Darren M. Nelson (Owner / Instructor)
Darren M. Nelson graduated Orange High School in 1983 where he was selected as an All Century League player and First Team All County player in his Senior year.
Darren spent two years at Fullerton College where he was First Team All Conference and in 1985 Team MVP. Darren then attended Chapman University where he was selected as a First Team All American. In 1987, he was also named Conference Player of the Year after hitting for the California Collegiate Conference Triple Crown – .388 Avg, 21 HR and 77 RBI’s in 54 games.
Darren was an 11th round draft selection by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1987. After having spent two years with the Cardinals and two years with the Angels, Darren started Sluggers in 1997 located in Huntington Beach.
After 12 years and over 25,000 lessons under his belt, Sluggers is still going strong. Darren resides in Huntington Beach, married to wife, Jeanette, and has two daughters and a son, Rylee, Jaycee, and Luke respectively.
Tony Cappuccilli (Camp Director, Private Instruction)
Tony joined Sluggers in 2009. Tony played high school baseball right here in Huntington Beach at Edison High School. In 1998 and 1999, Tony was a First Team All Sunset League player. In 1999, Tony was also named the Sunset League MVP and set the Orange County Career Homerun Record, All Orange County Team, All State Team, and All American High School Baseball Team.
Tony played his College Baseball Career at the University of Nevada. In 2003, he was named to the All Western Athletic Conference Team. He played professionally for the Florence Freedom and Reno Astros Independent Baseball Clubs. Currently, Tony is an Assistant Coach at Irvine Valley College and resides in Huntington Beach.
Grant Theophilus (Private Instruction)
Grant graduated from Ocean View High School in 2003 where he was the 2003 Golden West League Pitcher of the Year. Following his senior season he was a 43rd round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays. He went on the play two seasons at Golden West College and was selected in the 34th round by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2004 draft. In 2005, he was the Most Valuable Player and a 2nd Team Orange Empire Conference Selection.
He then attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from 2005-2008 on a baseball scholarship and started in all three seasons. Grant has also played on a handful on Summer semi-pro teams including the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in the Alaska Summer League, and the San Luis Obispo Blues.