Grand Canyon University head baseball coach Andy Stankiewicz took the reins of the USA Baseball 18U National Team this summer, guiding the squad to a gold medal at the COPABE 18U Pan American Games in La Paz, Mexico. The tournament was held from Sept. 5-14.
Stankiewicz, serving as the manager of the team, began his summer journey in June at the Tournament of Stars in Cary, N.C., where he evaluated a total of 108 players. He then traveled to Houston, Tex., for workouts that eventually narrowed down 40 players to the squad that represented the United States at the tournament in Mexico.
"My experience here at Grand Canyon helped tremendously going into this as the head guy knowing that people were going to be looking to me," Stankiewicz said. "All of the coaches that were there with me are head coaches, and I relied on them throughout this journey. We sat down as a staff to discuss what we wanted to do. We had some great baseball minds together and the communication we had was excellent."
Team USA finished with a perfect 8-0 record at the COPABE 18U Pan American Games, outscoring opponents 110-5 in those contests. Including four pre-tournament games against Canada, the team sported a 12-0 record for the summer.
"Overall, it was a great experience for everybody involved," said Stankiewicz. "To go 12-0 in that short period of time demonstrates the talent level of the players that we had. They were some of the finest players in the U.S. And as a coaching staff, we just tried to let them play."
"We were trying to keep the team mentality together, and when you get as talented of players as we had that can do that, you will have success," added Stankiewicz.
The squad tossed back-to-back no-hitters against Guatemala and Ecuador on Sept. 9 and Sept. 11, winning those games by a combined score of 36-0.
In the gold medal game, which was canceled due to weather, Team USA was leading 1-0 over Cuba in the bottom of the third inning. They had previously beaten Cuba in an earlier tournament meeting, 5-4.
The top four teams - the United States, Cuba, Canada and Mexico - all now advance to the 2015 IBAF 18U World Cup in Japan.
This marked the third summer that Stankiewicz has worked with the USA Baseball program, as he was named to the 2012 Collegiate National Team coaching staff and the 2013 17U National Team Development Program.
Click here for more information on the USA Baseball 18U National Team.