CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today named the coaching staff for the 2021 12U National Team highlighted by the naming of three-time 12U National Team assistant coach R.J. Farrell as manager. Farrell is joined on the 2021 staff by pitching coach Seth Kenny and assistant coaches Erik Johnson and Tanner Vesely.

"We are excited to have R.J. leading the 12U National Team this summer as he brings great experience not only with USA Baseball, but with the game in general to our players," said USA Baseball 12U National Team Director Will Schworer. "We are confident that he, and the rest of his staff, will serve as exceptional mentors for these young athletes both on and off the field as they continue to set a standard of excellence for our program."

Farrell was set to be the manager of the 2020 12U National Team before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier to be postponed. Currently, he is in his second year as an assistant coach and Athletic Support and Compliance Coordinator at Orange Lutheran High School (Orange, Calif.) after spending seven years as the head coach at Rancho Cucamonga High School (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), where 30 of his former players went on to play collegiate baseball.

Prior to coaching at Rancho Cucamonga High School, he spent one year as an assistant coach at Orange Lutheran High School in 2012, was an associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Patten University (Oakland, Calif.) from 2009-2011, and served as an assistant coach at De La Salle High School (Concord, Calif.) from 2007-2008.

In his three years as an assistant coach for the 12U National Team, Farrell helped to lead Team USA to gold medals at the 2017 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup and the 2018 COPABE U-12 Pan-American Championships. In addition, Farrell has worked with USA Baseball at the 11U National Team Identification Series (NTIS), 12U National Open and the USA Baseball Futures Invitational, as well as serving as a 12U National Team Trials coach in 2016.

Kenny, who is making his USA Baseball national team coaching debut as the pitching coach for the 2021 12U National Team, is currently in his 11th year as the Director of Player Development and Youth Director for Top Tier Baseball. Kenny 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, he 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 his career with USA Baseball, Kenny has coached at the 12U National Open since 2015, was a member of the 11U NTIS Task Force in 2017 and 2019, and was a 12U National Team Trials coach in 2018 and 2019. Kenny was also set to be the pitching coach for last year’s 12U National Team before competition was canceled.

Johnson is also making his USA Baseball national team coaching debut in 2021 after no games were played last summer. However, he is no stranger to donning the red, white and blue, having first played for Team USA on the 1985 Collegiate National Team before suiting up as a coach. He has been involved with the NTIS since its inception in 2007, serving as a coach of the Northern California region until 2017 when he became a scouting director and coach for the Northwest Region. Additionally, he was a member of the 12U National Open coaching staff in both 2018 and 2019 and then served as a 2019 12U National Team Trials coach. Currently, he is the President and General Manager of EJ Sports where he has also been a coach since 1997.

Rounding out the staff is Vesely, who returns to the 12U National Team coaching staff after leading the 2015 squad to the program's second consecutive world championship at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup. Prior to his time as manager, Vesely helped guide the 12U National Team to its first-ever gold medal at the 2013 International Baseball Federation and a silver medal at the 2014 COPABE "A" Pan-American Championships as an assistant coach.

Vesely began his national team coaching career more than a decade ago with back-to-back gold medals as an assistant coach with the 2008 and 2009 14U National Teams. In addition, he has served as a member of the Task Force at the National Team Championships in Arizona since 2008, a member of the 12U National Open coaching staff since 2013 and was a coach at the Women's National Team Trials in 2019. He was also part of the inaugural 2019 13U Athlete Development Program coaching staff and served on the NTIS Task Force in 2009, 2016 and 2018. Currently in his 16th season as an assistant coach at Corona del Sol High School (Tempe, Ariz.), Vesely also helped lead his team to the USA Baseball National High School Invitational in 2019.

The 2021 12U National Team identification process kickstarts at the 2021 11U Futures Invitational from June 24-27 in Cary, North Carolina. Following the identification events, players will be invited to participate in the 12U National Team Trials later in the summer.

The 12U National Team schedule is not yet finalized for 2021. Events and dates will be announced at a later time.

For more information on the 12U National Team, visit USABaseball.com and follow along on Twitter @USABaseball and @USABaseball12U.