CBB Top Position Players for 2008

Pedro Alvarez, Vanderbilt.
This hard-hitting, Junior third baseman from Horace Mann High School in the Bronx, New York is one of the pre-season favorites for the Golden Spikes Award and was the only 2007 Golden Spikes finalist to return in 2008. Alvarez is lethal at the plate, as a career .360 batter with an NCAA high 40 career home runs (among active players). In 2006, he hit .329 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI en route to earning National Freshman of the Year. In 2007, he improved to .386, 18, 68, which leading Vanderbilt to a number 1 ranking for the majority of the season. Alvarez is deadly from the left side of the plate and is protected in Coach Tim Corbin’s lineup by being sandwiched between another pair of returning all-America players, RF Dominic De la Osa (.378, 20, 62) and SS Ryan Flaherty (.381, 4, 57). Alvarez is also a spectacular fielder with cat-like reflexes and a cannon arm; however, Pedro’s flair for the dramatic defensive play also leads to his fair share of errors. Those errors and a tendency to strikeout too often will be the items Alvarez looks to improve in his swan song season.

Dominic de la Osa, Vanderbilt
Hitting in the coveted “Mickey Mantle spot” (in front of Pedro Alvarez, as Mantle did when Roger Maris hit 61), Dominic de la Osa exploded in 2007, proving to be one of the top speed-power guys in the nation. Entering last season with a .300 average and 16 home runs in solid, if unspectacular Freshman and Sophomore years, “of the Bear” set career highs with a .378 average, 65 runs, 23 doubles, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. A consensus first team All-America, de la Osa was expected to be a first day pick in the MLB draft before plummeting to the 10th round and the Tigers. An abysmal summer on the Cape left de la Osa with more to prove and he returned to man Rightfield as a Senior for Coach Corbin.

Justin Smoak, South Carolina
Joining Brett Wallace and Yonder Alonso as the elite first basemen in College Baseball, Smoak enters his Junior year in second place on the career homerun list among active players. As a Freshman, he hit .303 with 17 homeruns and 63 RBI. Smoak improved on those numbers last year, hitting .317 with 19 homeruns and another 63 RBI. Most impressive, however, is Smoak’s patience, with 94 walks against 79 strikeouts. The switch-hitting lefty is also thrifty with the glove, sporting a career .994 fielding percentage. Smoak is perfectly positioned for a true, breakout season in a good hitter’s ballpark.

Yonder Alonso, Miami

Alonso was named the top first baseman in the Cape Cod League in 2007. He hit an outstanding .338 for the summer after hitting .376 with 18 homers during the 2007 season for the Hurricanes. Alonso is a patient hitter as he walked 64 times during the collegiate season and 36 times in the CCBL. He only struck out 56 times combined. He needs to work on his defense as he is limited to playing only first base. He should develop more power before getting drafted in 2008 as he will become stronger and a better hitter. Alonso should be able to compete for many National Player of the Year awards in 2008 in addition to conference accolades.

Buster Posey, Florida State

Posey is one of the College Baseball Blog's favorite players. He moved to catcher before the 2007 season as the Seminoles had an opening behind the plate. Buster hit .382 with 3 homers and 65 RBI at FSU while spending his summer with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox where he batted .281 as he struggled to adjust to the Cape Cod League pitching. One scout told us that Posey improved his draft stock with the move behind the plate but needs to refine his catching skills as he is raw at calling games and blocking pitches. Posey should be one of the top catchers in the ACC competing with Tim Federowicz for conference awards. The CBB will be seeing Posey this season when FSU comes to Boston College for a three game set. The CBB expects Posey to be drafted in the top five rounds of the 2008 draft.

Brett Wallace, Arizona State

Wallace led the Sun Devils back to the College World Series in 2007 where he hit an outstanding .404 for the season while hitting 16 home runs. He won the Pac 10 Triple Crown as was named the Player of the Year in the conference. Brett spent the summer of 2007 with the USA National team where he competed in the Pan-Am Games and the World Port Tournament. He hit .312 with two homers and 26 RBI for the summer. Wallace is a big guy as he is listed at 6'1 245 pounds so he struggles in the field and will likely be stuck at first base in MLB or moved to DH if he is put in the American League.

Thanks to NewYorkDore for helping out with some of the previews.

