COCOA, Fla. – USA Baseball today announced the 38-player 2021 Women’s National Team Development Program (NTDP) roster, following the completion of the first ever Girls Camp. The 2021 Women’s NTDP will take place October 9-14 at the Launch Pad Sports Complex and will be led by five-time Women’s National Team alum and 2019 Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year Veronica Alvarez as Field Coordinator.
The Women’s NTDP 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.
Of the 38 athletes invited to this year’s Women’s NTDP, eight were selected from the first ever USA Baseball Girls Camp that took place from October 7-9 at the Launch Pad Sports Complex. Players aged 14-19 from across the country competed in the three-day event and further developed their skills through instructional workouts and game play while being coach by previous USA Baseball Women’s National Team staff.
“We are thrilled to announce the 38 players selected to participate in this year’s Women’s National Team Development Program,” said Alvarez. “This roster is an exciting combination of veteran players and young players that we are looking to develop for the future. We cannot wait to get started and we look forward to watching the exponential growth of these young girls as their limits are pushed by our returning athletes taking their own game to the next level at this unique development opportunity.”
The 38 players participating in the 2021 Women’s NTDP represent 19 different states. Eleven of the athletes are new to USA Baseball national team programming, including 25 that have participated in one of Major League Baseball and USA Baseball’s joint girls baseball development opportunities, created to foster the next generation of female baseball players in the United States.
In total, 12 of the 38 invitees have represented the red, white, and blue on previous Women’s National Teams. The roster features 12 members of the 2019 Women’s National Team that won gold at the COPABE Women’s Pan-American Championships, as well as five athletes that helped Team USA claim gold at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. Additionally, 18 of the selected athletes have participated in a past Women’s NTDP.
Ten players on the 2021 Women’s NTDP roster have donned the stars and stripes multiple times in their careers, including ten-time Malaika Underwood (San Diego, Calif.), who holds the USA Baseball record for most national team appearances. Underwood is followed closely by nine-time alum Anna Kimbrell (Fort Mill, S.C.) and eight-time alum Marti Sementelli (West Newton, Mass.).
In addition, Underwood and four-time Women’s National Team alum Meggie Meidlinger (Sterling, Va.) were both members of the 2006 Women’s National Team that earned the program’s second consecutive world championship at the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) Women’s World Cup.
Alvarez, who became the first woman to be named USA Baseball’s Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year after leading the 2019 Women’s National Team to the program’s first gold since 2015, will serve as the 2021 Women’s NTDP Field Coordinator. She will be joined on staff by Team USA alum Alex Oglesby, who served as an assistant coach for the Women’s National Team in 2019 and will manage the Stars team in 2021, and seven-time Women’s National Team alum and two-time USA Baseball Sportswoman of the Year Tamara Holmes, who will lead the Stripes squad.
Additionally, Lou Colon and Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist Mike Kinkade will serve as roving instructors and assistant coaches at the event, joined by Jorge Correa (Correa Pitching Academy), Jenny Dalton-Hill, Jarend Jones, USA Baseball Director of Player Development Jim Koerner, and Reynol Mendoza (Eagle Pass High School; Eagle Pass, Texas) as additional evaluators and coaches during the event.
For more information on the Women’s National Team Development Program, please follow @USABaseballWNT on Twitter or visit USABaseball.com.
The 2021 Women’s NTDP roster is as follows:
- 2021 Women’s National Team Development Program roster:
- (Name; Position; Hometown)
- Jill Albayati; RHP/IF; Anaheim, Calif.^
- Chloe Aldrich; OF/IF; Friendswood, Texas~
- Jaime Baum; RHP/IF; Los Altos, Calif.^
- Kaija Bazzano; C/IF; Sebastopol, Calif.
- Paloma Benach; LHP/IF; Washington, D.C.~
- Denae Benites; IF/RHP; Las Vegas, Nev.^*
- Elise Berger; RHP/IF; Shelburne, Vt.~
- Janelle Calvet; IF/RHP; Deerfield, Fla.~
- Peyton Coria; RHP/IF; Perris, Calif.~
- Delaney Dunham; OF/LHP; Mont Belvieu, Texas^
- Felicity Fonseca; IF/LHP; Port St. Lucie, Fla.
- Amanda Gianelloni; IF/OF; Napoleonville, La.^*
- Jade Gortarez; IF/RHP; Riverside, Calif.^*
- Elizabeth Greenwood; C/OF; Amherst, N.H.
- Alex Hugo; IF/OF; Olathe, Kan.^*
- Kelli Ann Jenkins; RHP; Potomac, Md.
- Madison Jennings; IF/RHP; Royal Palm Beach, Fla.
- Sarah Johnson; OF/IF; Charlotte, N.C.
- Alexia Jorge; C/IF; Lyndhurst, N.J.^*
- Skylar Kaplan; P/IF; Baltimore, Md.
- Anna Kimbrell; C; Fort Mill, S.C.^*
- Kylee Lahners; IF; Laguna Hills, Calif.^*
- Ashton Lansdell; IF/RHP; Marietta, Ga.^*
- Alana Martinez; RHP/IF; Cooper City, Fla.~
- Kate Maston; LHP/IF; Coral Springs, Fla.
- Meredith McFadden; C/IF; Charlotte, N.C.
- Meggie Meidlinger; RHP/IF; Sterling, Va.^*
- Maggie Paulovich; IF/C; Albany, Calif.~
- Oliva Pichardo; RHP/OF; Forest Hills, N.Y.~
- Katherine Reynolds; RHP; Belmont, Mass.^
- Aspen Robinson; OF/RHP; Folsom, Calif.
- Naomi Ryan; LHP/IF; North Chesterfield, Va.~
- Remi Schaber; IF/RHP; Memphis, Tenn.^
- Marti Sementelli; RHP; West Newton, Mass.^*
- Paige Sneddon; UTIL; Pittsburgh, Pa.
- Malaika Underwood; IF; San Diego, Calif.^*
- Gabby Velez; IF/RHP; New York, N.Y.
- Kelsie Whitmore; OF/RHP; Temecula, Calif.^*
- *Denotes USA Baseball National Team alum
- ^Denotes past Women’s NTDP participant
- ~Denotes 2021 Girls Camp participant
