CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today unveiled the coaching staff for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup, including the naming of Troy Gerlach as manager. Gerlach, who makes his Team USA managerial debut after helping lead the U.S. to a gold medal last summer, is joined by pitching coach Seth Kenny and assistants Bryan Madsen and Erick Quesada.
The staff will be tasked with leading the stars and stripes at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup as the U.S. will aim to defend its world title from last summer. The tournament will take place from July 28-August 6 in Tainan, Taiwan.
“We are very excited about the coaching staff we have assembled for the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup,” said Cole Beeker, USA Baseball’s 12U National Team Director. “Troy Gerlach has tremendous experience on the international stage and is the perfect fit to lead our team as manager. Seth Kenny, Bryan Madsen, and Erick Quesada are all excellent coaches who have proven the ability to relate to the athletes that will make up our roster. This staff is locked in as we prepare to defend our title in Taiwan.”
“Representing the United States in international competition is one of the great honors I have had in baseball,” said Gerlach. “Along with the rest of the coaching staff, my top priority is coming back from Taiwan with a gold medal. I am ready to get to work and looking forward to beginning the process of building a team to defend our world title.”
Gerlach is set to make his international managerial debut with the U.S. this summer. He has made two prior appearances on national team coaching staffs and helped lead Team USA to gold medals as an assistant both times, first at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup in 2018. That summer, the U.S. posted an 8-1 record and beat Panama, 7-1, in the title game. Gerlach returned to the dugout with Team USA last summer–serving as an assistant for the 12U National Team–and helped guide the team to its first-ever unbeaten run at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup. The U.S. batted .448 and outscored opponents 99-31 in tournament play. In addition to his national team coaching assignments, Gerlach has also coached at numerous USA Baseball Development Programs. He was 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 (NTIS) since 2012. Additionally, Gerlach was 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 has been the head coach at Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.) since 2019 following a seven-year stint 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.
Kenny will reprise his role as the team’s pitching coach for the third consecutive year. He led the pitchers to a gold medal at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup last summer, as the stars and stripes went 8-0 with a collective 3.87 ERA. Under Kenny’s guidance, U.S. pitcher Levi Kerr earned All-World Team honors as a relief pitcher. Kenny’s staff also experienced success in 2021, going 3-0 and pitching to a 1.29 ERA in a three-game exhibition slate. Team USA pitchers struck out 33 batters in 21.0 innings pitched over the three games.
Kenny is currently in his 13th year with Top Tier Baseball where he is the director of teams after he started his 20-year coaching career as a pitching coach for the Danville Dans, Austin Peay State University, and Illinois State University from 2000-2008. Following his time at Illinois State, Kenny returned to his role as pitching coach at Austin Peay, while also serving as the program's recruiting coordinator until joining Top Tier Baseball in 2010. In addition to his first stint as a national team coach in 2021, Kenny has coached at the 12U National Open, was a member of the 11U NTIS Champions Cup Task Force in 2017 and 2019, and was a 12U National Team Trials coach in 2018 and 2019.
Following several years of involvement with USA Baseball and its development programs, Madsen will make his first appearance on a national team coaching staff in 2023. Madsen’s most recent stint with USA Baseball was at last summer’s 13U/14U Athlete Development Program (ADP), where he served as an assistant coach. He has also been a coach at each of the last two 12U National Team Training Camps, coaching the Stars vs. Stripes series and assisting in the selection of the final roster. In addition, Madsen has been on the USA Baseball Task Force at a number of different events, including the Futures Invitational and the NTIS Champions Cup. After serving as an assistant coach at Arroyo Grande High School (Arroyo Grande, Calif), Madsen was named the head coach at St. Joseph’s High School (Santa Maria, Calif.), where he has spent two seasons at the helm of the Knights. Madsen is also the co-owner of Coastal Empire Baseball, which provides training and workouts for baseball players in Southern California.
Quesada joins the staff as an assistant coach for his Team USA coaching debut. He has been involved with USA Baseball for the past eight years, starting as a scorekeeper and since becoming a coach. Quesada’s most recent assignment with USA Baseball was at the 2022 12U National Team Training Camp, where he served as a coach and helped the national team staff finalize its roster. Additionally, Quesada has been on the USA Baseball Task Force for the Futures Invitational, the National Team Championships Arizona, and the NTIS Champions Cup. He is currently the head coach at his alma mater, Mingus Union High School (Cottonwood, Ariz.), where he has led the program since 2018. Prior to becoming the head coach at Mingus Union, Quesada was an assistant coach at Texas Wesleyan, where he played and earned a spot on the All-Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) Second Team in 2016.
The 12U National Team Training Camp–which will consist of on-field workouts, intrasquad scrimmages, and more–is scheduled for June 26-30 at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary, North Carolina. At the conclusion of Training Camp, USA Baseball will announce the final 18-man roster for the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup. The World Cup is set to take place from July 28-August 6 in Tainan, Taiwan.
The 12U National Team has won six gold medals in international competition, most recently winning gold at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier in May. Team USA is the defending world champion at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup, where it went unbeaten en route to its fourth world title in 2022. Overall, the 12U National Team owns a 38-5 all-time record at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.
For more information on the 12U National Team, visit USABaseball.com or follow @USABaseball12U on Twitter.
