Our Instructors

Janae Matos has been a lifetime softball lover. She graduated from  Catasauqua High School and was a 4-year starter and 3-year captain.  

Matos went on to Moravian College to  follow her dreams of playing collegiate softball. At Moravian, Janae was a 4-year starter and 3-year captain. In 2017 Matos was named the NCAA DIII National Catcher of the Year and NFCA First Team All-American. Janae was a two-time First Team Landmark Conference selection, Landmark Conference Player of the Year and All-Region selection.

She holds the record for the most putouts in a game with 19, and is among the leaders in career putouts (881) and career fielding percentage (.993). While being successful on the field was important, it was equally as important to thrive in the classroom.  Janae became a CoSIDA Academic All-American and was a member of the Landmark Conference Academic Honor Roll Team all 4 years of her career.  

She has continued to share her love of the game while becoming the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 18U Gold Team in the 2018-2019 season. Janae brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to 7DS.

Eric Lasko brings his passion for coaching and developing athletes to 7 Deadly Spins Fastpitch. Eric has been coaching since 2010 and started at the recreation level teaching beginner softball players all aspects of the game. In recent years he transitioned to coaching tournament softball. When Eric's daughter Madison showed an interest in catching and he learned alongside her. Together they spent hours practicing, studying, and researching techniques and drills. 

Coach Eric is passionate about developing young players into catchers and athletes. He pushes his students to not only understand the mental and technical aspects of catching, but also to build confidence in his students to be physically dominant behind the plate. 

Alanna Hartzell graduated from Northampton Area High School in 2020 as an active member of the Varsity softball team. She is continuing her academic and athletic career at DeSales University. 

Hartzell has been playing softball for a total of nine years and currently plays tournament softball on the Northwest Explosion 18u Gold team. Her positions are pitcher and 3rd base. She has been a student of Coach Alex for over 5 years. 

Hartzell has experience coaching at youth clinics with 7DS and at Northampton Area High School. “I’m very passionate about the sport of softball and how it has

positively impacted my life over the past nine years. Not only am I determined to make my players better, but more well-rounded athletes that are compassionate, motivated, and selfless.”

Danielle is a 2014 graduate of Catasauqua High School where she was a 3-year starter playing middle infield. She continued her career at LCCC to start while then transferring out to Penn State Schuylkill where she received her B.S. in Business Management/Marketing. While at Penn State, Danielle played second base for the Lady Lions where she averaged a .955 fielding percentage as well as a .415 batting average. 

One accomplishment she is proud of is having 50 total hits in her junior season at PSU, after really zoning in on getting better offensively. She was a two time USCAA All-American, Honorable Mention, for the Lions as well as a three time USCAA National All-Academic Team Member graduating Summa Cum Laude with a 3.98 GPA and making Dean's List each semester. 

Danielle brings incredible passion, knowledge and fun towards the game to 7DS. She will be an awesome addition to our team and she is excited to make an impact on young girls with the passion and love for the game.

Julianna Evans is a native to the Lehigh Valley. She graduated from Lehighton High School in  2012 where she was a pitcher and utility player. Julianna continued her education and softball career at Houghton College where she caught and pitched. Julie was a reliever for the Lions and primarily played 3rd base. After graduating college Evans coached at Lehighton High School for 3 seasons. She also joined the Lehigh Valley Patriots Women’s softball team and found her niche for pitching. Julianna joined 7DS as a front desk team member but quickly expressed interest in instructing. She remarks “I wish I had all these resources when I was playing”. Julianna is a 12th grade english teacher and often applies her teaching strategies to her pitching lessons at 7DS. We are excited to have Julianna on the 7DS team and look forward to her helping students reach their goals.

It is Nichole's personal mission to help youth build confidence within themselves to see and reach their potential both in their sport AND in their lives. Coach Nichole was always active in sports growing up, especially Track & Field. Nichole graduated with a B.S. in Exercise Science from Bloomsburg University. Coach Nichole is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the NSCA. 

Nichole has 9 years of experience coaching and training both kids and adults. Nichole's focus during speed training is on teaching proper running mechanics during acceleration, top speed, and multi-directional movements to help athletes become more efficient and reduce injuries. In addition to speed and strength training, Nichole also teaches yoga. She now enjoys incorporating yoga into her athletes' programs as a way of active recovery, for both mind and body.

Everything Nichole coaches (strength training, running, yoga) she also practices in her own personal time! Running became a passion at a young age. It taught her how to mentally push and keep going when things are tough. It's also always been a great way to release excess energy. Later she learned that utilizing strength training and yoga, helped her improve her performance in speed, and reduced injuries (especially repetitive low back and knee pains.) When your body is strong and can move well, your speed and overall athleticism will be better!