Jack Cust, Founder / Owner

Jack Sr. and his son Jack Jr. founded Jack Cust Baseball in 1997. Jack Sr. is well known and respected throughout the state of New Jersey for his contributions to baseball and for his wealth of knowledge and guidance he continues to pass on to players in the college recruiting and major league draft process. After having trained all three of his own sons, Jack Jr., Kevin and Mike, each was drafted out of high school by major league teams.

An accomplished player himself in the 70's, Jack played at Cathedral HS and went on to play collegiate baseball for Mike Sheppard at Seton Hall University. There he hit a grand slam in the NCAA Regional Final in the 9th inning to lead Coach "Shep" to his first College World Series appearance. Jack Sr. is responsible for the development of our hitting curriculum we call "The Process" that is preached in our Nationally Acclaimed Hitting School.

Keith Dilgard, President / General Manager

Keith Dilgard came to Jack Cust Baseball in 2005 after owning and operating his own baseball academy for the previous six years. Keith serves as the President and General Manager for Jack Cust Baseball and is responsible for the day to day operations. Keith is well known throughout New Jersey baseball for his playing and coaching career.

Keith was drafted by the San Diego Padres out of Bridgewater-Raritan HS in 1993 and attended Florida CC at Jacksonville where he was an All-American. He was again drafted in 1994 by the New York Yankees. He accepted a scholarship to Mississippi State University in the SEC Conference and was drafted once again by the Cincinnati Reds in 1996. In 1997, he pitched in the College World Series before a shoulder and elbow injury ended his playing career. Keith is a graduate of Mississippi State University with a degree in Business.

Lynne Vellucci, Vice President of Operations

Lynne Vellucci came to Diamond Nation in August of 2009 to act as Vice President of Operations. In addition to assisting Keith with the day to day functions of overall business operations, her responsibilities include overseeing the ancillary businesses within the Diamond Nation family: The Bullpen;, Diamond Nation's Pro Shop and The Dugout, Diamond Nation's Full Service Concession Stand.

Lynne has over 20 years of experience in business services, with concentrations in accounting, human resources administration and business management. Her experience spans many industries, including real estate, financial planning, health & fitness and recreational sport management.

Nick Massari, Asst. General Manager

Nick comes to Diamond Nation after a 3 year entrepreneurial food business with a strong background in both business and baseball. He was a standout player at Hamilton High West where he holds the all-time hit record of 127 hits. He graduated from Monmouth University in 2006, the same year he won honors as the NJ Player of the Year, NEC Player of the Year, and Regional Player of the Year. Nick went on to play professionally with the Washington Wild Things of the Independent Frontier League and has become a big name in NJ baseball.

Eric Citron, Director of Marketing

Eric Citron Has been involved in the Publishing, Sales and Marketing field for the last 25 years. He is the founder and publisher of the highly successful Baseball Player Magazine. He has brought his publishing expertise to Diamond Nation Magazine where he is currently the publisher. Along with Eric's sales, marketing and publishing background he is also a Nationally Known Magician. Eric is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz under-graduate and graduate schools of Psychology and Business.

Mike Raymond, Director of Baseball Operations

Mike is the Head Baseball Coach at Hunterdon Central Regional High School. While at Central, he has led the Red Devils to nine championships including the 2008 New Jersey Group IV State Championship. In addition to guiding the Red Devils success on the field, he has placed numerous Central players into college and professional baseball.

As the Director of Instructional Programs, Mike's primary role focuses on the quality and organization of our instructional programs including all camps, clinics, and educational seminars as well as all our Diamond Jacks teams.

Educationally, Mike has a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Rider University, and degrees in both Health and Physical Education as well as Corporate Fitness from The College of New Jersey. He is currently a Health and Physical Education teacher at Hunterdon Central.

Kathy Shoemaker, Director of Softball Operations

• All-State Pitcher & Shortstop at North Brunswick Township HS
• Played college softball at George Mason University
• Helped lead George Mason to (2) 40-win seasons
• Played for Team NJ Softball
• Coached NJ Elite, NJ Heat, Jersey Inferno Travel Teams

Ben Masur, Media Coordinator and Public Relations Liaison

Ben Masur started at Diamond Nation in October of 2009 after interning in the Communications and Media Relations Department with the New York Red Bulls. Prior to that, Ben interned for Major League Baseball and MLB.com as an Editorial Producer.

Ben graduated from Binghamton University in May of 2008 with a degree in English and was the Assistant Sports Editor at the school newspaper where he served as the beat writer for the men’s basketball team and broke a few stories that were picked up by Yahoo Sports and CBS Sportsline.

Kevin Tylus, Sales/Marketing

Kevin joined Diamond Nation in November of 2009. Kevin works in the Sales/Marketing Department and is an Assistant Coach for both the 10U and 11U Diamond Jacks teams. In his baseball playing career, Kevin helped lead Avon High School (Avon, CT) to three straight State Tournament appearances and in 2005 helped lead The Hun School of Princeton to the State Championship Game. Kevin graduated from Susquehanna University in May of 2009 with a B.A. in Communications.