Checking in with Jacob Thompson

Eric Strow, a senior writer of The Cavalier Daily, recently checked in with Jacob Thompson. He spent the summer of 2007 pitching for Team USA in the Pan-American games and several international exhibitions. He was shut down before the end of the summer to save his arm for the 2008 season. The full article from The Cavalier Daily is available here. The College Baseball Blog had a chance to see Thompson in 2007 when his Cavaliers visited Boston College. The full report is available here.

Great article on Team USA's summer

The Utah Utes Media Relations department has released a great article about Team USA's summer. The article talks with Bill Kinneberg who is the head coach of the Utah Utes baseball program and acted as the pitching coach on the tour this summer. The article discusses how the great game of baseball is spreading throughout the world and the challenges that the team faced this summer in terms of travel. The full article is available here.

Texas Longhorns Summer League Recap

It was a busy summer for Texas Baseball as 23 current Longhorns and four newcomers stayed active with summer action throughout the country. Twenty-two players participated in collegiate summer leagues, while Jordan Danks spent the summer touring with the U.S. National Baseball Team.

Danks, who struggled early at the plate, rebounded to be one of Team USA's top hitters and helped the squad earn a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Brazil. Playing in a team-high 35 games, he led the team with 37 runs scored, 14 more than the nearest teammate. Danks hit .287 with four doubles, two triples, two home runs, five stolen bases and 12 RBI.

TexasSports

The best part of Collegiate summer leagues is being able to go and watch the players that you have watched at the University. I went to several games this summer and was able to get to know the Players better that played at Texas. It is a more relaxed atmosphere and the boys are always more than accommodating to my Son. We were able to get pictures with the players that Played on the Coppell Copperheads team of the Texas Collegiate League. We were also able to get pictures with the pitching Coach for Texas (Skip Johnson) and autographs on a baseball.

My point is go and see a Summer League game.

Cuba ends Team USA's summer

Courtesy of USA Baseball
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS— Cuba (8-0 WPT) ran the table on the rest of the World Port Tournament, eliminating Team USA (25-12, 4-4 WPT) from the finals and ending their summer, following a 5-1 victory. The Cubans will take on Chinese Taipei, who also beat the USA twice over the last 10 days, in the finals starting at 7 a.m. Eastern.

The Americans sent the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth against reliever Yulieski Gonzalez with two outs, after putting two runners on with no outs against starter Arley Sanchez. Gonzalez got a hard lineout, followed by a strikeout and then walked Jordy Mercer (Oklahoma State) to load the bases. Gonzalez though got Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) to strikeout, part of a nine-pitch at-bat, to keep Cuba in front 4-1.

Gonzalez then pitched a scoreless ninth, after Cuba added a run in the top of the inning, for the two inning save.

Three Cuban home runs were more than enough for Sanchez, who tired after seven-plus innings. Sanchez allowed a single unearned run on seven hits, while striking out six and walking one. Sanchez allowed a walk and a single in the eighth, before being relieved by Gonzalez.

Mike Minor (5-2, Vanderbilt), took the loss, going the first four innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits, two of which that left the ballpark. Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) and Brett Hunter (Pepperdine) each gave up single runs in their relief appearances.

A one-out error by Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) at short came back to haunt the Americans as Tournament RBI leader, Yosvani Peraza, hit a two-run homer to give Cuba a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Minor had a 33-pitch first inning.

A solo home run by Jose Julio Ruiz gave Cuba a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Hector Olivera’s solo home run off of Satterwhite in the seventh made it 4-0.

TEAM NOTES
Josh Romanski (San Diego) made a nice diving catch in the fourth, towards the line, to rob Alexei Bell of a hit... Cleanup hitter LF Logan Forsythe (Arkansas) missed the last five games, minus a pinch-hit performance yesterday, with a sore foot... 3B Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) was the designated hitter the last four days due to a sore arm... Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) ended the summer on an eight-game hit streak, while Jordan Danks (Texas) ended it on a seven-game streak.

WORLD PORT NOTES
Japan (0-7) and the Netherlands (3-4) close out the regularly scheduled tournament games tonight... Chinese Taipei (4-4), who finished yesterday, gained the tiebreaker with the USA yesterday, forcing the USA to win today to advance, based on number of wins against (2-0), if the USA and Taipei were tied and in runs allowed between the three tied teams, if the Netherlands were to finish in a three-way tie with the USA and Taipei (12 runs for Taipei to 13 runs for the USA to 21 runs for the Netherlands)... Games can be followed live on the internet at http://www.worldporttournament.nl/... Stats are available at: http://utopia.ision.nl/users/hwede/stats07/wpt07/ and under live scoring.

