by USA Baseball
USA Baseball finalized its coaching staff for the 2016 Women’s National Team on Friday, announcing Jonathan “JP” Pollard as the manager for the third consecutive year. The Women’s National Team will travel to Gijang City, South Korea for the 2016 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s Baseball World Cup from September 3 – 11.
The coaching staff includes pitching coach Matt Weagle, and assistant coaches Kerry Kincaid and Tim Mayo.
“The Women’s National Team has assembled a strong coaching staff,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball’s Executive Director/CEO. “We are thrilled to have JP lead our women’s program into the World Cup following two gold medal winning campaigns in 2015, and the staff we have selected to surround him is laden with baseball experience.”
Pollard will manage the Women’s National Team for the third consecutive year after leading Team USA to a gold medal in the inaugural women’s baseball tournament of the 2015 Pan American Games. In 2014, he led the program to a silver medal in the WBSC Women’s World Cup, after which he was named the USA Baseball Developmental Coach of the Year. He was also the pitching coach in 2012 for the women’s program and a 14U National Team Development Program (NTDP) coach in 2013, which identifies and prepares athletes under consideration for the 15U National Team. Pollard is the founder of the New England Stampede baseball program and currently serves as the Athletic Director at Austin Preparatory School (Reading, Mass.).
Weagle will serve as the pitching coach under Pollard and the Women’s National Team for the third consecutive year. Under his direction, teams held a 2.07 and 2.16 ERA in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Currently the pitching coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Weagle pitched at Franklin Pierce University from 2000 – 2003 and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2003 MLB Amateur Draft.
Kincaid rejoins the Women’s National Team staff in 2016 after serving as an assistant coach on the 2015 gold medal winning team. He has worked as a volunteer coach with USA Baseball since 2009 and has worked with the 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U, Collegiate, and Professional national team programs. Kincaid is currently in his first year as an assistant coach at William Peace College and serves as a volunteer coach for the Carolina Mudcats, the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. He was honored as the USA Baseball Volunteer Coach of the Year in 2011.
Mayo is making his international coaching debut for USA Baseball in 2016 after working with the Women’s National Open, the Women’s National Team Identification Series (NTIS), and the Women’s National Team Trials. Serving as an assistant coach for the women’s team this season, he is currently the pitching coach at Trinity College.
The Women’s National Team will start its selection process for the 2016 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup at the Women’s National Open at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. from June 10 – 12. National Team Trials will begin August 23 on the campus of Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, Calif. and will lead into National Team Training from August 26 – 30.
The U.S. will look to retake the gold medal from Japan, who has won the last four Women’s Baseball World Cups after Team USA won the first two championships in 2004 and 2006.