USA Baseball Women's National Team staff announcement

RINDGE, N.H (June 14, 2018) – Assistant coach and alum Cody Kauffman ’12 of the Franklin Pierce University baseball team has been selected to join the coaching staff of the USA Baseball Women’s National Team this summer, as announced earlier this spring by USA Baseball. Kauffman and the rest of the staff have already begun to build the team, and will then prepare the squad for World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s Baseball World Cup in August.

Kauffman will serve on the staff under a fellow Franklin Pierce alum. A member of the 2012 Franklin Pierce Athletics Hall of Fame class, Matt Weagle ’04 will serve as the manager of the Women’s National Team this summer.

“In my mind, there is no better feeling than wearing the ‘USA’ across your chest, and hearing the anthem play over the loudspeakers,” said Kauffman. “It’s an incredible honor to be coaching, and I couldn’t be more thankful. I am looking forward to putting in the work to bring the gold medal back from the World Cup.”

For Kauffman, the selection continues what has become a lengthy relationship with USA Baseball. A year ago, he served as a coach with the Women’s National Team Development Program, which gained him familiarity with some of the athletes he is likely to cross paths with this summer. Prior to that, Kauffman was an operations coordinator for the Collegiate National Team in 2014 and served as the director of the 12U National Team in 2015. The 12U National Team would go on to claim gold at the 2015 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.

For his part, Weagle’s selection as field manager caps a five-year relationship with the Women’s National Team program. He served as the pitching coach for the squad when it won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, as well as for the 2016 Women’s National Team, the 2015 Pan Am Games Qualifier Team and the 2014 silver medalists at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup. A former Major League Baseball draft pick, Weagle recently wrapped up his fifth season as the pitching coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

"I am very honored to represent the United States and Team USA, and I look forward to fielding a highly competitive team for the World Cup this summer," Weagle said in the USA Baseball announcement of the staff. "That this event is being played in the U.S. is a significant milestone in the evolution of women's baseball in this country and I couldn't be more proud and excited to manage these athletes who have had such a positive impact on this growing sport."

Kauffman will be joined on Weagle’s staff by Veronica Alvarez and Ernie May. Alvarez is a five-time alum of the Women’s National Team, while May is currently the head coach at Dean College.

The staff has already begun the process of identifying the Women’s National Team, as they attended the Women’s National Open, which took place June 8-10 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. From there, the coaches selected 40 participants for the National Team Trials, which began on June 11 and will wrap up on Thursday, also at the National Training Complex.

The final roster will be announced by USA Baseball on June 18. The squad will compete in the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup from Aug. 22-31 at the USSSA Space Coast Complex in Viera, Fla. It marks the first time the event will be held in the United States. Team USA is a two-time gold medalist, as it captured the Women’s Baseball World Cup title in 2004 and 2006.

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