CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today announced the coaching staff for the 2024 15U National Team, highlighted by the return of nine-time Team USA coach Rob Shabansky as manager for the second consecutive summer. Shabansky is joined by last year’s assistant coaches, Casey Scott and Derek Simmons, along with two-time Team USA assistant Steve Butler to round out the staff.
The coaching staff will lead Team USA in an international friendship series against Australia in Atlanta, Georgia, in September.
“After watching Rob lead our team to an unbeaten trip to the Dominican Republic last year, we are very excited to bring him back as manager in 2024,” said 15U National Team Director Ben Kelley. “Surrounded by three great coaches in Casey, Derek, and Steve, we are confident that this staff will provide an unparalleled experience for our roster. We are looking forward to having these four experienced coaches in our dugout this year.”
In his ninth appearance on a national team coaching staff, Rob Shabansky returns to the managerial post for the second consecutive summer. Most recently, Shabansky led the U.S. to a perfect 5-0 record in an international friendly series against the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Team USA outscored its opponents 47-5 in the five-game set, batting .374 as a team and posting a 1.16 ERA. Two summers ago, Shabansky served as the pitching coach for the 2022 15U National Team, helping guide the stars and stripes to a gold medal at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-15 Baseball World Cup. Eleven years prior to the gold-medal run, Shabansky made his national team coaching debut as an assistant coach with the 2011 16U National Team and then served as the pitching coach for the 2015 and 2016 15U National Teams. He was elevated to manager in 2017, when he led the U.S. to a 7-1 overall record and a COPABE Pan Am "AA" Championships gold medal. He has guided five national teams he has worked with to gold medals and, under his direction, the 2015 and 2016 15U pitching staffs recorded collective ERAs of 3.36 and 2.57, respectively. Shabanksy has also been a pitching coach for the 2016 14U National Team Development Program (NTDP) and a pitching coordinator at the 2019 14U NTDP.
A graduate of the University of Arizona, Shabansky was a standout pitcher for the Wildcats baseball program. As a sophomore, he led the Wildcats in wins (8) and ERA (3.86). He was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1998 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft and played four seasons of professional baseball. Shabansky just wrapped up his 12th season at the helm and 17th season overall at Gateway Community College, where he led the Geckos to the NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series Championship Game in 2016.
Steve Butler returns to the staff as an assistant coach in 2024 after two prior appearances on the 15U staff in 2021 and 2022. Butler helped lead the U.S. to an 8-1 record and a gold medal at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup in 2022, as the stars and stripes outscored opponents 99-30 en route to their third world title. Currently the head coach at Eagan High School (Eagan, Minn.), Butler is a veteran of USA Baseball events having coached at the 14U NTDP in 2015 and 2017 and 15U National Team Training Camp in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2023. Prior to coaching at Eagan, Butler was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Concordia University, St. Paul, from 2009-2017, where he worked with hitters and defense. During his collegiate career, he was a team captain who started in 101 games for the Golden Bears, hitting .313 and helping lead the team to the school’s first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship in 2003. Butler played professional baseball from 2005-2010, recording 244 hits and 86 RBIs in 347 games.
Casey Scott is back on the 15U National Team coaching staff for the second time as pitching coach in 2024. In last summer’s international friendly series, Scott’s staff allowed just four earned runs and struck out 38 batters in 31 innings of work, holding opponents to a .107 batting average against. In addition to his stint as pitching coach in 2023, Scott has also been involved with USA Baseball in several different capacities. He has made three appearances on a development program coaching staff, first as a pitching coach at the 2019 14U NTDP, and has been part of the four 15U National Team Training Camps. He just wrapped up his fifth season as the head coach of Bishop Verot Catholic High School (Fort Myers, Fla.), where he has guided his program to the USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI) in both 2022 and 2023. Prior to his time at Bishop Verot, Scott spent a season as an assistant coach for the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland and four seasons as the head coach at Ave Maria University in Florida. Scott also served as head coach of the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs of the New York Collegiate Baseball League and led the squad to a title en route to being named the league’s Coach of the Year in 2012. He began his coaching career at SUNY Brockport in 2009 after pitching for two seasons for the Golden Eagles and posting a 9-0 record.
Indiana University Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Derek Simmons will again serve as an assistant coach for the 2024 15U National Team. Making his second straight appearance on a national team staff, Simmons brings with him extensive coaching experience both at the collegiate level and with national team development programs, including his role as manager for Team Navy at the 2022 16U/17U NTDP. He has also been on staff for the 15U National Team Training Camp on multiple occasions, serving as a team manager in 2022. Simmons just completed his fifth season on the coaching staff at Indiana University, where he became an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator after two years in the volunteer assistant role. Before arriving in Bloomington, Simmons spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Kent State University (2018-2019), where he helped land the second-highest-ranked recruiting class in program history during that time. Simmons also spent time as a member of the coaching staff at the University of Alabama (2016) and Kennesaw State University (2012-2015) after starting his coaching career with a two-year stint at Central Michigan University. Additionally, he was a coach at the USA Baseball Tournament of Stars in 2012 and 2013. Prior to beginning his coaching career, Simmons played for the University of Montevallo, helping lead the team to the 2006 Division II College World Series before transferring to Georgia State, where he was named team captain and twice earned first-team all-conference accolades.
The 2024 National Team Championships in Arizona and North Carolina along with the 13U/14U Athlete Development Program (ADP) will serve as the primary identification events for the 2024 15U National Team. Twelve athletes have already been invited to the 15U National Team Training Camp from the 2023 National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup, while thirty-two players will be identified from the ADP and National Team Championships. In total, forty-four players will compete at the 2024 15U National Team Training Camp for a spot on the final 20-man 15U National Team roster.
The 15U National Team Training Camp will be held from August 5-9 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. Training Camp will include on-field workouts, intrasquad scrimmages, Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP) performance assessments, and more. Following the conclusion of Training Camp, the 15U National Team will compete in an international friendship series against Australia in Atlanta, Georgia, in early September. The series will be the first all-time meeting between the U.S. and Australia at the U-15 level.
Since first taking the field in 2012, the 15U National Team has won six gold medals in international competition. Team USA most recently captured the world title at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup in 2022, defeating Cuba in the championship game. Overall, the U.S. owns two world championships in addition to four gold medals at WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifiers.
For more information on the 15U National Team, visit USABaseball.com or follow @USABaseball15U on X.
