DURHAM, N.C. - USA Baseball revealed the 34-player 2019 Women's National Team Development Program (NTDP) roster on Tuesday. The Women's NTDP will be held in Carrollton, Texas, from August 7-10.
The National Team Development Program offers identified athletes an opportunity to connect with USA Baseball staff to better prepare for a future national team experience. The program includes skill development sessions, an intrasquad series between Stars and Stripes teams, and exposure to the Women's National Team staff.
"We are excited to start working with some of the best talent in the country at this developmental program," said Senior Director of Baseball Operations Ashley Bratcher. "The NTDP offers an invaluable chance for all of these athletes to continue their growth in the game of baseball and prepare for possible national team opportunities in the future."
The 34 athletes that make up the 2019 Women's NTDP roster represent 17 different states. Sixteen of the athletes are new to USA Baseball national team programming in 2019, including 12 athletes that have participated in one of Major League Baseball and USA Baseball's joint girl's baseball development opportunities, created to foster the next generation of female baseball players in the United States.
In total, twelve players named to the 2019 Women's NTDP participated in the Girls Baseball Breakthrough Series and Development Camp, while seven attended the MLB GRIT Invitational and three played in the Trailblazer Series.
Sixteen of the 34 invitees have represented the red, white and blue on previous Women's National Teams. The roster features 15 members of the 2018 Women's National Team that competed at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women's Baseball World Cup, as well as six athletes that helped the U.S. claim gold at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. Additionally, fourteen of the selected athletes have participated in a past Women's NTDP.
Ten members of the 2019 Women's NTDP roster are multi-time alumni of Team USA, including nine-time alumna Malaika Underwood (San Diego, Calif.), eight-time alum Anna Kimbrell (Fort Mill, S.C.) and seven-time alum Marti Sementelli (West Newton, Mass.).
In addition, Underwood (San Diego, Calif.) and four-time Women's National Team alum Meggie Meidlinger (Sterling, Va.) were both members of the 2006 Women's National Team that won a gold medal at the International Baseball Federation Women's World Cup.
Five-time Team USA alum and 2019 Women's National Team Manager, Veronica Alvarez, will serve as the field coordinator for this year's Women's NTDP. She will be joined by 2019 Women's National Team coaches Manny Crespo Sr., Reynol Mendoza and Alex Oglesby, as well as USA Baseball Senior Director of Player Development Scott Brosius, Manny Crespo, Jr. (Gulliver Preparatory School; Miami, Fla.), Jorge Correa, Tamara Holmes and Tanner Vesely (Corona Del Sol; Tempe, Ariz.) as additional evaluators and coaches during the event.
USA Baseball will announce a final 20-player Women's National Team roster on August 10 and the team will train in Carrollton, Texas, from August 11-14 before traveling to Aguascalientes, Mexico, to compete in the COPABE Women's Pan-American Championships August 18-25. The event will serve as a qualifier for the 2020 WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup, with each of the top four finishers at the Pan-American Championships earning a bid to next year's world championship tournament.
For more information on the Women's National Team and the Women's National Team Development Program, follow on Twitter at @USABaseballWNT.
2019 Women's National Team Development Program roster:
(Name; Position; Hometown)
Jillian Albayati; RHP/IF; Anaheim, Calif.
*^Megan Baltzell; OF; Stafford, Va.
Jamie Baum; RHP/IF; Los Altos, Calif.
Denae Benites; IF/RHP; Las Vegas, Nev.
Kate Blunt; IF/RHP; Ladera Ranch, Calif.
*^Michelle Cobb; IF/RHP; Wenatchee, Wash.
Delaney Dunham; OF/LHP; Mont Belvieu, Texas
*^Amanda Gianelloni; IF/OF; Napoleonville, La.
^Maycen Gibbs; C/OF; Folsom, Calif.
*^Jade Gortarez; IF/RHP; Riverside, Calif.
Elizabeth Greenwood; C/OF; Amherst, N.H.
^Kayla Haberstich; RHP/OF; Bartlett, Ill.
*^AJ Hamilton; C/OF; Tallahassee, Fla.
^Thea Hanscom; RHP/IF; Hadley, Mass.
Abby Hay; IF; Columbia, Mo.
*Alex Hugo; IF/OF; Olathe, Kan.
Alexia Jorge; C/IF; Lyndhurst, N.J.
*^Anna Kimbrell; C/OF; Fort Mill, S.C.
*Kylee Lahners; IF; Laguna Hills, Calif.
*Ashton Lansdell; IF/RHP; Marietta, Ga.
Maddy Lewis; IF; Alameda, Calif.
Jamie Mackay; C/RHP; Newport Beach, Calif.
*^Meggie Meidlinger; RHP/IF; Sterling, Va.
Katherine Reynolds; RHP; Belmont, Mass.
Remi Schaber; IF/RHP; Memphis, Tenn.
Kelley Schroeder; OF; Laguna Hills, Calif.
*Brittany Schutte; RHP/IF; Fountain Valley, Calif.
*^Marti Sementelli; RHP/IF; West Newton, Mass.
*Sara Tobias; RHP/OF; New York, N.Y.
*^Emily Tsujikawa; RHP/IF; Redmond, Wash.
*^Malaika Underwood; IF; San Diego, Calif.
*^Kelsie Whitmore; OF/RHP; Temecula, Calif.
Brittany Womack; OF/RHP; Escondido, Calif.
Maya Zimmerman; IF/RHP; Oakland, Calif.
*Denotes National Team alum
^Denotes Women's National Team Development Program participant