Team USA crushes Holland 11-0

FROM PRESS RELEASE

ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS— Team USA (23-8, 2-0 at World Port Tournament) posted their third-straight shutout of the summer, defeating host Netherlands (1-1 at World Port) 11-0 on Saturday evening behind Tyson Ross (4-0, California) and a sellout crowd of 3,000 at Neptunus Stadium.

Ross, who has yet to allow a run in two starts and 14 innings against the Dutch, went seven scoreless innings, giving up eight hits, while striking out four. Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) homered and went 2-for-3, while Jordan Danks (Texas) was 3-for-4 in the eight-inning, run shorted game.

Team USA scored three runs early, as a first inning, bases loaded single by Logan Forsythe (Arkansas), followed by a double play ball gave Team USA a 2-0 lead before Ross even took the mound. Danny Espinosa’s (Long Beach State) single in the second inning upped the lead 3-0.

Team USA then broke the game open in the fifth, scoring three times to lead 6-0. A home run by Alvarez (5) started the inning, before a misplayed Justin Smoak (South Carolina) double over the head of centerfielder Dirk van’t Klooster scored two and gave the Americans a 6-0 lead.

Diegomar Markwell gave up six runs on nine hits over five and one-third innings for the loss, as the Americans added four runs in the seventh to lead 9-0.

TEAM NOTES
It was Ross’ second start against the Netherlands, pitching seven shutout innings of two-hit, eight-strikeout baseball on July 28 in Durham, NC... The game was called after eight innings after the Americans scored two runs in the top of the inning, based on the international mercy rule (10-run lead after seven innings)... Dutch starter, Diegomar Markwell, is the cousin of Atlanta Brave centerfielder Andruw Jones, another member of the national team... The Americans had more hits in their first two at-bats, then in all of their opening game against Japan (1)... Team USA is 22-4 all-time against the Netherlands... with Japan’s 3-1 loss to Chinese Taipei earlier today, the Japanese fell to 0-3 in the tournament... games can be followed live on the internet by clicking here... Stats are available here.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Americans will play Chinese Taipei on Sunday (1 p.m. Eastern), and Cuba on Monday (8 a.m.) to finish off the first round of competition... another set of four games starts on August 7, before the Finals on August 12.

FedEx donates 3 million to Memphis

The FedEx Corporation donated three million dollars to the Memphis Baseball Program for the renovation of Nat Buring Stadium. The plans for the new stadium call for a new locker room, dugouts, grandstands, concession stands, press boxes, and new private boxes. The full release is available here.

Tom House named Assitant Coach at USC

Tom House has been announced as the new Assistant Coach at the University of Southern California under Chad Kreuter. House brings an outstanding resume to the Trojans bench as he played MLB from 1971-1978. After finishing his MLB career, House became an expert in pitching including being a pitching coach for the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers. This hiring should help out the Trojans pitching staff and help them make a return to the College World Series.

USC Release

Perfect Game Ratings on Vandy 08 Recruits

We have recently compiled a list of rankings from Perfect Game on Vanderbilt's 2008-2009 Verbal commitments. A 10 rating means that the player will be a very high draft pick and Top D-1 in the nation prospect. A 9 rating means Top 10 round pick and a Top D-1 prospect.

OF Matt Marquis: 10
LHP Grayson Garvin: 10
RHP Will Clinard: 10
RHP Sonny Gray: 10
LHP Corey Williams: 9.5
LHP Ryan Westmoreland: 9
RHP Navery Moore: Did not attend showcases due to Tommy John surgery.

If the Vanderbilt coaching staff can get some of these players into college in the fall of 2008 they will continue to be at the top of the SEC conference for years to come.

Thanks to NYDore of VandySports for compiling this information on the Vanderbilt recruits.

Team USA gets one hit but picks up a win over Japan

Team USA was one-hit by Japanese pitcher Yuske Iwamato but picked up a 1-0 victory on the first day of the World Port Tournament. As the game entered the ninth inning, Team USA had no hits off of Iwamato but Jordan Danks (Texas) got a lead-off walk. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Tommy Medica (Santa Clara). He then advanced to third on a flyball from Brett Wallace (Arizona State). Logan Forsythe (Arkansas) then hit a single to drive home Danks with the eventual winning run. Ryan Berry (Rice) started for Team USA and went 7.1 strong innings while only giving up three hits and three walks but got the no-decision. Brett Hunter pitched the final 1.1 innings without allowing a hit while striking out three batters to up his record to 3-0. Yuske Iwamato was the tough luck loser pitching a complete game while allowing the only hit and four walks. Team USA is off on Friday before playing The Netherlands on Saturday.

Team USA Recap
World Port Tournament Schedule

2008 Arkansas Schedule

Hognation.net which is a fan site for Arkansas Razorbacks fans has posted the 2008 schedule. The Razorbacks open up on February 22nd when they host Wright State for a three game set. They will also take part in the Aggie Baseball Classic where they will play Louisiana Tech, Texas A&M, and Ohio State. The other highlights on the schedule is a two game sets at Arizona State and at Nebraska. These tough out of conference games should prepare the Razorbacks well for the tough SEC.

