USA Baseball announced that David Sharp will manage the U-12 national team to the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier. Sharp's coaching staff would include Mark 'Lunch' McKenzie, Jason Sekany and Roger Wright.
Sharp led the United States to a U-12 world title in 2017 when he was named the USA Baseball Development Coach of the Year. He also served on the 2015 world champion coaching staff.
He is the Deep South Supervisor for Prep Baseball Report (PBR) Alabama and previously spent six seasons as the head coach at Huntsville High School.
"Putting that jersey on with USA across the front is the highest honour on the baseball field," said Sharp. "We have assembled top-notch assistant coaches and even higher quality men. The group has plenty of experience and we look forward to welcoming a new face to the USA Baseball family. The staff does not take the job lightly and will work diligently to put the best product on the field while helping these young players learn the 'USA Way' on our upcoming journey."
A former member of the USA Baseball National Board of Coaching Education, McKenzie will make his fourth appearance on a national team coaching staff and first since 2008. He led the U-16 national team to a world title in 1998 and earned USA Baseball Development Coach of the Year. He has been the head coach at Concordia University, St. Paul, for 20 years.
A four-time U-12 national team coach, Sekany returns as the pitching coach. He debuted as an assistant in 2013 and returned in 2015, helping the US to two WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup titles. He helped Team USA earn a silver medal at the 2019 U-12 World Cup. A former professional pitcher, Sekany is currently the Northwest Regional Director for the USA Baseball NTIS. Additionally, he is an assistant coach at Granada High School in Livermore, California.
"We are extremely excited about the staff we have put together for the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier," said Cole Beeker, USA Baseball's U-12 National Team Director. "We could not be more confident that our staff will provide unparalleled leadership in our pursuit of a gold medal next month."
The WBSC Americas U-12 Baseball World Cup Qualifier is scheduled from 19 to 28 May in Aguascalientes, Mexico. World No. 2 United States will face No. 3 Mexico, No. 6 Venezuela, No. 7 Cuba, No. 10 Dominican Republic, No. 11 Puerto Rico, No. 14 Panama, No. 15 Colombia and No. 24 Brazil. The top four finishers will advance to the VII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup, scheduled from 28 July to 6 August in Tainan, Taiwan.
