DURHAM, N.C. - USA Baseball revealed the coaching staff and evaluators for the 2019 14U National Team Development Program on Tuesday. Former USA Baseball 12U National Team Manager David Sharp will serve as the 14U NTDP field coordinator in 2019.
The NTDP offers 40 athletes an opportunity to connect with USA Baseball staff to better prepare for future national team experiences. The program includes skill development sessions, off-field educational seminars, an intrasquad series between Stars and Stripes teams, and exposure to professional scouts, college recruiters and the 15U National Team staff and task force.
Sharp is no stranger to USA Baseball, having served as the manager of the 2017 12U National Team that earned a gold medal at the 2017 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Taiwan. After leading Team USA to its third straight world cup title, he was named the 2017 Developmental Coach of the Year award, presented by USA Baseball and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Sharp has also served as an assistant coach for the 12U National Team in 2015 and 2016, helping lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2015 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Taiwan.
Sharp spent six seasons as the Huntsville High School (Huntsville, Ala.) Head Coach prior to his time with Prep Baseball Report. He led the Panthers to six straight playoff appearances and won the 7A Area 7 Championship four times. In addition to his success in the state of Alabama, Sharp led the Panthers to an appearance at the USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI) in 2014. He was honored as the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010. Sharp currently serves as the Alabama Scouting Director for Prep Baseball Report.
The field coordinator, with the assistance of additional coaches and evaluators, will assess 40 athletes during the NTDP week and are made up of former professional players, respected collegiate and high school coaches, and professional scouts.
Rob Shabansky will join Sharp on the staff and will serve as the event's pitching coordinator. Shabansky served as the manager of the 2017 15U National and helped guide the U.S. to a gold medal at the COPABE Pan Am "AA" Championships in Cartagena, Colombia. He also served as an assistant coach for the 15U National Team in 2015 and 2016 after helping the USA Baseball 16U National Team to a gold medal at the IBAF World Youth Championships in 2011. Shabansky was recently named the pitching coach for the 2019 15U National Team and will aim to lead Team USA to its fourth consecutive gold medal at the COPABE U-15 Pan-American Championships in Mexico.
University of Southern Indiana Head Coach Tracy Archuleta and VCU Head Coach Shawn Stiffler will join Sharp and Shabansky on the NTDP staff and will manage the Stars and Stripes teams, respectively.
Joining Archuleta on the Stars staff will be Bishop Verot Catholic High School (Fort Meyers, Fla.) Head Coach Casey Scott, Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.) Assistant Coach Josh Ellison and Alamo Heights High School (San Antonio, Texas) Head Coach Jason Thompson. Scott will lead the team's pitching staff, while Ellison and Thompson will serve as assistant coaches.
Stiffler will be joined by Vanderbilt University Associate Head Coach Scott Brown, Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.) Head Coach Troy Gerlach and Catawba Valley Community College Head Coach/Assistant Athletic Director Paul Rozzelle on the Stripes squad. Brown will lead the team's pitching staff, while Gerlach and Rozzelle will serve as assistant coaches for the Stripes.
The 2019 14U NTDP will take place July 21-24 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. The 14U NTDP will once again serve as an identification event for the 15U National Team Trials roster. Eighteen athletes will be selected to the 15U Trials roster and will compete for a spot on the 2019 15U National Team that will play for its fourth-straight gold medal at the COPABE U-15 Pan-American Championships in Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico from September 13-22. Additionally, four athletes from the event will earn an invitation to the 2020 15U National Team Trials.
USA Baseball will utilize a rolling invitation process for the 14U NTDP participants in 2019. The athletes will be selected from the 2018 National Team Identification Series (NTIS), the 2019 14U National Team Championships in Arizona and Florida, and through recommendations from scouts, coaches and the amateur baseball community.
For more information on the USA Baseball National Team Development Program, visit USABaseball.com or follow @USABaseballNTDP on Twitter.
The full NTDP staff and their bios are as follows:
Name; NTDP Position; Current Position
Tracy Archuleta; Stars Manager; University of Southern Indiana Head Coach
Scott Brown; Stripes Pitching Coach; Vanderbilt University Associate Head Coach
Josh Ellison; Stars Assistant Coach; Chaparral High School Assistant Coach
Troy Gerlach; Stripes Assistant Coach; Chaparral High School Head Coach
Paul Rozzelle; Stripes Assistant Coach; Catawba Valley Community College Head Coach/Assistant Athletic Director
Casey Scott; Stars Pitching Coach; Bishop Verot Catholic High School Head Coach
Rob Shabansky; Pitching Coordinator; GateWay Community College Head Coach
David Sharp; Field Coordinator; Prep Baseball Report Alabama Scouting Director
Shawn Stiffler; Stripes Manager; Virginia Commonwealth University Head Coach
Jason Thompson; Stars Assistant Coach; Alamo Heights High School Head Coach
Tracy Archuleta wrapped up his 13th season as the University of Southern Indiana Head Coach in 2019. The winningest coach in program history, Archuleta has guided the Screaming Eagles to a 476-257 record while winning two NCAA Division II National Championships and five NCAA Division II Midwest Regional titles during his tenure. Archuleta is a two-time recipient of the Division II ABCA National Coach of the Year award, winning the award in 2010 and 2014. He has also earned the ABCA Midwest Coach of the Year award in 2007 and 2010, and the Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2011 and 2014. Prior to his time at Southern Indiana, Archuleta spent five seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where he led the Rangers to a pair of NCAA Division II tournament appearances and two 40-win seasons.
