As a young boy I waited at the end of the street for Dad to get home from work because I couldn’t wait to pitch to him in the backyard. I always organized the highly competitive neighborhood games of Wiffle Ball and pickle. We even played stickball with a broom handle and tennis ball through my high school years.

I always had a love for the game and found a lot of different ways to enjoy playing it with family and friends. Those sandlot games and the repetition of throwing bullpens in the yard with my Dad undoubtably helped me become a better pitcher. But unfortunately, as a youngster they didn’t help me become a smarter pitcher, who had the confidence to get the biggest Little League hitters out in live games.

As I progressed through high school, received a scholarship to Western Kentucky University, and got drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, I realized that having the natural gift of a live arm wasn’t enough. I took plenty of beatings in college and early professional ball from not fully recognizing the differences between a pitcher and a thrower.

I could throw 95 MPH every time I took the mound as a pro pitcher, but it was not the determining factor in my success. I finally recognized that I needed to keep the ball down in the strike zone, throw off speed pitches for strikes, and back hitters up off the plate!

My “aha moment” was when I finally realized, when I consistently hit the target I was aiming at, with different pitches, I was successful every single time. In a nutshell, my pitch control was the biggest determining factor on my journey to MLB, not velocity.

After my playing career ended I had a passion for teaching young pitchers the lessons I learned in my playing career. I wanted to give young players a pitching target that showed all the spots that needed to be hit for success. I wanted to see direct feedback reflecting how often a pitcher hit the spot they’re aiming at. I wanted to document location data so pitchers could understand their strengths and weaknesses. As a result, I invented the LoKator Pitching Target and developed the iOS LoKator Bullpen App.

During the research and development phase of the LoKator System I decided to test the it at the college level as pitching coach of Indiana University Southeast. In my first year our pitching staff improved from 122nd to 9th in the nation in BB/ per 9 IP. As a result of our pitching staff’s exceptional control, we also improved from 113th to 12th in the nation in team ERA. We won the conference championship and got the schools first bid to the NAIA National Championship.

At this time I am very proud to offer you the LoKator System. It’s the pitching target I wish I had as a young boy. It’s the target I could have used before Dad got home from work that also would have saved his shins when he caught for me. It’s the pitching backstop we could have used in Wiffle Ball games. It’s the system that would have given me the confidence to get any hitter out. It’s the location data that transformed me from a thrower to a pitcher, and ultimately got me to the Big Leagues.

Thank you for visiting our page and please contact me personally for any help you may need in developing your pitcher!

Sincerely,

Steve Stemle