Full Schedule

National Baseball Congress World Series !

The National Baseball Congress World Series is held annually at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita, KS. It was first held in 1935 with Satchel Paige's Bismarck Churchills becoming the first champions.

Originally intended as a tournament for semi-professional clubs or town teams sponsored by local businesses the typical makeup of a team changed in the 1970s as most semi-professional teams folded. The teams were replaced with mainly amateur college players looking to impress Major League scouts.

The Alaska Goldpanners of the Alaska Baseball League have won the tournament the most times with six championships.

Format

The tournament currently features 42 teams in a double-elimination bracket, resulting in 83 games over 16 days. There are 21 leagues and 17 tournaments that are affiliated with the NBC and whose champion receives a berth in the World Series. The tournament organizers occasionally invite teams to play in the tournament (such as the 1995 champion Team USA or the 2003 champion Chinese Taipei national team). A tradition at the tournament is "Baseball Around-The-Clock" where 17 games are played over a span of just over two days, from Friday Evening to Sunday evening.

NBC WORLD SERIES INFO

NBC WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE

Team USA assistant talks about World Port Tourney

The World Port Tournament is set to begin on August 2nd against Japan in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Official Site of the Utah Utes recently sat down with Team USA assistant coach and current Utah Utes head coach Bill Kinneberg. He discusses some of the issues that the team will face in the tournament and how the schedule will effect the team. Article available here.

USA Baseball has posted an article about how Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) and Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) have become the go-to guys for the team this summer. The full article is available by clicking here.

I have been in contact with the tournament hosts about possible webcasting of the World Port Tournament which they told me that all of the games involving The Netherlands will be broadcasted live on the Internet for free. I will be posting the link when I receive the information but I am looking forward to watching some good baseball. UPDATE: I was just notified that NONE of the games will be webcasted.

You can check out the World Port Tournament site in Dutch by clicking here. You can translate the site by using Altavista which is available here.

Dennis Raben Video

Dennis Raben (Miami, FL) of the Orleans Cardinals won the MVP Award for the East squad in the Cape Cod All-Star Game this past Saturday. CapeProspects.com has provided the College Baseball Blog with this excellent video of Dennis Raben during batting practice.

Cape Cod Baseball League Awards for Week 7

The Cape Cod Baseball League has announced their players of the week for July 29th. Matt Daly (Hawaii) of Hyannis grabbed the Pitcher of the Week award after throwing a no-hitter on Wednesday night against Wareham. Conor Gillaspie (Wichita State) of Falmouth picked up the Player of the Week after hitting .500 last week.

CCBL Weekly Release

Valley League Weekly Honors – July 30, 2007

FROM PRESS RELEASE
Players of the Week

Jose Cueto (Miami, Fla.), a junior outfielder from Virginia Tech hit .455 last week for Winchester, going 10-for-22 on the week. Cueto added seven runs, 10 hits, three doubles, two home runs and five RBIs for the Royals. Cueto slugged .864, while walking three times on his was to compiling a .520 on base percentage.

Jason Kipnis (Northbrook, Ill.), a sophomore outfielder out of Kentucky (according to some readers transferring to Arizona State) hit two more home runs last weeks to up his league-leading total to nine. Kipnis also added a .333 batting average with five runs, two doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs. Kipnis went 6-for-18 with six walks to finish with a .480 on base percentage.

Pitchers of the Week

Russ Brewer (Norwood, N.C.), a freshman righthander out of Vanderbilt went 1-0 on the week with a complete-game shutout for Waynesboro. Brewer allowed seven hits, walked none and struck out nine in the win. He faced just six batters above the minimum and held opponents to a .212 batting average against.

Ross Fetterly (Norfolk, Va.), a sophomore righthander from Old Dominion went 1-1 on the week. Fetterly pitched 16.1 innings and posted an ERA of 1.65, including pitching a complete game. He gave up 10 hits, 3 earned runs, three walks, lead the league with 16 strikeouts and held opponents to just a .179 batting average against.

Weekly Valley League Notes

Team USA quiets Russia 6-0

Team USA played their final game in the United States on Monday against Russia where they picked up a 6-0 victory. The Russian team was able to hold Team USA to only four hits but gave up eight walks with three errors. Scott Gorgen (UC-Irvine) started for Team USA and went 4.2 innings while giving up three hits and struck out eight batters to pick up his first victory with the team. Seth Frankoff (UNC-Wilmington) relieved Gorgen and provided 3.1 shutout innings with five strikeouts and one hit allowed. Team USA is now off until August 2nd when they play Japan in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Team USA Release

Aaron Crow Video

Aaron Crow won the Western Division MVP award this Saturday at the Cape Cod League All-Star game after striking out the side in the first inning. He plays for the Missouri Tigers and CapeProspects.com has provided us with the video above and they provide a full scouting report which can be read by clicking here.

