NCAA Loosens Scholarship Minimum

Much ado was made of the NCAA's proposed restriction that required each scholarship player to receive no less than 1/3rd of a scholarship. Legendary Mississippi State coach Ron Polk was, purportedly, so displeased with the rule that he was prepared to walk away from the game. Well, influence from folks like Polk forced the NCAA to blink... at least one eye.

As reported by many, including Mike Knobler of the AJC, the NCAA has reduced the restrictions and will only require that each scholarship player receive 1/4th of a scholarship. Furthermore, certain non-athletic aid will be permitted to count toward the 25% minimum grant.

The NCAA stood by its recent ban on text messaging.

Tigers, top pick Porcello agree to deal

The Tigers are on the brink of announcing they have signed No. 1 draft pick Rick Porcello to a four-year major league contract with a guaranteed value of $7.285 million, according to multiple officials with knowledge of the negotiations.

The deal is the richest given to a high school player by the team that drafted him, and could increase in value if he attains certain roster bonuses.Porcello, a 6-foot-5 18-year-old right-hander from New Jersey, was considered one of the most talented players in the June draft, but slid to the Tigers at No. 27 overall because teams were concerned about his high price tag. He was expected to ask for a guarantee between $6.5 million and $8 million, and, it appears, that is exactly what happened. This signing hurts the North Carolina program as he was one of their top recruits for the 2008 season.

Detroit Free Press

Draft Deadline: The new rules

When MLB changed it's draft rules last October, there were two key points to note:

1) Teams that do not sign a top 2 Round pick will receive a comparable pick in the 2008 draft. If you fail to sign the 7th overall pick, you would receive pick 7A in 2008. For example, if Tampa fails to ink David Price and if Tampa finished last in the standings again, they would receive the first overall pick and then receive pick 1A (functionally, the second overall pick). This provides significant leverage by improving the team's BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement). A draftee is in the same spot as before, but it's a little easier for the team to stick to slot guidelines knowing they would be forfeiting a whole lot less. Source and a list of the unsigned first rounders.

2) Everything must be done by midnight Wednesday. That means not just an agreement in principal. A signed agreement won't even cut it unless the player has passed his physical. It's hard to tell if a physical can be performed before a contract is signed, because all draft rules aren't public, but which unsigned stars go in for a doctor's visit tomorrow or Wednesday morning can probably be an indicator as to who's close to closing their deal. Source.

Notable unsigned players as of yesterday include #1 Price (Tampa Bay), #2 Mike Moustakas (Kansas City Royals), #3 Josh Vitters (Chicago Cubs) and #5 Matt Weiters (Baltimore Orioles).

UPDATE: Yahoo Sports has written an article on this topic. It is available here.

Who's the fastest rising program?

Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com College Baseball has counted down his top 10 rising programs with a series of articles. Here's the list.

10. Memphis
9. Coastal Carolina
8. Michigan
7. UC Riverside
6. Texas A&M
5. Louisville
4. Missouri
3. San Diego
2. UC Irvine
1. UCLA

Kendall also answered some interesting questions in his latest Mailbag. Addressed were the draft decisions for a trio of Longhorns and Rick Porcello. Also discussed are the prospects for the NC State Wolfpack and Western Carolina's hiring of Bobby Moranda.

Oregon comes calling

Oregon may not be earning any friends at OSU by talking to Pat Casey, but were there really any friendships there to begin with? Brian Meehan of the Oregonian weighed in on coaching search etiquette. You can read the column here. The article has some info on the folks who are on NIKE's wish list (Dave Serrano of UC Irvine, Pat Casey of OSU and Dave Brundage of the Braves AAA team).

Meanwhile, Mo Patton of the Tennessean reported that Vanderbilt skipper Tim Corbin was out in Eugene over the weekend. You can read the article here. There is an uncorroborated rumor that Corbin was indeed offered the opportunity to restart the Duck program in 2009. Corbin flirted with LSU's vacancy last year and Auburn's two years prior. Corbin turned down both opportunities but noted that the interviewing process is a good means of information exchange in the building of programs. From a Vanderbilt fan perspective and as a massive supporter of Corbin, considering Oregon makes sense for two reasons: 1) the opportunity to learn about Oregon's plans for building a program for the bottom up and 2) the challenge involved (turning Vandy around was a challenge in which Corbin has and is succeeding famously). On the other hand, Corbin has no connections to the Northwest. The X-Factor? The departure of Chancellor Gordon Gee (to OSU) removes one of the biggest promoters of Vanderbilt baseball. This blogger says: just another in a line of Corbin paying respect with a visit and bringing home ideas to build on the Commodore foundation. After all, is Corbin willing to give up the recruiting advantage he and recruiting coordinator Erik Bakich share with Stanford, Rice and Tulane that Will Kimmey documented two years ago?

FSU loses two players

The Tallahassee Democrat is reporting that Danny Rosen and D'Vontrey Richardson will not return in the 2008 season. Rosen has signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Rosen was expected to be the main set up man in the 2008 season for the Seminoles. He pitched in 26 games in 2007 while compiling a 5.52 ERA. Richardson will not return to the baseball field as he plans on focusing on football for the next few years. He was a surprise contributor in 2007 when he batted .351 in 51 games including starting 35. FSU has picked up freshman football player Taiwan Easterling who was drafted in the sixth round in 2007 by the Florida Marlins. The full article is available here.

