OUR STORY: FROM A SINGLE BAT TO THE LEADING TRAINING PRODUCTS COMPANY IN THE INDUSTRY

It Started in a Backyard

Before there was a company, there was a backyard, and a father kneeling in the grass, holding a plastic bat steady for a two-year-old who could barely wrap his hands around it.

Joe Sliepka didn't set out to build a business. He set out to raise three boys who loved baseball the way he did. Training started at age two, not with drills or pressure, but with joy: a ball, a bat, and a dad who was always there. As Joey, Mikey, and JJ grew, so did the training. And so did their father's questions: How to make a training bat improve the swing and still feel like the real thing, how to make the tee more functional, why do young arms hurt?

In his quest to find the answers he came across a local baseball company called Muhl Tech. Working with the company, he designed new training products to improve skills.

Every idea had to survive the toughest review panel in America: three brothers who swung it, threw at it, and told him the truth. The ones that passed the backyard test turned out to work for other players too. Coaches started asking where he got his equipment. The equipment he developed.

2001: Muhl Tech Is Born

The journey began in 2001 as Muhl Tech, driven by a singular mission: to create skill-specific training products that delivered measurable results. We started with the revolutionary MUHL Training Bat and the Advanced Skills Tee, tools that quickly became staples in serious training programs nationwide.

For over two decades, that foundation of quality and innovation has been our guiding principle. We expanded our product line, from best-quality, high-value protective screens to Pro-Grade rebounders and proprietary hitting and pitching equipment, never losing sight of our original goal. And the standard never changed: if it wasn't good enough for his own three boys, it wasn't good enough for other boys and girls wanting to improve.

Year after year, the family's inventions kept setting the direction of effective training: the Power Bag and the Power Ball series, the ALL Skills Tee and the new standard, the AceTee, the Shadow Zone™, the Plyo Wall™ series, the water-filled H2O Tsunami™ Football series, the Ace series (AceBandz™, AceBallz™, AceGripz™), and the Rebounder series, excellent products that didn't follow training trends; they led them. Ace Performance has several proprietary designs, trademarks and patents about to be introduced that have the possibility to revolutionize strength and training.

The boys used these products, and they helped them play their way through college: Joey at Harvard, Mikey at Yale, JJ at Brown. Three brothers, three schools, one shared passion.

2018: A New Chapter, and the Sons Come Home

In 2018, a new chapter, filled with energy and innovation, began as Mikey Sliepka (Yale '18, Baseball) became the owner and driving force of the company. The company rebranded as American Baseball & Softball to reflect a wider vision: to become the most trusted and diversified top-of-the-line equipment provider for players, parents, and top programs across the nation.

But Mikey didn't come home alone and do this on his own. Each brother brought his gift back to the now family business:

• Joey Sliepka (Harvard '16) became an orthopedic surgeon and is Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Washington. As the company's chief medical advisor, he gives our products their scientific backbone, every design measured against what young bodies, shoulders, and arms can safely do. The boy who trained from age two now protects the arms of the next generation.
• JJ Sliepka (Brown '19), a Vice President at Landmark Partners, serves as financial advisor to the business. His discipline is why we can hold two promises at once: the highest quality, and honest prices. We buy direct from stable, long-term manufacturing partners overseas, cut out the middlemen, and pass the savings to the families and programs who trust us.

The Legacy Lives On: AceSportz and Ace Performance

The legacy lives on as AceSportz was created to focus on proprietary training products, and it has become a leader in player development and performance. AceSportz has the energy, drive, and experience to provide the best innovative equipment for the development and future of the sport: the family's own inventions, put directly into the hands of the players they were built for. Train Anywhere, Anytime, and always Overbuilt · Underpriced.

Last year, the family expanded its sub-brands, building out AceSportz and launching Ace Performance, the training home of the family's methods, carrying everything the Sliepkas learned in that backyard to players and coaches everywhere: Train Smarter, Perform Better. Made to Train. Built to Perform.

That same care goes into teaching. The company carefully produces high-quality training videos for its products, how to use each tool, the drills to run, and how to progress, so every coach and player can train correctly and get the maximum benefit. We not only sell equipment; we teach you how to train with it.

From Backyard to Fields Everywhere

Starting in a small leased property, today the company has grown to multiple warehouses and handles orders from all 50 states and even outside the US. But with the growth, every new product is still developed the way the first ones were: out of a real training need, made with care, tested hard. We still control all aspects of design, production, and delivery.

The equipment is almost always shipped the day of the order and arrives in 2–5 days, and we still stand behind everything we sell with service that treats customers the way a father would want his own children treated.

Today, our products are trusted and used by MLB organizations, Division I college programs, training facilities, parents, and players of every level. That trust was never bought. It was built: one backyard, one prototype, at a fair price every time.

Our Promise

It has been the family's promise since the start: the best training products, the best prices, the best service.

Our Mission

Make Every Practice More Productive.
Help Every Player Reach Their Utmost Potential.

The two-year-old with the plastic bat is grown now, and so are his brothers. But somewhere tonight, another father is kneeling in another backyard, holding a bat steady for another two-year-old. We build our products for them.

The Sliepka Family