CARY, N.C. – Major League Baseball and USA Baseball today jointly introduced the coaching staff for the 2022 Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP) League, highlighted by the naming of 12 former Major Leaguers to the staff. Jim Koerner, USA Baseball’s Director of Player Development, will serve as field coordinator, while the 2022 18U National Team coaching staff – manager Denny Hocking, pitching coach Adam Moseley, and assistant coaches Roberto Vaz and Jack Wilson – will be roving coordinators at the event.

The PDP League is scheduled to take place June 29-July 6 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina and will again serve as the primary identification event for the 18U National Team in 2022. The event invites 100 of the top 18-and-under aged prospects for a week of development and assessment opportunities for high school players eligible for the following year’s MLB Draft. The league offers an extraordinary amateur baseball experience, featuring competitive gameplay, individualized player development sessions, and evaluations using modern technologies tailoring individualized development curriculums for each player, as well as off-field leadership, skill-building, and educational seminars to assist players in preparing for a professional baseball career.

Many players in the PDP League also will compete in the MLB-USA Baseball High School All-American Game held at Dodger Stadium during MLB All-Star Week.

Three former Major Leaguers and one college coaching veteran comprise the four PDP League team managers in 2022. Six-time MLB All-Star Lance Berkman (Houston Baptist) will serve as a manager this summer and will be joined by seven-year major leaguer Adam Hyzdu, 25-year college coaching veteran Tom Griffin (Carson-Newman), and Olympic gold medalist and 12-year major leaguer Doug Mientkiewicz as this year’s PDP League team managers. In addition, a group consisting of eight former professional baseball players, two former national team coaches, and two current college coaches will serve as assistant and pitching coaches in 2022.

“We are very excited to welcome such an accomplished and experienced staff to this year’s PDP League,” said Ashley Bratcher, USA Baseball 18U National Team General Manager. “This year’s staff offers unparalleled knowledge of baseball across multiple levels of the game and will be both challenging and engaging voices for our athletes. We know this coaching staff will be eager to help develop and identify the nation’s best players as we continue our pursuit of a world championship.”

The full coaching staff for the 2022 PDP League is as follows (Coaches’ bios enclosed below):

COORDINATORS

• Field Coordinator: Jim Koerner
• Roving Coordinator: Denny Hocking
• Roving Coordinator: Adam Moseley
• Roving Coordinator: Roberto Vaz
• Roving Coordinator: Jack Wilson

TEAM LIGHT BLUE

• Manager: Adam Hyzdu
• Pitching Coach: LaTroy Hawkins
• Assistant Coach: Lunch McKenzie
• Assistant Coach: Nick Punto
• Certified Athletic Trainer: Sydney Neighbors

TEAM GRAY

• Manager: Lance Berkman
• Pitching Coach: Dave Wallace
• Assistant Coach: Andre Butler
• Assistant Coach: Mike Kinkade
• Certified Athletic Trainer: Brandon Schaust

TEAM NAVY

• Manager: Tom Griffin
• Pitching Coach: Greg Swindell
• Assistant Coach: Rucker Taylor
• Assistant Coach: Dmitri Young
• Certified Athletic Trainer: James Wood

TEAM RED

• Manager: Doug Mientkiewicz
• Pitching Coach: Kip Wells
• Assistant Coach: Ro Coleman
• Assistant Coach: Butch Chaffin
• Certified Athletic Trainer: Adrian Ramon

The identification process for the 2022 18U National Team begins with the PDP League. The 16U/17U National Team Development Program (NTDP), which is set to take place July 25-29 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, will also serve as an identification event for this year’s 18U National Team.

Following the conclusion of this year’s identification events, the 18U National Team Trials will take place August 29-September 2 in Florida. The final 20-man 18U National Team roster will be announced following Trials and the team will remain in Florida for training from September 3-8 before taking part in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup. The U-18 Baseball World Cup will be hosted by the U.S. for the first time since 1995 in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida, from September 9-18.

For more information on the PDP League, follow @BaseballPDP on Twitter and Instagram and visit the PDP League website.

COACHES' BIOS

Six-time MLB All Star and Houston Baptist head coach Lance Berkman joins the 2022 PDP League as manager of Team Gray. Berkman played 15 seasons in the Major Leagues, including 12 with the Houston Astros, two with the St. Louis Cardinals, and one each with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. A career .293 hitter, he finished with totals of 366 home runs, 422 doubles, 1,234 RBIs, and 1,146 runs scored. Berkman was named the 2011 National League Comeback Player of the Year after helping lead the Cardinals to the World Series title, and was inducted into the Astros Hall of Fame in 2020. Prior to his professional career, Berkman was a standout at the collegiate level at Rice where he was named the 1997 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) National Collegiate Player of the Year after hitting .431 with 41 home runs, 134 RBIs, and 109 runs to lead the Owls to their first College World Series appearance. He hit .385 for his collegiate career with 67 homers and 272 RBIs en route to claiming All-America honors twice, which later led to his induction into the Rice Hall of Fame in 2005 and the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. Berkman was selected by the Astros with the 16th overall pick of the first round in the 1997 MLB Draft. After retiring from Major League Baseball in 2013, Berkman spent four seasons as the head coach at Second Baptist High School in Houston, guiding the Eagles to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) 4A state championship in 2016. He was named head coach at Houston Baptist in 2021.

Andre Butler returns for his second season at the PDP League as an assistant coach for Team Gray. The owner and operator of Graveyard Mentality in Pennsylvania, Butler is one of the best in the coaching profession at teaching outfield play. In addition to running his training organization, he also has extensive experience coaching at the collegiate level, most recently for two seasons as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Swarthmore College. With the Garnet, Butler served as the first-base coach while also implementing defensive strategies throughout games. It was Butler’s second stint at Swarthmore after spending the 2012-2013 school year as an assistant with the team and previously coaching for four seasons as an assistant at Penn State University, where he served in multiple roles, including hitting coach. His first season with the Nittany Lions was the program's best in recent history, as they earned their first winning record in four years and doubled their Big Ten-win total from the previous season. Prior to his time at Penn State, Butler also coached at the University of Pennsylvania and DeSales University. In addition to his coaching experience, Butler played collegiately for four seasons at Eastern University (St. Davids, Pa.), graduating in 2012 as one of the program's all-time best hitters. He also started his own tee ball league called the "Jackie Robinson West Philly League" in Philadelphia.

Two-time national team coach Butch Chaffin will serve as an assistant coach for Team Red at the 2022 PDP League. Chaffin is currently the head coach at Cookeville High School (Cookeville, Tenn.) where he has been named District 7-AAA Coach of the Year five times and the Region Coach of the Year three times. For USA Baseball, he has twice served as an assistant coach, first for the 2010 18U National Team and again with the 2017 12U National Team which won its third-consecutive WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup. Prior to coaching at Cookeville High School, he was an assistant coach at Tennessee Tech for four years and a professional scout for the Kansas City Royals.

Former Vanderbilt standout Ro Coleman joins the 2022 PDP League as an assistant coach for Team Red. A key component of the Commodores’ 2014 NCAA National Championship and 2015 runner-up finish, Coleman is currently the CEO of the Nashville Stars Youth Foundation, a non-profit organization and baseball development program in Nashville designed to provide more opportunities and exposure for underserved demographics. He also coaches both the 13U and 17U Stars club teams. The Chicago, Illinois, product played in 224 games during his Vanderbilt career, finishing on a high note as he was named to the 2017 NCAA Clemson Regional All-Tournament Team. He was selected in the 34th round of the MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers later that year and played one season for the Connecticut Tigers. Coleman is no stranger to USA Baseball either, having competed at the 2012 Tournament of Stars and 18U National Team Trials. Coleman recently served as a coach at the MLB-USA Baseball Breakthrough Series earlier in June.