Doyle leads YD to Game 1 victory over Falmouth

FROM CCBL RELEASE
SOUTH YARMOUTH, Mass.- The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox were in control of game one of the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series from the first batter all the way to the end. After both teams swept their divisional series, the Red Sox kept their momentum going while taking the wind out of Falmouth’s sails winning 8-2.

Game two of the Championship series will be played at Guv. Fuller Field in Falmouth at 7 PM August 13 as the Red Sox will be looking to win their third title in four years. Tonight’s crowd of 4.335 is expected to matched tomorrow in what could be the last game of the 2007 season.

Falmouth starter Shooter Hunt (Tulane) was chased from the game after pitching just 2 1/3 innings giving up four runs on four hits. Hunt started the game by relinquishing a homer to the first batter he faced, Grant Green (Southern California) who also blasted a solo shot in the fifth inning off of reliever Preston Claiborne (Tulane).

The second year starter for Falmouth, who also allowed Buster Posey (Florida State) to score on a sacrifice fly by Gordon Beckham (Georgia) in the first, left the game in the third after giving up a single to Jason Castro (Stanford) and a walk to leftfielder Aaron Luna (Rice) to start the inning. Preston Claiborne, Hunt’s college teammate, came in and gave up a walk to load the bases, but the Red Sox could not cash in on the opportunity as Claiborne struck out Collin Cowgill (Kentucky) and induced a ground ball out from Joey Railley (University of San Francisco) to end the threat.

The Red Sox scored twice in the second off of Hunt thanks to an RBI double by second baseman Railley that drove in Cowgill and a ground ball by the tall middle infielder turned first baseman Green that plated Railley to go up 4-0. Green moved to first base for the postseason after an elbow injury to Sean Ochinko (LSU) in the last game of the regular season left a hole in the lineup for Y-D.

For Yarmouth-Dennis Terry Doyle (Boston College), the 2006 Co-Outstanding Pitcher of the Year, collected the win giving up just two runs on four hits. He struck out seven Commodores, walking three and racking up four wild pitches in his last Cape League start in 6 1/3 innings of work.

Two of those wild pitches led to a Falmouth run as second baseman David Adams (Virginia) took both third and home on pitches that hit the dirt in front of the plate and got by Buster Posey (Florida State). The 6 foot 2 inch 205 pound power hitter, who led the Commodores with 51 hits on the season, reached second base on a double that just missed leaving the park bouncing off the left field fence in front of the score board at Red Wilson Field.

Adam’s scored the second Falmouth run in the sixth inning after reaching on a single, stealing second base, advancing to third on another Doyle wild pitch and coming home on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Phil Carey (Winthrop).

The Red Sox collected three insurance runs in the eighth of off reliever Erik Bird (Nebraska). Green collected his fourth RBI of the night, and Posey and right fielder Matt Long (Santa Clara) each drove in one run putting the final tally at eight for the Red Sox.

DJ Mauldin (Cal Poly State) shut down the Falmouth Commodores to close out the game, pitching 2 2/3 shutout innings to keep Doyle’s seventh win of the season in tact.
For Doyle, there couldn’t be a better way to finish his Cape League career than with back-to-back championships.

“It would be great (to win again), last year was a lot of fun but to be able to go back to back, which nobody’s done in a while, would be great. I mean, everybody likes winning,” said Doyle.

Photo is courtesy of Codball

Yarmouth-Dennis and Falmouth to meet in CCBL Championship

The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and Falmouth Commodores will meet in the Cape Cod Baseball League in the best of three series which starts on Monday at Red Wilson Field in South Yarmouth. The Red Sox defeated Chatham on Sunday by a score of 4-0 on the strength of a two run homer by Gordon Beckham of Georgia. The Commodores picked up a 4-2 victory over Bourne in a battle between Rick Zagone and Kyle Gibson who both play for Missouri. Codball provides excellent recaps of the playoffs here.

Championship Series Schedule
Monday: Falmouth at Yarmouth-Dennis 3 pm Live Audio Live Video
Tuesday: Yarmouth-Dennis at Falmouth 7 pm Live Audio Live Video
Wednesday: Falmouth at Yarmouth-Dennis 3 pm Live Audio Live Video (if necessary)

Western Carolina hires two assistants

Nick Mingione and David Haverstick have recently been added to Bobby Moranda's staff at Western Carolina. Nick Mingione comes from Kentucky where he served as a volunteer assistant coach for two season. David Haverstick comes from Savannah College of Art and Design where he served as the pitching coach for five seasons. He will continue in the role with the Catamounts. The full release is available here.

Best College Program?

I want to be a Sports Agent website checks in with an article about the most successful baseball programs based on MLB players drafted and making it to the Majors. Using their calculations, They have USC in the top spot with 275 players drafted and 94 players making it to the Majors. Texas holds down the second spot followed by Arizona State, