FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2018

USA Softball announces Men’s National Team Coaching staff for Intercontinental Cup

OKLAHOMA CITY – USA Softball, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced today the coaching staff for the 2018 USA Softball Men’s National Team (MNT). Selected from the USA Softball MNT Coaching Pool, the coaches selected will lead the U.S. at the Intercontinental Cup August 28-September 1 in Prague, Czech Republic.

The U.S. will be led by Gregg Leather (Staten Island, N.Y.), who served as the Head Coach for the MNT at last summer’s Pan American Championship in the Dominican Republic. Joining Leather as assistant coaches are Greg Hicks (Bakersfield, Calif.), Nick McCurry (Ashland, Ohio) and Ron Guzman (Salinas, Calif.). Hicks and McCurry were also on the coaching staff for the U.S. at the Pan American Championship and have been on the coaching staff with Leather since 2014. Guzman will make his first appearance on the coaching staff for Team USA.

At the Intercontinental Cup, a World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) sanctioned event, the U.S. will face off against the top-ranked teams in the world: No. 1 New Zealand, No. 3 Japan, No. 4 Argentina, No. 7 Czech Republic, No. 11 Denmark and No. 12 Botswana.

The Intercontinental Cup will mark the first international event for the MNT after a breakout 2017 season in which the team competed in both the WBSC Men’s World Championship and the Pan American Championship. The Red, White and Blue finished the World Championship in sixth place with a .300 team batting average, 15 home runs, 64 RBI and a 6-3 record while the pitching staff combined for 74 strikeouts and allowed 26 earned runs through 49 complete innings. At the Pan American Championship, the MNT claimed the Bronze Medal, the first international for a U.S. Men’s National Team since 2003. As a team, the U.S. hit .237 with 11 home runs and recorded 56 RBI in 10 games played and from the circle, the U.S. staff combined for a 2.90 ERA and 62 strikeouts.

The roster for the Intercontinental Cup will be announced at a later date. For more information on the USA Softball National Team program, please visit USASoftball.com.<https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball>

About USA Softball
USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 69 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit,www.USASoftball.com<http://www.usasoftball.com/>.

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation
Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland -- the Olympic Capital -- the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for baseball and softball. WBSC has 202 National Federation and Associate Members in 143 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually.

The WBSC governs all international competitions involving official National Teams. The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships (Men, Women, U-19 Men, and U-19 Women), Premier12, World Baseball Classic, and Baseball World Cups (U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 and Women's).

For more information, visit: www.wbsc.org<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001wwUWAIEWrQOvYkAUJQce_bfWiIziwXlriIaZj9qMldOyzexE_To2LowU67TU7wF6ct0beQvIHZVqzdF5dsBKPZ_Wmf2uCS24S1ZLwWA_nL0omPMO3RGJFoqj1eHLxFuv-ml73dfDmv9BXLOE3a1IcRGDkSZnNRyb&c=ikpaqLMyCcSUWYfDsdRpLsGMJUFb5g5j37V3_bVKminzY4WfaM2IWg==&ch=tdkqWMSq9b-9Wq2wYN5AJTN0dLGeNNHlLF7bNi0m4LbaUz7RYlKU9A==>.


[cid:D6B70E4F-358C-4368-9B8A-C168DA2A84DB]
Codi Warren I Managing Director of Communications
USA Softball
2801 NE 50th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73111
405-425-3431 (O)
Visit Us Online: USASoftball.com<http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball>

Play #USASoftball, where Olympic journey's begin!