Returning for his second year at the PDP League is Tom Griffin, who is set to manage Team Navy after managing the Light Blue team last summer. He recently completed his 17th season as head coach at Carson-Newman University, where he owns a 476-361 record. Over his 24-year career as a collegiate head coach, Griffin has won 660 total games and has coached five Major League Baseball Draft picks and 22 total professional players, including USA Baseball alum Steve Cishek. Griffin led the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament twice in his first three seasons at the helm, posting a 43-18 record in his third season. The skipper is currently in his third stint with Carson-Newman after twice serving as an assistant coach in the early 2000s. Griffin came to Jefferson City after spending eight seasons as the head coach at nearby Tusculum College, where he won 184 games and led the Pioneers to four consecutive trips to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) District 24 Tournament. He also served as the head coach at Morristown East High School (Morristown, Tenn.) in 2002, where he led the Hurricanes to a district championship in his only season.

LaTroy Hawkins will bring 21 years of MLB experience to the 2022 PDP League as the pitching coach for Team Light Blue. The Gary, Indiana, native ranks 10th on baseball's all-time list in games, appearing in 1,042, is one of 13 relievers in baseball history to record at least one save against all 30 teams, and appeared in 60-plus games in 10 different seasons. Hawkins will also be able to share first-hand knowledge of suiting up for Team USA, having played in the 2009 World Baseball Classic where he appeared in four contests. A seventh-round pick out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in 1991, he made his Major League debut in 1995 to kick off his lengthy career which saw him play for 11 different teams until his retirement after the 2015 campaign. Hawkins currently works as a special assistant in the baseball operations department for the Twins where he contributes to the amateur scouting process and development of organizational pitching philosophies. Hawkins has been a long-time coach for multiple diversity-focused, amateur development events hosted by MLB and USA Baseball, including the Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, and the Hank Aaron Invitational (also led by the MLBPA).

Before taking the reins as the 2022 18U National Team manager, Denny Hocking will serve as a roving instructor at the 2022 PDP League, bringing 13 years of major-league playing experience to the dugout. Hocking was a 52nd round draft pick in the 1989 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins, where he spent 11 of his 13 professional seasons. Hocking made his big-league debut in 1993 and played in 84 games over his first four seasons with the Twins before getting his first extended playing time in 1997, appearing in 115 games and batting .257. He was a staple with the Twins for the following six seasons, with the best one coming in 2000 when he batted .298 with four home runs and a career-high 47 RBIs. He then spent time with the Colorado Rockies before playing his final professional season with the Kansas City Royals in 2005. Throughout his career, Hocking served as a utility player, playing every position besides catcher and pitcher. Following his playing career, Hocking spent time as an analyst and reporter for MLB.com and Fox Sports Radio before becoming a coach. He began his coaching career as the hitting coach for the Single-A Frederick Keys in 2010 before he joined the Double-A Bowie Baysox in 2012. Hocking made his managerial debut the following season, managing the Los Angeles Angels' minor-league affiliate Inland Empires. He has been a minor league field coordinator and had three more stints as a minor league manager over the course of his career, most recently with the Single-A Modesto Nuts.

An 18-year veteran of professional baseball, Adam Hyzdu is slated to be the manager of Team Light Blue at the 2022 PDP League. Drafted 15th overall in the first round of the 1990 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants, Hyzdu waited 10 years before making his Major League debut in 2000 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went on to spend parts of seven total seasons in the big leagues, finishing as a career .229 hitter with 19 home runs and 61 RBIs in 221 games. Hyzdu then played one season with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the Japanese Pacific League in 2006, where he batted .272 with seven home runs in 47 games. By the time he retired later that year, he had played 1,971 career games combining his time at all levels of professional baseball.

Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist Mike Kinkade brings a plethora of baseball experience to the 2022 PDP League as an assistant coach for Team Gray. Kinkade was a crucial member of the 2000 Olympic Team on its run to the gold medal, recording a .207 average with six hits, three RBIs, and four runs scored in the tournament. He made his second appearance in the red, white, and blue with the 2006 Olympic Qualifying Team where he hit .333 with a team-leading 11 RBIs. Kinkade was selected in the 19th round of the 1994 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and made his big-league debut with the New York Mets in 1998. In his six-year Major League playing career, the Livonia, Michigan, native played in 222 games and collected a .256 batting average, 56 runs scored, 13 home runs, and 48 RBIs. Following his playing career, Kinkade served as a member of the Seattle Mariners’ minor league coaching staff from 2011-14, including managing the Peoria Mariners in 2012. He then coached the Whitman County American Legion Program from 2016-2019 and was the head coach for Pullman High School (Pullman, Wash.) from 2018-2019 before serving as an assistant coach at Cal State University Bakersfield during the 2020 season. Kinkade was also a member of the coaching staffs at the inaugural MLB Draft Combine, the Women’s NTDP, and the first-ever Girls Camp in 2021.

PDP League Field Coordinator and USA Baseball Director of Player Development **Jim Koerner **was the head coach at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) from 2011-2021. As just the second head coach in the program’s modern-day history, Koerner took NCCU baseball to new heights in his 10 years at the helm. Under his guidance, the Eagles set the school record for wins twice, in 2013 (27) and again in 2018 (28). He also coached two MLB Draft picks with NCCU, including Corey Joyce, who became the highest selection in program history when he was taken in the 12th round by the Detroit Tigers in 2019. Before his time at NCCU, Koerner was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Buffalo from 2007-2011, helping the Bulls reach their best offensive performances in program history in 2009 and 2010. The team recorded an all-time high in wins since 1999 during the 2009 season and set the records for team batting average (.312), home runs (46), and stolen bases (71) in 2010. In those two seasons combined, the Bulls broke over 25 season, career, team, and individual records. He began his coaching career in 2001 as the head coach at Medaille College, where he helped found the program and was named the 2003 North Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. He broke into the Division I ranks as an assistant at Monmouth University before a stint at Marshall University.

As Director of Player Development, Koerner is responsible for developing on-field programming for the six USA Baseball national teams, three national team development programs, and the PDP League. He also produces curriculums related to player development for USABDevelops.com, the organization’s free online educational resource center. 

With over five decades of baseball coaching experience, Mark “Lunch” McKenzie will have a wealth of knowledge to share as an assistant coach for Team Light Blue at the 2022 PDP League. The head coach at Concordia University, St. Paul for 20 years, McKenzie has also served in various capacities for USA Baseball since 1997, including three separate national teams. He has twice served on gold-medal winning 16U coaching staffs, first as an assistant in 1997 and again in 1998 as the team’s manager, both of which won the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) World Youth Championships. McKenzie was also an assistant coach for the 2008 18U squad which claimed silver at the IBAF “AAA” Junior World Championships. In addition to his coaching duties at Concordia, he was also the school’s athletic director from 2016-19. In his 20 years at the helm for the Golden Bears, McKenzie put together an overall record of 456-361-1, including conference championships in 2003 and 2008. His efforts on the diamond have also earned him several awards, including the 1998 USOC Developmental Coach of the Year and Baseball Canada’s 2010 Cito Gaston Humanitarian Award.

Olympic gold medalist and 12-year MLB veteran Doug Mientkiewicz joins the 2022 PDP League as manager of Team Red. A two-time USA Baseball alum, he played for the 1994 Collegiate National Team before winning gold at the 2000 Olympics where he hit a game-winning home run against South Korea in the semifinals. Mientkiewicz is one of just five players to win both a gold medal and a World Series championship, which he accomplished as a member of the 2004 Boston Red Sox. After a standout collegiate career at Florida State he was selected in the fifth round of the 1995 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins, with whom he spent 12 of his 18 professional seasons. Mientkiewicz’s best year came in 2001 when he played in 151 games and hit .306 with 15 home runs, all career highs, in addition to claiming the American League Gold Glove award as the top defensive first baseman. After over six seasons with the Twins, he would later go on to play for the Red Sox (2004), New York Mets (2005), Kansas City Royals (2006), New York Yankees (2007), Pittsburgh Pirates (2008), and Los Angeles Dodgers (2009). Mientkiewicz finished his MLB career as a .271 hitter with 66 home runs and 405 RBIs. Following his playing career, he joined the coaching ranks as the hitting coach for the rookie league Ogden Raptors in 2012. He returned to the Twins organization the next season where he would serve as manager of the Single-A Fort Myers Miracle (2014-2015, 2017) and Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts (2015-16). Most recently, Mientkiewicz was the manager of the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens from 2018-19.

