CARROLLTON, Texas - USA Baseball announced the final 20-woman roster for the 2019 Women's National Team on Sunday. Following training, the Women's National Team will compete in the COPABE Women's Pan-American Championships from August 18-25 in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
"We are thrilled with the depth of knowledge, experience, talent and passion on this roster," said USA Baseball Senior Director of Baseball Operations, Ashley Bratcher. "This is an incredibly strong group of athletes that we are confident will represent the U.S. well both on and off the field as we look to secure another gold medal and qualify for next year's world championship."
In total, 15 alumni of the USA Baseball Women's National Team are returning to the roster in 2019, including 11 members of the U.S. team that claimed gold at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.
Meggie Meidlinger (Sterling, Va.) and Malaika Underwood (San Diego, Calif.) were also members of the most recent world champion Women's National Team in 2006.
2019 marks Underwood's tenth time suiting up for Team USA, breaking her own record for most appearances on a USA Baseball national team for the second year in a row. She has won two gold medals while appearing on every Women's National Team since 2006. Chicago Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. (7) and Houston Astros Manager, A.J. Hinch (6), hold the next closest marks.
In addition to national team alumni, the roster features five athletes that will make their USA Baseball national team debut in 2019, including Denae Benites (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brittany Womack (Escondido, Calif.), who both participated in the 2018 Women's National Open and Women's National Team Trials.
Benites, along with Kate Blunt (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), Alexia Jorge (Lyndhurst, N.J.) and Jamie Mackay (Newport Beach, Calif.), also competed in at least 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, including the Girls Baseball Breakthrough Series and Development Camp, the MLB GRIT Invitational and the Trailblazer Series.
All of the athletes on the final 2019 Women's National Team roster participated in the 2019 Women's National Team Development Program (WNTDP) that ran from August 7-10 in Carrollton, Texas.
Five-time Team USA alum and 2018 Women's National Team Assistant Coach, Veronica Alvarez, is making her managerial debut in 2019. She will be joined on staff by Reynol Mendoza, who will serve as the team's pitching coach, as well as assistant coaches Manny Crespo, Sr., and Alex Oglesby.
The 2019 Women's National Team will train in Carrollton, Texas, from August 11-14 before traveling to Aguascalientes, Mexico, for the COBAPE Women's Pan-American Championships. The event will serve as a qualifier for the 2020 World Baseball Softball Confederation 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, follow on Twitter at @USABaseballWNT.
2019 Women's National Team roster:
(Name; Position; Hometown)
*^Megan Baltzell; OF; Stafford, Va.
^Denae Benites; IF/RHP; Las Vegas, Nev.
^Kate Blunt; IF/RHP; Ladera Ranch, Calif.
*^Michelle Cobb; IF/RHP; Wenatchee, Wash.
*^Amanda Gianelloni; IF/OF; Napoleonville, La.
*^Jade Gortarez; IF/RHP; Riverside, Calif.
*^AJ Hamilton; C/OF; Tallahassee, Fla.
*^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.
^Jamie Mackay; C/RHP; Newport Beach, Calif.
*^Meggie Meidlinger; RHP/IF; Sterling, Va.
*^Brittany Schutte; RHP/IF; Fountain Valley, Calif.
*^Marti Sementelli; RHP/IF; West Newton, Mass.
*^Sara Tobias; RHP/OF; New York, N.Y.
*^Malaika Underwood; IF; San Diego, Calif.
*^Kelsie Whitmore; OF/RHP; Temecula, Calif.
^Brittany Womack; OF/RHP; Escondido, Calif.
*Denotes National Team alumna
^Denotes National Team Development Program participant
