Ken Ryan - Owner/Director of Instruction

Ken was born in Pawtucket RI and was raised in nearby Seekonk MA. He fulfilled a dream by signing a contract with the Boston Red Sox after graduating from Seekonk High School in 1986. After 6 years in the minor league levels of the Red Sox organization, Ken made his Major League debut with the Boston Red Sox in 1992. Ken was an important part of the Boston Red Sox bullpen from 1993-1995. Ken won 7 games for the Red Sox in '93 and in '94 collected 13 saves with a 2.44 era. After the '95 season Ken was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. He had a spectacular '96 campaign with a 2.43 era and 7 saves. In all Ken spent 15 years in professional baseball playing for Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and the New York Yankee organizations. Ken oversees all baseball programs at the KR Baseball Academy and is the lead instructor of all pitching classes. The KR Express 9u-16u AAU program was started by Ken in 2009 and has been a great success. Ken has been a color analyst for NESN covering the Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs.  Recently Ken has been the color analyst for Cape Cod Baseball games broadcast on Fox College Sports.    


John Robbins- Manager, Instructor/Head Coach for Express 14u

John was born and raised in Pawtucket RI and graduated from St. Raphael Academy in 2008. John was a member of the varsity baseball team for all four years 2004-08. As a sophomore he became the starting catcher and was named to 1st team All Division 1 North, by the R.I. Baseball Coaches Association. John has worked for KR Baseball since 2007 under the tutelage of Ken Ryan. John is an instructor in our Baseball Academy, Pitcher's Club, and Hitter's Club. John is also in his tenth year of coaching the AAU Express. John is available for private lessons on hitting, pitching, catching, and fielding.

Softball Instructor:  Darien McDonough

Darien is a senior at La Salle Academy and is an Honor/AP student with a 4.0. She verbally committed to Boston College to play softball in 2019 and signed her Letter of Intent in November 2020. Darien plays for Dave Lotti of RI Thunder Gold and is a 4 year starter on his team which is nationally ranked in the country. Darien also plays softball for LSA and as a sophomore hit 3 Home Runs in the playoffs helping her team win a State Title for the first time in 11 years. She was a ProJo All- State Selection and nominated for Gatorade Player of the Year. Darien was recently ranked the 18th best outfielder in the country by Extra Innings Softball and FastpitchNetwork and was also ranked #43 all around player in the country for the Class of 2021. This past fall for RI Thunder Gold, Darien led her team in Home Runs, hits, stolen bases, runs scored and extra-base hits. Darien will be playing her final season with LSA and RI Thunder this year before moving on to BC. 

Darien is available for private lessons.  Please call K R Baseball to schedule a lesson.