Adam Moseley, who is set to serve as the pitching coach for this year's 18U National Team, will join the 2022 PDP League staff as a roving instructor. Moseley previously served as pitching coach for the World Cup-champion 15U National Team in 2018, and the Alabama native's USA Baseball coaching experience also includes stints at the 2017 14U NTDP and 15U Trials. Additionally, he was named to the 2020 15U National Team staff before the 2020 WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup was postponed. Moseley is currently the head coach at Hoover High School (Hoover, Ala.), where he led the Buccaneers to an Alabama State Baseball Championship in 2017. Before taking the head coaching position at Hoover following the 2014 season, Moseley led his former high school, Grissom High School (Huntsville, Ala.), to the state quarterfinals in four of his final five seasons. Moseley has coached high school baseball for 16 seasons and has compiled an overall record of 457-260.

Barry University athletic trainer Sydney Neighbors is set to serve as the ATC for Team Light Blue at the 2022 PDP League. Coming off of her third season with the Buccaneers baseball team, Neighbors worked with USA Baseball last year as well, providing medical coverage for the 2021 16U/17U National Team Development Program. She has also previously worked with a variety of national teams at the Lake Placid Training Center in 2016-2017, including USA Bobsled, Skeleton, Luge, Arial Ski, and Biathlon. Prior to arriving at Barry in 2020, Neighbors spent time at both Radford and UNCG.

Nick Punto, a 14-year MLB veteran, returns to the PDP League this summer as an assistant coach for Team Light Blue. Punto was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 21st round of the 1998 MLB Draft and spent five professional seasons with the organization before making his Major League debut in 2001, when he played in four games for the Phillies. He got his first extended time in the big leagues in 2003, playing in 64 games for the Phillies and batting .217. Prior to the 2004 season, Punto joined the Minnesota Twins where he would spend the bulk of his career. In 2006, Punto batted .290 with a career-high 45 RBIs while stealing 17 bases. After seven seasons with the Twins, Punto signed with the St. Louis Cardinals and went on to have a career-best .388 OBP in his one season with the club, winning a World Series in 2011. He then played for the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Oakland Athletics before officially retiring in 2016. Punto is a Saddleback College Athletics Hall of Famer.

Adrian Ramon is slated to serve as the athletic trainer for Team Red at the 2022 PDP League. Currently the head trainer for the Ohio State baseball program, Ramon has over a decade of experience working at both the collegiate and professional levels. He has spent time at Rice, Florida Gulf Coast University, and Bradley University as well as various levels of Minor League Baseball with the Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, and Milwaukee Brewers organizations. Ramon is a graduate of the University of North Texas where he earned a degree in Kinesiology. He received his master’s degree in Athletic Training from Weber State University where he worked with Real Salt Lake and the Winter Dew Tour.

Brandon Schaust joins the 2022 PDP League as the athletic trainer for Team Gray. The University of Nebraska at Omaha graduate served in the same position for the 2021 18U National Team which defeated Canada in a Friendship series last year in Florida.

