BSB | Valenzuela Named To USA Baseball 14U Staff
5/31/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 31, 2018
Official USA Baseball Release
DURHAM, N.C. — USA Baseball announced Thursday that Saint Mary's baseball head coach Eric Valenzuela will be a part of the organization's 14U National Team Development Program staff this summer.
Valenzuela will be managing the "Stars" team during 14U National Team Development Program intrasquad games that feature "Stars" and "Stripes" teams squaring off. The NTDP offers athletes with an opportunity to connect with USA Baseball staff to better prepare for a future national team experience. The program includes skill development sessions, off-field education seminars and intrasquad Stars vs. Stripes games to assist in the development of the athletes as both a player and a person.
Joining Valenzuela on the Stars staff will be Austin Preparatory School (Reading, Mass.) Athletic Director, Jonathan Pollard, Eastern Tennessee State University Assistant Coach James "Xan" Barksdale and Tulane University Assistant Coach Eddie Smith. Pollard will lead the team's pitching staff, while Barksdale and Smith will serve as assistant coaches.
"I'm extremely excited for the opportunity to work with USA Baseball, its great staff, coaches and players," said Valenzuela. "Any chance you get to wear USA across your chest is an honor and privilege. I look forward to sharing and learning ideas in a beautiful setting like Cary, N.C., and the Team USA complex."
The 2018 14U NTDP will take place July 24-27 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The 14U NTDP will once again serve as an identification event for the 15U National Team Trials roster. For the second straight year, 18 athletes will be selected to the 15U Trials roster and immediately compete for a spot on the 2018 15U Team that will compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-15 Baseball World Cup in David, Panama. Additionally, four athletes from the event will earn an invitation to the 2019 15U National Team Trials.
Valenzuela led Saint Mary's to its third straight 30-win season in 2018, marking the first time in modern program history (since 1968) that the program has won 30 games in three consecutive years. Under Valenzuela's guidance, the Gaels have had four All-Americans, 27 all-West Coast Conference awards (eight first team, seven second team), made back-to-back WCC Championship Tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017, and won the program's first-ever conference championship, WCC Tournament championship and made its first-ever NCAA Regional appearance in 2016.
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