Vandy Adds 6th ’08 Verbal

Special to the CBB from NYDore
Following in line with recruiting coordinator Erik Bakich’s recent success, Vanderbilt is continuing to load up on young talent. Following a 10-man ’07 class that will all be reporting to campus, Vandy is signing blue chip pitchers at a rapid rate for next year’s class. The latest addition is Portsmouth, Rhode Island lefty Ryan Westmoreland. EastBayRI.com reported that the crafty lefty committed last Friday at a New England Collegiate Baseball League game in Newport RI. The full article is available by clicking here.

Perfect Game ranks Westmoreland as a top 2008 prospect with a 9 out of 10 rating (2006 showcase). Westmoreland was throwing between 85-87 during the 2006 PG Showcases, exhibiting solid downward movement on a sinking fastball and change, to complement a solid slider.

He joins lefties Grayson Garvin (Suwanee GA; 2007 PG rating pending, 8 in 2005) and Corey Williams (Huntsville AL; 2007 PG rating pending, 8.5 in 2005). Garvin and Williams topped out at 89 and 91, respectively. The heat comes from the right side of the mound, and Tennessee, where Vandy has inked Smyrna two-sport legend Sonny Gray and Battle Ground Academy’s Navery Moore. Both Gray and Moore have hit 96 on the gun, though Moore has undergone Tommy John surgery. Moore has not attended a PG Showcase, while Gray’s 2007 rating is pending.

The five pitchers will join Corbin’s first recruit of the class, Annandale, New Jersey outfielder Matt Marquis. Perfect Game gave Marquis a 9 rating and noted his frame, agility and line drive power.

Bakich and Head Coach Tim Corbin will be graduating or losing to the draft a large portion of the position players next spring, including 2007 All-American 3B Pedro Alvarez, RF Dominic De la Osa and SS Ryan Flaherty. Look for the Commodores to add to the ’08 crop with a third baseman, middle infielder and a catcher. Targeted for catcher are Tennessee standouts Casey Dykes and Jacob Stallings (son of VU hoops coach Kevin). Both Dykes and Stallings received 8.5 ratings from Perfect Game in 2006.

VandySports.com (Rivals) editor Mike Rapp recently caught up with five of Vanderbilt’s 2007 blue chippers. Florida OF Joey Manning, Texas RHP Chase Reid, US Virgin Islands LHP Kellen St. Luce, Panamanian (by way of Maryland) SS Gabe Ortiz and Connecticut Catcher Curt Casali all have foregone professional opportunities by enrolling in summer school. Rivals subscribers can read Mike’s 5-part interview series with the newest Commodores by clicking here.

Team USA drops second game of doubleheader 9-3

Team USA dropped the final game of their series with the Netherlands by a score of 9-3 on Sunday evening. Team USA played sloppy defense in the game by committing three errors which led to four unearned runs. The Netherlands were led by a strong start from Daniel Bergman who allowed only three hits and a walk in six innings of shutout baseball. Team USA starter Mike Minor (Vanderbilt) was roughed up in 4+ innings while giving up five runs (one earned) on five hits. The Netherlands offense was led by Harvey Monte who went 3-5 with a run batted in. Team USA offensive leader was Jordan Danks (Texas) who went 3-5 with three RBI. Team USA now hosts Russia on Monday before heading to the Netherlands to take part in the World Port Tournament which starts on August 2nd.

Team USA Release

Team USA rallies for 2-1 victory

Team USA rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat the Netherlands 2-1 in Game two of their brief three game set. Team USA was down to their final out with Josh Romanski (San Diego) on second which represented the tying run and Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) up to bat. Alvarez came through with a double to drive in the tying run in Romanski. Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) then hit a run scoring single to drive home Alvarez with the eventual winning run. The USA pitching staff was fantastic throughout the game as they only allowed one hit. Eric Surkamp (NC State) started for Team USA and went 5.2 innings while giving up the only hit and run of the game while walking the four batters. Brett Hunter (Pepperdine) relieved Surkamp and pitched a perfect 3.1 innings while striking out five. The teams will finish off a doubleheader on Sunday at 5 pm in Durham NC.

Team USA Story

UPDATE: You can watch tonight's game which started at 5 pm by clicking here.

Checking in with Tony Thomas Jr.

The Idaho Statesman has checked in with an article about Tony Thomas Jr. and how he is adjusting to playing with the short season Boise Hawks who are affiliated with the Chicago Cubs. Thomas dominated the ACC in 2007 with a .430 average and was named the Player of the Year in the ACC while playing for Florida State. The Chicago Cubs picked him in the third round with the 97th overall pick. Thomas started the summer with the Mesa (AZ) rookie ball team but was quickly promoted to Boise. The full article is available here.