2019 USA Softball U-19 Women's National Team Coaching Staff Announced

2019 USA Softball U-19 Women's National Team Coaching Staff Announced

Heather Tarr, Tony Baldwin, Cindy Ball-Malone, and Tim Walton tabbed as U19 Women’s National Team Coaches.

Mar 4, 2019 by Chez Sievers
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OKLAHOMA CITY – USA Softball has announced the 2019 USA Softball U-19 Women’s National (U19 WNT) assistant coaches that will complete the coaching staff.   With the program led by Head Coach Heather Tarr (Redmond, Wash./Head Coach at Washington), Tony Baldwin (Athens, Ga./Associate Head Coach at Georgia), Cindy Ball-Malone (Orlando, Fla./Head Coach at UCF) and Tim Walton (Gainesville, Fla./Head Coach at Florida) will bring a wealth of experience to a U.S. roster that will look to become the first, three-peat U-19 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s World Cup champion.

This will be the first stint with the USA Softball U19 WNT for both Baldwin and Ball-Malone while Walton previously served as an Assistant Coach for the 2015 roster.

Baldwin is entering his fifth season with Georgia, having served as both a Volunteer and Assistant Coach until his promotion to Associate Head Coach shortly after the 2016 season. In his tenure, the Bulldogs offense has found successful production, landing in the Top 5 in the country in batting average the past two seasons.

“I am honored to be selected to work with the U19 Women’s National Team this summer,” said Baldwin. “Like the players, it has always been a dream of mine to be able to represent my country in competition. I am looking forward to spending the summer with Coach Tarr and the rest of the staff to prepare this team to be at its best at the WBSC U-19 Women’s World Cup. What I am most looking forward to is investing in the players and helping them in their journey through softball.”

Ball-Malone is currently in her first season as Head Coach at UCF. Prior to joining the Knights in June of 2018, she had four seasons at the helm of Boise State’s softball program. At Boise State, she led the team to the program’s first NCAA postseason appearance at the 2017 National Invitational Softball Championship before following up with a 2018 NCAA tournament berth.

“I am truly thankful for this opportunity given to me by USA Softball and Coach Tarr,” said Ball-Malone. “It is a pleasure and an honor to work with the talented athletes that were selected. This will be a remarkable experience working with these young athletes and traveling the world representing the Red, White and Blue.”

Walton is returning to the U19 WNT for his second stint, having served as an Assistant Coach for the program in 2015. Walton helped guide the U.S. to the Gold Medal in dominating fashion, with the team going undefeated and leading the tournament with a .425 batting average while scoring 119 runs in 10 games played.

Collegiately, Walton is entering his 14th season at the helm of Florida. In his 14 seasons, Walton has established the Gators as a softball powerhouse, capturing back-to-back national titles in 2014 and 2015.

“I am thankful to USA Softball and the selection committee for putting their trust in me as an assistant coach,” said Walton. “I cannot wait to help prepare and develop this group of young women for another run at the WBSC U-19 Women’s World Cup. This is a tremendous opportunity as there is no greater honor than being able to represent your country in international competition.”

For more information on the USA Softball National Team program, please visit USASoftball.com.

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 through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations. 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 fastpitch, 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.

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 208 National Federation and Associate Members in 135 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 Premier12, World Baseball Classic, Baseball World Cups, Softball World Cups, and Softball World Championships, as well as baseball and softball events at the Olympic Games.

For more information, visit www.wbsc.org, which is available six languages: English, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Traditional Chinese.