FINAL TEAM LEADERS FOR THE SUMMER
Hitting--Average (Alvarez-.315), Home Runs (Alvarez/Kieschnick-7), RBIs (Alvarez-30), Runs (Danks-37) Hits (Alvarez-40), Walks (Danks-25), Doubles (Smoak-10), Triples (Danks-2), Multi-Hit Games (Alvarez-12); Pitching---Wins (Minor-5-2), ERA-Reliever (Hunter-0.66), Saves (Satterwhite-4), ERA-Starter (Ross-0.82), Strikeouts (Ross-39), Appearances (Hunter-14)

USA drops critical game to Chinese Taipei

FROM USA BASEBALL
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS— Team USA (25-11, 4-3 WPT) was beat for the second time by Chinese Taipei (4-4 WPT) at the World Port Tournament, 1-0, forcing the Americans to have to beat first place Cuba on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s finals. If they lose on Saturday, their summer is over.

The Americans forced one last rally in the ninth inning off of Wei-Hua Lee, who finished with a complete game four-hitter. Tommy Medica (Santa Clara) had a one-out pinch-hit single, before a two-out bunt base hit by Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) in front of the plate, followed by a walk, loaded the bases. But Petey Paramore (Arizona State) struck out on a 2-2 pitch to give the Taiwanese the victory.

Lee worked his magic all day long, retiring 10 in a row early, and then another nine in a row into the eighth inning.

Tyson Ross (4-1, California) lost for the first time this summer, pitching seven-plus innings, giving up one run on six hits. He put runners on base in seven of the eight innings, but got 13 groundball outs. With a runner on base in the eighth, Brett Hunter (Pepperdine) came on and struck out the side.

Ryan Flaherty’s (Vanderbilt) hit in the fifth, the 3500th hit in the tournament’s history, broke a string of 10 in a row retired by Lee, and loaded the bases for the first of two times. Two walks followed Flaherty, before Jordy Mercer (Oklahoma State) struck out to end the threat and keep Taipei up 1-0.

A one-out triple by Chien-Yu Kuo came around to score on a groundout to give Taipei a 1-0 lead in the first.

TEAM NOTES
Ryan Flaherty’s single in the fifth inning was the 3500th hit in the tournament’s 22-year, 11-time history... Standings heading into tonight’s game between Cuba and the Netherlands are the Cubans are 6-0, Japan is 0-7 and the Netherlands is 3-3... Netherlands will need to win twice and have Team USA lose to Cuba in order to get into the Finals... The Americans won four of five from Chinese Taipei in the States and lost the first game at the World Port Tournament, 10-5... Jordan Danks has hit safely in the last six World Port Games... games can be followed live on the internet at http://www.worldporttournament.nl/... Stats are available at: http://utopia.ision.nl/users/hwede/stats07/wpt07/ and under live scoring.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Americans will close out the summer with a game against Cuba (8 a.m. Eastern). The Finals between the first place team, currently Cuba (6-0) and the second place team are on August 12 at 7 a.m, Eastern, finishing the summer for the Americans.

Duo Pushes Team USA into Second

-Courtesy of USA Baseball-

ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS— Team USA (25-10, 4-2 WPT) moved into sole possession of second place with two days to play at the World Port Tournament following a 10-2 win over host Netherlands (3-3 WPT) on a cool and windy Thursday evening.

Jordan Danks (Texas) fell a triple short of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a solo home run and RBI double, while Tommy Medica (Santa Clara) drove in two runs with two hits. Justin Smoak (South Carolina) walked twice and got two hits.

Team USA pushed across three runs in the first and fourth innings to give Ryan Berry (2-1, Rice) a 7-1 lead. Berry rebounded to go seven innings, giving up a run on five hits.

After walking three and scattering four hits over the first two innings, Berry pitched to the minimum over the final five innings. He got out of the first two innings with just one run, thanks to two double plays, and after a second inning walk, retired seven and then a final eight in a row. He used just three pitches to retire the side in the seventh. The Dutch had just one hit from the third until a three-hit ninth inning, finishing with eight hits.

Back-to-back doubles by Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) and Danks made it 5-1 in the fourth as part of a three-run inning, chasing starter and loser Diegomar Markwell from the game. Medica's second RBI single then made it 6-1 off of reliever Kenny Berkenbosch, before a sacrifice fly pushed it 7-1.