Joining the Team Navy coaching staff as its pitching coach at the 2022 PDP League is 17-year Major League veteran, All-Star, World Series champion, and USA Baseball alum Greg Swindell. The former University of Texas standout was drafted second overall in the first round of the 1986 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians. After just three minor league appearances, Swindell made his big-league debut in August of that same year. That kicked off what would be a 17-year Major League career that saw him play for six different clubs with an overall record of 123-122 and 3.86 ERA in 664 career games. He also struck out 1,542 batters in 2,233.1 total innings pitched. Swindell was named to the 1989 All-Star Game as a member of the Indians and earned a World Series ring when he helped the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks defeat the New York Yankees. One of the most decorated players in Longhorn history, Swindell’s collegiate career saw him post a 43-8 record in 77 games with a 1.92 ERA in his three seasons in Austin. He made 50 starts, pitching 32 complete games and notching school records for shutouts (14) and strikeouts (501) while leading Texas to three consecutive Southwest Conference titles and back-to-back College World Series appearances in 1984 and 1985. Swindell was named the 1985 Baseball America National Player of the Year and was a three-time finalist for the Golden Spikes Award. He was also a member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team which competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where baseball was classified as a demonstration sport. After retiring as a player in 2002, he began his coaching career in 2004 at Texas State before returning to his alma mater the following season where he helped the Longhorns win their sixth NCAA National Championship. Swindell was inducted into the UT Hall of Honor in 1996, the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. He has served as a TV analyst on the Longhorn Network since 2016.

The 2022 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year, Davidson head coach Rucker Taylor is set to serve as an assistant coach for Team Navy at the 2022 PDP League. Taylor led the Wildcats to an impressive 43-13 record this season, winning the program’s first outright regular-season league title in the process. The first coach in school history to win conference coach of the year honors, he has amassed a 112-62 record in his four seasons at the helm at Davidson after spending four years as a Wildcat assistant. Taylor previously worked as an assistant at Samford for six seasons following a four-year playing career at Vanderbilt where he was a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member. Rucker also coached at the inaugural USA Baseball 13U/14U Athlete Development Program in 2019.

Former Golden Spikes Award finalist Roberto Vaz, who will make his USA Baseball national team coaching debut with the 18U National Team this summer, will assist as a roving instructor for the 2022 PDP League. Vaz is currently in his eighth season as an assistant at LSU Eunice after re-joining the staff in 2017. The Brooklyn, New York, native oversees base running, hitters, and outfielders, and helped guide the team to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championships in 2012, 2018, and 2021. During their run to the title in 2012, Vaz helped guide the Bengals to a then-school record 57 wins. He entered the coaching ranks in 2006 as an assistant coach at Grissom High School (Huntsville, Ala.) before earning his first head coaching gig with the North Alabama Expos in 2009. Vaz's other coaching stops included three years as head coach of the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs, as well as two assistant roles at McNeese State and Buckhorn High School (Hunstville, Ala.). He played collegiately at Northeast Texas Community College, winning the 1996 NJCAA National Championship before spending a season at Alabama. There, Vaz finished as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, also earning spots on the All-American First Team as well as All-SEC First Team. Vaz was drafted in the seventh round by the Oakland Athletics in the 1997 MLB Draft, playing seven years of professional baseball.

A year after making his USA Baseball debut as the pitching coach for the Professional National Team at the Tokyo Olympics, Dave Wallace will serve in the same role for Team Gray at the 2022 PDP League. Wallace has spent 48 years in professional baseball, spanning nine professional franchises in various positions among the minor and major league levels. After a Hall of Fame career at the University of New Haven, he spent nine years as a pitcher in the professional ranks, playing for both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays until 1978. Wallace began his coaching career in 1981 with the Vero Beach Dodgers and spent the next 14 years coaching in the minor leagues before being named the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995. Wallace went on to be the pitching coach for the New York Mets (1999-2000), Boston Red Sox (2003-2006), Houston Astros (2007), and the Baltimore Orioles (2014-2016), working with pitchers such as Pedro Martinez and Hideo Nomo, among others. He also held numerous executive positions within professional baseball throughout his career with the Atlanta Braves, Dodgers, Mets, and Seattle Mariners. Wallace most recently spent four years with the Braves as a special assistant to pitching (2016) and the director of pitching for Atlanta’s farm system (2017-20).

