Staff Info

Mark Stratton began his duties as General Manager in December 2017 after serving as the VP of Sales & Marketing with US Baseball beginning in January, 2016.

Prior to that, Stratton spent 2 years in the private sector in various managerial roles for Market Fresh Produce, a national produce

marketing company, owned by Springfield native, Steve Phipps, that is located in Nixa, MO.

Mark has been involved in the coaching and promotion of amateur baseball in the Springfield area for over 30 years. He spent 25 years coaching at Glendale HS, leading the Falcons for 13 years as the head baseball coach.

Stratton left the high school ranks in 2006 to spend 7 years at Drury University reviving the Panther Baseball Program to prominence at the NCAA Division II level.

 A 1977 graduate of Southwest Missouri State University, Mark received his Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri in 1981.  Married to his high school sweetheart, Gay SuAnn, they have been blessed with 4 children, and 6 grandchildren.

Mackie Karlson is entering her forth year working with US Baseball and The Show Me Collegiate League. A Nixa, Missouri native, Mackie graduated in 2015 from Nixa High School and has a bachelors' a degree in Exercise and Movement Science/Biology from Drury University. Mackie fell in love with game of baseball at a young age as her dad raised her to love the Kansas City Royals. Throughout high school Mackie spent a majority of her time helping the Nixa High School Football Coach and Baseball Coach in strength and conditioning training in the off seasons. Being involved in athletics, whether in a uniform or later in the weight room, Mackie found her passion in the mechanics of how an athletic body achieves and becomes an elite athlete. Her favorite part, she says, about working for The Show Me Collegiate League and US Baseball is that every player brings a story to the field, there is not a single player who has experienced the same pathway to wearing a college jersey and the perseverance of these players each year amazes her. She has a great love for the game and continues every day to be a part of a program that promotes talent and work ethic through the Show Me Collegiate League and everything US Baseball provides.

Contact Mackie at mkarlson@theusbaseball.com or 417.849.6454

Brody Johnson is US Baseball Parks I.T. Coordinator and Operations Assistant. This is Brody's first season at the ballpark after spending his first few months learning the ropes, Brody has learned the game of baseball quickly and is a valuable asset to the facility. Brody is a Springfield-native, having graduated high school from Parkview and playing Soccer, Brody spent his freshman year of college on the soccer team at Drury University. Brody is currently branching out and finding that the world of sports is vast and his love for the competitive atmosphere is high. You can find Brody running across the concourse or the field in between games, and during games he becomes the voice of US Baseball. Brody's favorite thing about US Baseball he says is "I get to watch Baseball as a job, that's like the coolest thing ever!" Brody is truly a jack of all trades and a great addition to our team.

Former Bear Aaron Meyer begins his first year as the Show Me Collegiate League Commissioner and his third year as a member of the Bears’ coaching staff and his first as MSU’s volunteer assistant coach. 
 
Following the completion of his four-year Missouri State playing career, the Millstadt, Ill., native served as a student assistant for the Bears while wrapping up work on his undergraduate degree in 2018, before filling one of the staff’s graduate manager positions during the 2019 campaign. Meyer worked with the MSU infielders and hitters, in addition to assuming first-base coaching duties in 2018.
 
A first-team All-MVC choice at second base as a senior in 2017, Meyer hit .292 with career-best figures for homers (4), slugging (.441) and fielding percentage (.962), despite being limited to 41 games due to a season-ending knee injury. For his career, he batted .287 with 164 total hits, six homers and 76 RBIs in 187 games, including 151 starts.
 
As a junior, Meyer emerged as one of the Bears’ top offensive threats, hitting a career-best .315 and posting the longest hitting streak by a Valley player in 2016 with a 20-game streak. He turned in a torrid summer of 2016 with the DuPage Drones, setting a Prospect League record for hitting (.423) en route to collecting the circuit’s Mike Schmidt Player of the Year honor. Additionally, he was named MSU’s Danny Cook Rookie of the Year after starting 32 of the Bears’ 57 games and hitting .226 for the season.
 
Meyer graduated from MSU with his degree in sport administration in 2018. Meyer has transitioned nicely into the Show Me Collegiate League. 

Kaitlyn Stratton is US Baseball’s Office Manager. She was born and raised in Springfield, MO and spent most of her days as a child watching her dad play baseball and her grandpa coach. Kaitlyn graduated from Glendale High School in 2015 where she played soccer and was a member of StuCo and eventually became the Student Body VP her senior year. She now attends SBU School of Nursing and plans to be a nurse practitioner. 

Previously known as the Show Me League Commissioner,   

Joe Lincoln brings seven years of experience as a Division I coach to the US Baseball team. Since the fall of the 2014 season, Lincoln has been working for Missouri State University under Keith Guttin. Prior to that Joe worked on the staff of fellow Missouri Valley Conference member Southern Illinois after a two-year stint at Austin Peay. Lincoln will assist with the day-to-day operations of the league while also serving as the league commissioner this summer. From a coaching stand point, Lincoln has served on three very successful staffs. At Missouri State, Joe works with the catchers and also assists Paul Evans with the pitchers. During his time at Austin Peay, Lincoln assisted the Governor's catchers while also aiding with the hitting and strength and conditioning programs. He helped the Governors to 40-win seasons and Ohio Valley Conference titles in each of his two years on head coach Gary McClure’s staff, highlighted by runner-up finishes at both the NCAA Eugene (Ore.) Regional in 2012 and the Bloomington (Ind.) Regional in 2013. In 2014, Lincoln reprised his role at Southern Illinois, working with the Salukis catchers and hitters, while helping oversee SIU’s camp operations as part of head coach Ken Henderson’s staff. In the summer of 2016 he was the Head Coach for a new franchise, the DuPage Drones of the Prospect League. In his one season as Head Coach, DuPage finished the Prospect League with the second best overall record. He also served as a hitting instructor with the Bourne Braves of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League last summer. A former standout catcher at Missouri Southern, Lincoln began his coaching career after playing two professional seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor league system.