alumnus, Justin played his first 2 years of collegiate baseball at Bergen Community College where he helped lead the team to a school record of 30 wins and a #3 national ranking in the NJCAA Division 3 polls. 

 

After graduating BCC, Justin attended Ramapo College. In 2021, Grippo led the Roadrunners in almost every offensive category, slashing .317/.448/.476 , driving in 26 runs and playing perfect defense in center en route to ALL-NJAC Conference honors. 

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After graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Management, Justin finished his playing career as a graduate transfer at William Patterson University in 2022. Justin served as an everyday centerfielder and helped the Pioneers achieve their first NJAC Championship since 1997 and first NCAA Regional appearance since 1999.

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At all three programs, in addition to providing elite outfield defense and a steady offensive presence, Justin competed as a two-way player and made appearances both as a reliever and starting pitcher throughout his collegiate career. 

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He is currently pursuing his masters degree in Physical Education at William Paterson University. Justin is available for hitting, throwing, and strength and conditioning instruction.

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