The Americans took an early 3-0 lead in the first. Danks took the second pitch of the bottom of the first to right field for his second home run of the summer. Team USA then doubled the score on a play at the plate on a slow groundball to short that was dropped by catcher Sidney de Jong. A Josh Romanksi (San Diego) sacrifice fly then made it 3-0, the second unearned run of the inning.


TEAM NOTES
The Americans are 4-1 against Netherlands this summer, winning two of three in the States, prior to the tournament... standings heading into the final two scheduled days are Cuba at 6-0, Chinese Taipei at 3-4 and Japan at 0-7... Danks has hit safely in the last five World Port contests... the third double play of the night by the Americans came on a play in which Espinosa when behind the back at second, flipped to a bare-handed second baseman Ryan Flaherty and then over to first for the out in the fifth... the Toronto Blue Jay mascot was in attendance for the later game between the U.S. and the Netherlands... games can be followed live on the internet at http://www.worldporttournament.nl/ ... Stats are available at: http://utopia.ision.nl/users/hwede/stats07/wpt07/ and under live scoring.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Americans will play twice more to close out the summer with consecutive games against Chinese Taipei (8 a.m. Eastern) and Cuba (8 a.m.). The Finals between the top two teams are on August 12 at 7 a.m, Eastern, finishing the summer.

Live Stats for Team USA-Holland

The College Baseball Blog would like to remind fans that the USA National Team will be taking on The Netherlands on Thursday at 1 pm Eastern time. The World Port Tournament has live stats for all games which are available by clicking here.

Team USA Routs Japan 10-0

-Courtesy of USA Baseball-

ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS— Team USA (24-10, 3-2 WPT) made sure Japan (0-5 WPT) remained winless at the World Port Tournament, crushing the Japanese 10-0 in seven innings behind a 13-hit attack to snap a two-game losing streak.

Eric Surkamp (1-0, North Carolina State) pitched six scoreless innings, striking out four, while walking two. Surkamp and Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) combined on a four-hitter, as Satterwhite did not allow a hit in the seventh. Surkamp also rolled three double play balls and struck out the side in the second in the midst of eight in a row retired.

Brett Wallace (Arizona State) had three hits, while Jordy Mercer (Oklahoma State), Josh Romanski (San Diego), Jordan Danks (Texas) and each had two hits. Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt) had his second multi-hit game of the tournament. Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) hit the team's first grand slam of the summer, part of a seven-run sixth inning.

The Americans pushed across two runs in the first to lead 2-0. An RBI groundout by Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt), his seventh RBI of the tournament, made it 1-0, before an RBI single by Wallace doubled the score. A Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 3-0 as Japanese starter and loser, Robert Booth, left after four innings, giving up three runs on seven hits.

Mercer's RBI double in the sixth made it 4-0, before Kieschnick's grand slam doubled the score to 8-0. Wallace's second hit in the inning, an RBI single, made it 9-0.

TEAM NOTES
The Americans finished 4-3 against two Japanese teams this summer, winning the last three games in the series... Team USA beat Japan 1-0 with their only hit, a Logan Forsythe base hit in the ninth in the earlier meeting in the tournament and also won on the last day of the series in Durham... Cuba beat Chinese Taipei 6-5 in 14 innings, tying the game in the ninth inning on their final strike after Taipei took the lead in the bottom of the eighth.... Cuba is now 5-0, Chinese Taipei is 2-3, and the Netherlands, who were off today and won last night over Taipei, 4-3, are 2-2... Logan Forsythe (foot) missed his second straight game... games can be followed live on the internet at http://www.worldporttournament.nl/... Stats are available at: http://utopia.ision.nl/users/hwede/stats07/wpt07/ and under live scoring.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Americans will play have an off day on Wednesday and then close out the summer with consecutive games against the Netherlands (1 p.m. Eastern), Chinese Taipei (8 a.m.) and Cuba (8 a.m.). The Finals are on August 12 at 7 a.m, Eastern, finishing the summer.

Cuba handles USA 8-2

Cuba took advantage of some sloppy Team USA defense to pull out an 8-2 victory in the final game of the first round of the World Port Tournament. Alfredo Despaigne went 2-3 with two homers and five RBI. His second homer came in the seventh inning when Cuba scored five runs to make a 3-2 game in a 8-2 advantage. Scott Gorgen (UC-Irvine) started for Team USA and gave them six solid innings while giving up three runs (one earned) but struck out ten batters without allowing a walk. Cuba ended up getting to reliever Josh Romanski (San Diego) for five runs in two innings of work. Yulieski Gonzalez started for the Cuban team and gave them 7.1 innings while giving up both runs. Arley Sanchez relieved Gonzalez while going 1.1 perfect innings before being lifted for Vicyohandri Odelin who got the final out of the game. Team USA was led on offense by Pedro Alvarez who homered for the third straight game while going 2-4 with 2 RBI. Team USA is back in action on Tuesday when they start the second round of the round robin tournament with Japan at 1 p.m. Eastern. Team USA is currently in a tie for second place with Chinese Taipei. The College Baseball Blog has found out that they are providing live scoring from the games which is available by clicking here.

