USA Baseball has announced that 1982 Chesterton High School graduate Jerry Meyers will serve as pitching coach for the 2008 USA Baseball National Team.

Meyers, currently the head coach at Old Dominion University, will join Oral Roberts head coach Rob Walton, who will be field manager, on the staff.

“I am extremely honored to have been selected to be part of the USA Baseball staff for the summer of 2008,” Meyers said in a press release. “I am greatly appreciative for the opportunity to represent our Country and Old Dominion University as we compete for the U.S. National Team in hopes of bringing home a gold medal. I am looking forward to working with the USA staff.”

Meyers, who has a career record of 117-96, was named the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year and is currently in his fourth year at the helm of the Monarchs’ program. This year Old Dominion is currently 21-21 on the season after completing a three-game sweep of Northeastern last weekend.

In 2007, ODU was the co-regular season league champion and the top seed in the CAA tournament. In 2006, ODU was second in the CAA regular season standings and climbed its way back into the nation’s top 20.

Old Dominion’s pitching staff led the CAA with a 3.97 earned run average, 471 strikeouts in 519 innings, 11 complete games and five shutouts last year.

Prior to returning to ODU, Meyers served as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina for eight years and helped guide the Gamecocks to World Series appearances three straight seasons (2002-04), including the National Championship game in 2002 as pitching coach.

Widely regarded as one of the top pitching coaches in college baseball, Meyers' South Carolina pitching staff compiled a 53-17 record as the Gamecocks captured the 2004 Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship, NCAA Regional and Super Regional Championships, and took a third place finish at the College World Series.

The Gamecocks also reached the World Series Championship game in 2002, compiling a 57-18 Record.

In eight seasons with Meyers coaching the Gamecock pitchers, the program won more games than any other team in the country over a five-year period (1999-2004). The Gamecocks won two Southeastern Conference championships and two SEC Eastern Division titles four of the last six years.

Meyers was no stranger to the ODU program, having served as an assistant in 1996 when the Monarchs captured their third straight CAA title and advanced to the NCAA Atlantic Regional. His pitching staff established a school record of 426 strikeouts which stood until 2004.

Prior to his first stint at ODU, Meyers spent four years as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington where he worked with pitchers and catchers. The 1995 Seahawk staff ranked 11th nationally in earned run average at 3.37 with two pitchers ranked among the nation's top 15 in strikeouts per nine innings.

He also coached at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, FL., from 1989-91.

Meyers was a four-year starting pitcher at Iowa State University where he was named to the All-Big Eight Conference team as a senior. He was the team captain as a junior and senior and was named the team's Most Valuable pitcher his senior year.

Meyers received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in management from Iowa State and the master of education in physical education from South Alabama in 1989 with an emphasis in exercise and movement technology.

Meyers and his wife Chris have two daughters, Jaye Riley and Audrey Reese.

Posted 5/2/2008