As a middle school baseball player growing up outside Philadelphia, Zach Kurtz joined a family-run training facility and team, spending four hours there most days through his senior year to perfect his game. When one of those extended family members, Landon Vargas, died at age 9 after a four-year cancer battle, Kurtz knew he’d never forget the younger boy with whom he’d played video games, thrown baseballs, and attended Phillies games.

In his senior year at UR, Kurtz finally pinned down an idea to honor the young boy’s legacy, as he partnered with Landon’s family to create LV Lumber and its custom bats. They’re now used in Major League Baseball.

“We always knew we wanted to do something for Landon, and the fact that we were all in the baseball world, we started there,” said Kurtz, who played infield for the Spiders.

His native Pennsylvania was known for growing hardwoods and a regional bat-manufacturing industry. Deciding over his last winter college break to jump into this specialty niche, Kurtz spent his final semester in 2019 refining the business plan and opening LV. He's currently raising capital from investors to expand the product line and increase the use of LV bats in pro baseball. Since its founding, 25% of profits have directly funded pediatric cancer research and related causes.

“It’s a way for me at this point to stay involved in baseball, but also stay involved in helping kids who are struggling and battling something that no kid should ever have to go through,” said Kurtz, who used his baseball connections to hire the right staff and spark early sales. LV is his side passion, which he turns to after his full-time job in strategy and operations for a venture-backed fintech startup.

As a player, Kurtz started using a niche bat in high school and noticed an immediate difference in quality. Playing with that bat, produced by a then-small Pennsylvania manufacturer, piqued his interest in this market.

His hands-on experiences allow him to work with his partners on developing LV’s proprietary approaches for grading lumber — primarily maple, ash, and birch — to select the sturdiest wood and tweak the chemical formula for a finish that protects and adds stability to the bat. When both elements peak, the result is the clear, resounding crack when the bat strikes the ball.

While some pro hitters can manage a season with only a handful of bats, others can go through up to 100 bats in a 162-game season, which makes durability just as crucial as fit in a high-performance bat.

“We’ve tested the hardness of our bats, and we’ve done exit velocity tests of our bats versus others, and ours always outperform,” Kurtz said, explaining velocity tests measure how hard a baseball comes off the bat when it’s hit. “That’s a combination of the wood and the finish.”

Wood bats are used exclusively in MLB, and Vinny Capra, a former UR teammate, is among professional players who step up to home plate with an LV Lumber bat in hand. The shortstop pointed to the now-tailored blend of the bat’s weight, barrel, handle, and maple construction as the right combination for his optimal swing and hitting.

“When I first picked it up, I felt this was the perfect bat for me. As a player, when you find something that works for you, you stick with it,” said Capra, who recently moved from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Milwaukee Brewers. He usually carries about a dozen LV bats during a season.

Capra also is inspired by LV’s mission, which includes presenting custom bats to young cancer patients and survivors, dubbed warriors by the company. “Zach has done a tremendous job growing the business and supporting the cause,” said Capra, who promotes LV with other players. “He has an ability to stay connected with people and to impact other people through the business. It’s been a real pleasure to be alongside that.”

As an owner, Kurtz enjoys staying engaged with a sport that he played through his youth, and visits back to Pennsylvania allow him to pick up a bat and test it out. While players today provide the best feedback, the baseball veteran uses his experience to translate those insights into meaningful product improvements.

“The bat space is extremely competitive right now,” said Kurtz, noting that LV Lumber has expanded its product line into baseballs, gloves, and uniforms — helping to push revenues up by 400% since its founding. “Our goal is making sure that whatever we’re putting our name on is the highest quality.”