2019 College World Series Champion coach Scott Brown will join the 14U NTDP coaching staff for the first time in 2019. Brown is the Associate Head Coach at Vanderbilt University, where he helped guide the Commodores to a 59-12 record and the national championship in 2019, while his pitching staff led the nation in winning percentage and ranked No. 3 in strikeouts per nine innings. He has helped Vanderbilt to the NCAA Tournament six times, including five Super Regional appearances in his seven seasons in Nashville. Brown joined Vanderbilt after spending nine seasons as the pitching coach at St. John's University. In his tenure with the Red Storm, Brown saw 15 players sign professional contracts. Brown began his coaching career as an assistant coach at the State University of New York at Cortland for four seasons following a successful three-year career with the Red Dragons.
Ellison recently accepted a position as an assistant coach at Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.). He previously served as an assistant coach at Arcadia High School (Phoenix, Ariz.) for the past two seasons. Prior to his time at Arcadia, Ellison served as an assistant coach at Shadow Ridge High School (Surprise, Ariz.) for two seasons, after beginning his coaching career at Shadow Ridge High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.). He brings five years of professional baseball experience to the 2019 14U NTDP. He was drafted in the 11th round of the 2001 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Seattle Mariners after a stellar high school career at Westminster Academy. Ellison played four years with the Mariners, reaching Triple-A in 2004, before finishing his career with the Yankees in 2005.
Gerlach returns to the 14U NTDP for the third time in 2019 after serving as an assistant coach in 2016 and 2017. He served as an assistant coach on the 2018 15U National Team, where he helped Team USA to its first-ever world championship title at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-15 Baseball World Cup. He also served on the USA Baseball Task Force at the National Team Championships and National Team Identification Series. Gerlach was named the head coach at Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.) in May 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 where he helped the Pumas reach the Junior College World Series in 2010 where they finished in fourth place.
Rozzelle completed his fifth year as the head coach/assistant athletic director at Catawba Valley Community College, where he has led the Red Hawks to a 175-106 overall record. Rozzelle has led Catawba Valley to 30-win seasons every year in his tenure, including a program-record 42 wins in 2018. He led CVCC to a Region X Championship, a Southeast District Championship and a third-place finish at National Junior College Athletic Association Division II World Series in his first season at the helm. Rozzelle earned the NJCAA Southeast District Coach of the Year Award and the Diamond/American Baseball Coaches Association Southeast Coach of the Year honors for his efforts in 2015. Prior to his promotion to head coach, Rozzelle served as an assistant coach for the Red Hawks in 2014, working as the catching instructor and recruiting coordinator. He returns to USA Baseball after serving as an assistant coach at the 2018 USA Baseball National Team Identification Series.
Casey Scott joins the 14U NTDP staff for the first time in 2019. Scott accepted a position as the head coach of Bishop Verot Catholic High School (Ft. Meyers, Fla.) in May after spending a season as an assistant coach for the State University of New York at Cortland. Prior to his time in Cortland, Scott spent four seasons as the Head Coach at Ave Maria University in Florida. Scott began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Brockport following a playing career for the Golden Eagles.
The newly-appointed 2019 15U National Team pitching coach, Shabansky returns to the 14U NTDP for the second time, after serving as a pitching coach in 2016. Shabansky is a four-time USA Baseball national team coaching alum, having most recently served as the manager for the 2017 15U National Team, where he led his team to a 7-1 overall record and a COPABE Pan Am "AA" Championships gold medal. He was also an assistant coach on the 2011 16U National Team and the pitching coach for the 2015 and 2016 15U National Teams. He won gold medals with both the 16U squad and the 2015 15U National Team. Shabansky just wrapped up his 14th season as the Head Coach at GateWay Community College (Phoenix, Ariz.), where he led the Geckos to the NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series Championship Game in 2016.
Sharp is no stranger to USA Baseball, having served as the manager of the 2017 12U National Team that earned a gold medal at the 2017 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Taiwan. After leading Team USA to its third straight world cup title, he was named the 2017 Developmental Coach of the Year award, presented by USA Baseball and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Sharp has also served as an assistant coach for the 12U National Team in 2015 and 2016, helping lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2015 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Taiwan. Sharp spent six seasons as the Huntsville High School (Huntsville, Ala.) Head Coach prior to his time with Prep Baseball Report. He led the Panthers to six straight playoff appearances and won the 7A Area 7 Championship four times. In addition to his success in the state of Alabama, Sharp led the Panthers to an appearance at the USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI) in 2014. He was honored as the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010. Sharp currently serves as the Alabama Scouting Director for Prep Baseball Report.
Shawn Stiffler wrapped up his seventh season as the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019. Stiffler has led VCU to at least 35 wins in five of his seven seasons after the Rams finished the 2019 season with a 39-19 record. He earned the 2015 ABCA East-Region Coach of the Year award after guiding VCU to an Atlantic-10 Conference Championship and advancing to the first Super Regional in school history. Stiffler spent six seasons as a pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the Rams prior to his promotion to head coach in 2012.
Jason Thompson is in his fifth season as the Head Coach at Alamo Heights High School (San Antonio, Texas). Thompson led Alamo Heights to a 28-14-1 record and an appearance in the Region IV semifinals in 2019. He joined Alamo Heights in 2015 after serving as the head coach at Brazosport High School (Freeport, Texas) for 11 seasons.