Team USA Recap
Box Score

Chinese Taipei defeats Team USA 10-5

The Chinese Taipei National Team defeated Team USA 10-5 in the first round of the World Port Tournament on Sunday. The Taiwan team was led by Yi-Chuan Lin who went 3-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Pedro Alvarez went 1-4 with 3 RBI to lead Team USA offense. Mike Minor (Vanderbilt) started for Team USA and went four solid innings while giving up two runs on five hits. Seth Frankoff relieved Minor but lasted only 0.2 innings while giving up five runs on three hits and two walks. Team USA will be back in action on Monday when they take on Cuba at 8 am eastern time.

USA Recap
World Port Tournament Official Site

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Team USA hammers Holland 14-0

FROM PRESS RELEASE

DURHAM, NC— Tyson Ross (3-0, California) took a no-hitter into the sixth, striking out eight over seven innings in leading Team USA (19-7) to a 14-0 victory over the Netherlands in the first of a three-game, two-day series. Ross allowed just two hits while walking none, in his first appearance since the Gold Medal Game eight days ago.

Brett Wallace (Arizona State) drove in five with a three-run home run and a two-run double, while Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt) went 3-for-5 with four RBIs a day after turning 21 years old. Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) went 3-for-4, as the trio all hit home runs.

Flaherty, Kieschnick and Jordan Danks (Texas) all hit home runs as part of an eight-run eighth inning.

Ross was perfect through the first 14 batters, before an error by second baseman Ryan Flaherty allowed the first Dutch base runner to reach base in the fifth. Ross finished off the inning by striking out the side. Ross’ no-hit bid was broken up an inning later, by Danny Rombley, with a one-out base hit to center field.

Five of the Americans first six runs came with two outs to give them a 6-0 lead after three.

The Americans tallied back-to-back, two-out RBI singles from Logan Forsythe (Arkansas) and Kieschnick to take a 2-0 lead in the first. Wallace’s two-out, two-run single in the second then made it 4-0.

A Kieshnick homer in the third gave the Americans a 5-0 lead in the third, before a two-out, RBI double from Josh Romanski (San Diego) made it 6-0. Dutch righthander Rob Cordemans gave up six runs on seven hits over the first two and two-third innings.

Wallace’s homer in the eighth made it 9-0, after reliever Diegomar Markwell pitched four and one-third scoreless innings. Wallace’s blast was one of three homers and eight runs in the inning, as Flaherty added a three-run shot and Danks followed with a solo shot.

TEAM NOTES
It was second baseman Ryan Flaherty’s 21st birthday last night... shortstop Danny Espinosa made a nice play off the glove of Ross in the first inning to rob Dirk van’t Klooster of a base hit... these same two teams will play in Holland in Rotterdam starting next week at the World Port Tournament... the four home runs was a summer-high... high school senior Tyler Stovall, a Team USA junior team invitee, pitched the ninth inning.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The nine-game American trip will continue with the Netherlands on Sunday in Cary (morning game at 11 a.m.), and Durham (afternoon game at 5 p.m.), before closing out with and Russia on Monday (one night game) in Cary, NC at 7 p.m... the team closes out their schedule at the World Port Tournament in the Netherlands starting on August 2.

Final Game in China Series Cancelled

Team USA jumped out to a 6-0 lead against China after two innings but the game would be called in the fourth inning as rain started to fall. The game will not be made up and Team USA will play the Netherlands on Saturday and a doubleheader on Sunday.

Team USA Release

Team USA adds four players

Team USA announced today that UC-Irvine pitcher Scott Gorgen, NC State pitcher Eric Surkamp, UNC-Wilmington pitcher Seth Frankoff, and Tyler Stovall from Hokes Bluff (HS) have joined the team starting on Friday when the team completes their series against China. They replace Brian Matusz, Jacob Thompson, and Lance Lynn who have all left the team to rest their arms until the next college season.

UC-Irvine Release
NC State Release
UNC-Wilmington Release