Legendary travel ball coach, Greg Schnute, founder of the East Cobb Bullets in 1996, announced on Friday that JD Heath and Andrew Biele will be taking over the club organization effective this summer.

“Greg is still going to remain on the board and be active with the club as the founder,” Biele explained, “but he felt it was important to make sure the legacy of the program was in good hands moving forward.

Schnute has long been a fixture in the travel ball world and was even honored two years ago by the Georgia House of Representatives who declared March 25, 2022, “EC Bullets Day” with House Resolution 1030 recognizing the nearly 30-year-old organization and Schnute, its founder.

Here’s the two-and-a-half-minute clip of that ceremony:

Why Heath and Biele to take over the Bullets leadership?

“JD and Andrew have done a great deal for our program and the sport of softball,” Schnute said.

“These are two well respected people in the softball community. They have won at the highest level, having won multiple national championships and have had multiple teams finish with No. 1 ranked team in the year end US Club Rankings.”

“They understand the recruiting landscape, have unbelievable relationships with both college coaches and all the national event companies. Their values and ability to teach and develop these young ladies is what our program continues to require.”

Heath added that this is much more than the winning and losing on the fields.

 “We want to build a program to help young athletes achieve their dreams and teach them life lessons,” he explained.

“It needs to be about the girls. We want to make the sport less expensive for families and be able to provide tremendous value for our coaches, players and parents.”

Biele added he is excited about the future of the program and couldn’t say enough good things about Coach Schnute.

“Greg has done so much for the game,” Biele began.

“He is one of the godfathers of the sport, especially here in the Southeast and he should be honored for everything he has done for the game. The best way for JD and me to honor him is to help make the Bullets the best organization in the country.”

“All I can tell you is no one is going to do more for their coaches and athletes than us. We have some exciting announcements coming.”

In December 2023, I ranked Schnute as a Top 10 club coach at the 18U level for his many accomplishments including:

• Coaching 500-plus players who have gone on to college success including Kelly Barnhill, Lexi Kilfoyl, Sam Show among the hundreds of others,
• Winning the 2018 Triple Crown Sports National Championship,
• Finishing 2^nd last year at the Alliance 18U Nationals,
• Finishing Top 10 in 2023 at the TCS Nationals,

Line Drive Softball will have more on Schnute this summer to honor his numerous contributions to the sport.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball