On the heels of guiding the Utes to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 49 years, head coach Bill Kinneberg has been selected to serve as head coach of the 2010 USA Baseball National Team.
The team will participate in the FISU World University championship in Japan. The event, which occurs every other year, has been won by Team USA three consecutive times, including last year’s 1-0, 12-inning victory over Japan in the final.
“I’m very honored and extremely humbled for the opportunity to put on the uniform and represent USA Baseball again,” Kinneberg said. “I would like to thank everyone at USA Baseball for the opportunity, and I look forward to the challenge of putting a great staff and team together to ultimately win the FISU Championships next year.”
Kinneberg’s close friend and head coach of Cal State Fullerton, Dave Serrano, was announced as the team’s pitching coach. Serrano’s Fullerton squad eliminated the Utes in this year’s NCAA regional.
Kinneberg served as the director of USA Baseball’s Athlete Development Program in between two stints of serving as the team’s pitching coach in 1999 and 2007. The 2007 team finished 25-12 and sported a gaudy 1.93 team ERA.
“Bill was part of Mike Weathers’ staff in 2007–a year that saw us go through the toughest schedule and selection process on record for a National Team,” said Eric Campbell, general manager of USA Baseball National Teams. “He did a great job managing the pitching staff to a silver in Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro as well as working through three midsummer roster moves within that pitching staff.”
Kinneberg will be taking on the duties of putting together a staff and team for the USA, in addition to continuing to manage the Utes.
In addition to leading Utah to the 2009 Mountain West Conference Tournament championship, the first MWC championship in school history, Kinneberg’s accomplishments include establishing school wins in a season records at UTEP (1985), Wyoming (1990) and Utah (1996).