By USA Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. — USA Baseball announced its 2014 15U National Team coaching staff Thursday, led by Chan Brown who was announced as manager on January 12. Brown, the head coach at Parkview High School (Lilburn, Ga.), served as an assistant coach on the 2013 15U National Team that won gold at the COPABE 15U Pan American Championship in Barranquilla, Colombia.
“All four of these coaches have been involved and excelled with USA Baseball in various roles over the past couple of years,” said USA Baseball’s 15U National Team director, Brooks Webb, of the 2014 coaching staff. “Chan’s international experience in 2013 and overall success as a head coach makes him the perfect fit to lead this impressive staff over the summer.”
Brown will be joined in the dugout by assistant coaches Javy Rodriguez and Jason Washburn, as well as pitching coach, Mark Shives, and certified athletic trainer, Pete Hite.
Javy Rodriguez, the head coach at Gulliver Preparatory (Miami, Fla.) since 2008, will be a national team coach for the first time in 2014 after serving as a 15U National Team Trials coach in 2013 and on the USA Baseball National Team Championships taskforce in 2011 and 2013. Rodriguez also served on the USA Baseball National Team Identification Series taskforce in 2013.
A graduate of the University of Miami (Fla.), Rodriguez was a two-time All-American and two-time national champion while setting the single-season stolen base record for the Hurricanes. As a high school head coach, Rodriguez has led the Gulliver Prep Raiders to the regional finals four times.
Jason Washburn assisted on the 2010 and 2011 16U National Team Trials, as well as the 2012 and 2013 15U National Team Trials, before being named to his first national team coaching staff in 2014. The head coach at College Park High School (The Woodlands, Texas) since 2005, Washburn has led his team to district titles twice. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Washburn has been a head coach at the high school level since 1999.
Mark Shives joins the coaching staff as the pitching coach, a role he served with the inaugural 15U National Team in 2012. Shives 2012 Team USA pitching staff posted a team ERA of 0.40 while striking out 57 batters and issuing just eight walks. Shives is currently the head coach at Clear Spring High School (Clear Spring, Md.) after a stint at Florida International University from 1998 to 2002. At FIU, Shives coached in three NCAA regionals and one NCAA super regional. At Clear Spring, Shives has won three conference championships, two regional championships and was the Maryland state runner-up in 2010.
Rounding out the on-field staff is veteran Team USA certified athletic trainer, Pete Hite. The head athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach at Northern New Mexico College, Hite will be making his ninth international trip with USA Baseball in 2014. Hite has traveled with three gold-medal winning teams: the 2007 COPABE Pan American Champion, 14U National Team, the 2010 COPABE Pan American Champion, 16U National Team, and the 2011 IBAF World Champion, 16U National Team.
Hite has worked in professional baseball as an athletic trainer in the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations as well as time in professional soccer, various high schools and physical therapy clinics.
The staff will be challenged with leading the 15U National Team to it’s first-ever WBSC 15U World Cup appearance. The 15U National Team qualified for its spot in the World Cup with its gold medal in the 2013 COPABE 15U Pan American Championship.
For more information on the 15U National Team program, please visit USABaseball.com and follow @USABaseball15U on Twitter.