CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today announced the addition of Troy Gerlach to the 2022 12U National Team coaching staff as an assistant coach, replacing Erik Johnson. Team USA will compete for the 12U National Team program’s fourth world championship at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup 2022 in Tainan, Taiwan, from July 29-August 7.

 “As sad as I am that Erik will not be able to be on staff this year, I am equally excited that Troy agreed to join us,” said 2022 12U National Team Manager RJ Farrell. “He brings years of experience as a coach and evaluator at the international level. I know his past experiences will be a huge benefit to the team this summer.”

Gerlach returns to a national team staff for the first time since he was an assistant coach for the 2018 15U National Team, where he helped lead Team USA to its first-ever world championship title at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup. The U.S. went 8-1 in the tournament, batting a collective .323 (88-for-220) and scoring a tournament-best 88 runs. In addition, Gerlach has also served on the 14U National Team Development Program (NTDP) staff in 2016, 2017, and 2019, as well as on the USA Baseball Task Force at the National Team Championships and National Team Identification Series since 2012. Most recently, Gerlach served as an assistant coach at the 2021 Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP) League and was a member of the 2021 12U National Team Trials coaching staff.

Gerlach was named the head coach of Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.) in 2019 following a seven-year stint as the head coach at Arcadia High School (Phoenix, Ariz.), where he led the Titans to a 110-84 record and four Arizona Interscholastic Association Baseball State Tournament appearances. Prior to his time at Arcadia, Gerlach was an assistant coach at Paradise Valley Community College and helped the Pumas reach the Junior College World Series in 2010.

12U National Team Trials will take place in Cary, North Carolina, from June 27-July 1. Players will participate in comprehensive testing, games, and workouts to compete for one of the final 18 roster spots on the 2022 12U National Team, which will compete at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Taiwan, from July 29-August 7.

Farrell will lead the 12U National Team as manager for the second consecutive summer after leading Team USA in a domestic exhibition series in 2021. Farrell and Gerlach will be joined on staff in 2022 by pitching coach Seth Kenny and assistant coach Tanner Vesely.

The final 2022 12U National Team schedule will be announced at a later date. 

For the most up-to-date information on the 12U National Team, be sure to follow @USABaseball12U and @USABaseball on Twitter.