DURHAM, N.C. — USA Baseball announced the 36 players named to the 2015 USA Baseball Women’s National Team on Tuesday, following a multi-event selection process approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee. Trials will be held May 22 to 24, 2015, with the final 18-player USA Baseball Women’s Pan American Games Team being named following the event. Ryleigh Buck of Wellington, KS is one of the players selected to the team. In March, she’ll travel with the team to the Dominican Republic to play in a qualifier and represent USA Baseball. Ryleigh will then have a chance to be selected to play in the Pan Am Games.
“Finalizing Trials selections is always tough and this year proved to be particularly difficult with the level of talent we saw at the inaugural Women’s National Open,” Women’s National Team Director, Ashley Bratcher, said. “We are extremely pleased with the group of women we have coming into Trials in May and look forward to the next phase of preparation for this summer’s Pan American Games.”
Players were named to the Trials from the 2014 USA Baseball Women’s National Team Identification Series, the 2015 USA Baseball Women’s National Open, as well as a petition process and discretionary selections.
The roster is comprised of athletes from 13 different states, as well as an athlete from Washington, D.C. California is the most represented state with nine athletes named to the Trials roster, followed by Texas with six and Florida with four. Illinois and South Carolina each have a trio of athletes competing for a roster spot, while Georgia and Washington each send a pair of players. Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia will each have a representative at the Trials.
The 2015 USA Baseball Women’s National Team will be managed by Jonathan Pollard who led the program to the silver medal as manager at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup in Miyazaki, Japan in 2014. Pollard, a resident of Woburn, Mass., also won the silver medal with the Women’s National Team at the 2012 IBAF Women’s World Cup as the pitching coach.
Joining Pollard in the dugout is pitching coach Matt Weagle who served in the same role for the silver-medal winning 2014 USA Baseball Women’s National Team. A native of Charlton, Mass., Weagle guided a pitching staff that posted a 2.07 ERA in 65 and one-third innings pitched last summer.
Off the field, the Women’s National Team is guided by director, Ashley Bratcher. Kim Moncel returns to the Women’s National Team as the certified athletic trainer, and Cameron Harris will join the team as the press officer for the Pan American Games.
For more information on the Women’s National Team, please visit USABaseball.com.
The 36-player USA Baseball Women’s National Team Trials roster is as follows:
Name, Position, Hometown
Veronica Alvarez, C, Miami, Fla.
Gabrielle Augustine, RHP, Palmerton, Pa.
Susanne Boden, LHP, Atlanta, Ga.
Ryleigh Buck, IF/RHP, Wellington, Kan.
Cayla Calderon, OF/IF, Canyon Country, Calif.
Samantha Cobb, OF/RHP, Garland, Texas
Megan Dedrick, IF/RHP, Everett, Wash.
Eliza DeMers, IF/OF, Rochester, N.Y.
Caitlin Everett, OF, Sunnyvale, Texas
Riley Frisbie, RHP/C, Countryside, Ill.
Lauren Frost, IF/RHP, Eagle River, Alaska
Alex Fulmer, RHP, Little Mountain, S.C.
Tera Gainer, IF/OF, Tallahassee, Fla.
Veronica Gajownik, IF/RHP, Chuluota, Fla.
Brittany Gomez, OF, New Braunfels, Texas
Jade Gortarez, IF/RHP, Riverside, Calif.
Kayla Haberstich, RHP, Bartlett, Ill.
Tara Harbert, OF, Boulder, Colo.
Tamara Holmes, OF, Albany, Calif.
Lindsay Horwitz, RHP, Gurnee, Ill.
Sarah Hudek, LHP/OF, Sugar Land, Texas
Anna Kimbrell, C/RHP, Fort Mill, S.C.
Sydney Love-Baker, C, Washington, D.C.
Meaghan May, C, Spring, Texas
Stacy Piagno, RHP, St. Augustine, Fla.
Nicole Rivera, IF/RHP, Lakeside, Calif.
Cydnee Sanders, IF/RHP, Magnolia, Texas
Marti Sementelli, RHP, Sherman Oak, Calif.
Michelle Snyder, IF/RHP, Wenatchee, Wash.
Laura Trout, OF, Alexandria, Va.
Malaika Underwood, IF, San Diego, Calif.
Emily Grace White, RHP/OF, Marietta, Ga.
Kelsie Whitmore, OF/RHP, Temecula, Calif.
Donna Williams, RHP, Fremont, Calif.
Nichole Willis, C, Clovis, Calif.
Codee Yeske, IF/RHP, Lexington, S.C.