Adding even more experience to the bench for Team Red at the 2022 PDP League will be pitching coach Kip Wells, who pitched 12 seasons in the Major Leagues. Drafted as the 16th overall selection in the first round of the 1998 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox after a standout career at Baylor, Wells quickly made his way to the big leagues, making his debut in August of the following season. He would go on to play for nine MLB organizations over 12 seasons, amassing 963 strikeouts over 1,338.1 innings in 296 career games, 219 of which were starts. He recorded double-digit win totals in three consecutive seasons from 2001-03 with the White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. At the collegiate level, Wells played three seasons at Baylor where he posted a career record of 21-14 with 288 strikeouts and earned all-conference and second team All-America honors in 1998. After retiring as a player, he began his coaching career in 2016 as the pitching coach for the Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and now runs the KW32 training center in Houston.

Before taking on his responsibilities with the USA Baseball 18U National Team, Jack Wilson will first serve as a roving instructor at the 2022 PDP League. Wilson will then move over to the 18U squad where he will be an assistant coach for the second consecutive year after helping defeat Canada in a friendship series, 5-1-1, last summer in Florida. He was also the head coach at Thousand Oaks High School (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) from 2017-2021, where he collected a 98-30-1 overall record and led the Lancers to two Marmonte League Championships (2019, 2021) and a CIF-SS Division 2 title in 2021. Under his guidance, the program went 24-6, including 10-2 in league play, in 2019 and finished the 2021 season with a 27-1 record. He also managed the squad to an 8-0 start to the 2020 season and a No. 1 CIF-SS Division 2 ranking before the pause in play caused by COVID-19. Prior to his coaching career, Wilson played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and Atlanta Braves for over 12 years in the big leagues. He led the National League with 12 triples in 2004, earning a spot on the National League All-Star Team and a Silver Slugger Award for his efforts. In 1,370 MLB games, Wilson recorded a .265/.306/.366 career slash line with 61 home runs and 426 RBIs.

James Woods will serve as the athletic trainer for Team Navy at the 2022 PDP League. Woods recently completed his second year as the resident athletic trainer with the Virginia Tech football team. He was a four-year collegiate baseball player at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, where he earned a degree in Athletic Training. He later received a master’s in Kinesiology from Lamar University. During his time in Beaumont, Texas, Woods spent two summers interning with the Houston Texas, in addition to working with the LU football and men’s golf teams.

Completing the experienced Team Navy coaching staff at the 2022 PDP League will be 13-year big league veteran and two-time All Star Dmitri Young. The fourth overall selection in the 1991 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, Young hit at a career .292 clip with 171 home runs and 683 RBIs in 1,364 games for four different teams. He made his Major League debut with the Cardinals in 1996 before suiting up for the Cincinnati Reds (1998-2001), Detroit Tigers (2002-2006), and Washington Nationals (2007-2008). Young recorded double-digit home runs in eight of those 13 seasons, including a career-high 29 in 2003 when he made his first All-Star Game appearance. His second came four years later in 2007 as a member of the Nationals, when he hit a personal-best .320 for the season with 13 home runs and 74 RBIs en route to being named the National League Comeback Player of the Year. Young has spent the past two years as the head coach at Camarillo High School (Camarillo, Calif.) after being selected to lead the program in August 2020. Young also has been a long-time coach for the Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, and the Hank Aaron Invitational.

About USA Baseball

USA Baseball is the national governing body for baseball in the United States and is committed to serving, protecting, and supporting the game of baseball and its 15.6 million participants. Founded in 1978, USA Baseball fields six national teams annually and is a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). On the diamond, USA Baseball is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the reigning World Baseball Classic champion, and its national teams have won 62 gold medals in international competition. Off the field, the organization is dedicated to the proliferation and health of the sport through the creation and management of numerous development initiatives including BASE (Baseball Athlete Safety Education), Fun At Bat, Pitch Smart, PLAY BALL and the Prospect Development Pipeline. For more information on the organization, its national teams, and development-driven initiatives, visit the official website USABaseball.com or USABDevelops.com.