Troy baseball head coach Skylar Meade had the opportunity to join the staff of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team as a pitching coach this summer. Also representing the Trojans was catcher Brooks Bryan, who was invited to the team after a breakout 2024 season.
“I had always thought about the summers as fixing your roster, recruiting your butt off and working on the next thing,” Meade said. “When I was approached about [joining the staff] I looked at it through a different lens.”
Meade worked with a group of the best players in college baseball and talked about the differences in coaching such talented arms.
“It’s a who’s who in the 2025 draft and obviously a who’s who of college baseball, so it was awesome,” Meade said. “I’m not trying to overcoach these guys, and our job was to serve these guys, keep them healthy and keep their head coaches and agents happy.”
Over the summer, the team went undefeated in eight games. Meade talked about the privilege to represent the country, particularly with such a successful outcome.
“Above all the other stuff, you’re around the best players in the country and you get to represent the USA and wear that uniform,” Meade said. “To go 8-0 was pretty cool, and something that hasn’t happened many times.”
Bryan, a Golden Spikes semifinalist in 2024 after setting a school record with 85 RBIs, was added to the team and hit a grand slam in a game against Chinese Taipei.
“I was amazed to be part of Team USA,” Bryan said. “I was just trying to work hard and be productive for my school and that ended up helping me be productive for my country.”
In a 6-0 July win against Chinese Taipei, Bryan capped off the scoring with an opposite-field grand slam in the eighth inning.
“I blacked out running around the bases, the stadium was packed out and everything,” Bryan said. “Before the at-bat, Coach Meade walked over and told me to be a little earlier.
Sure enough, I swung a little earlier on the first pitch, and it happened.”
Bryan said that playing against international competition was a fun experience. Despite language barriers, he was able to connect with the Chinese Taipei catcher in a unique way.
“A few guys were just in the meeting room one day, and were asking to trade gloves through Google translate,” Bryan said. “I found the catcher, traded with him and we got a picture together.”
Despite having a packed schedule between recruiting and working with Team USA, Meade says it was worth it. He also credited his coaching staff at Troy for the work they did recruiting.
“There are some challenges, but you’re coaching for Team USA,” Meade said. “That means I can wake up at 6 a.m. and work until midnight, and my energy is still pretty high.
“Your energy is high when you’re in such a fun experience, so if you can’t find a way to get it all in you’ve got a real problem as a coach.”
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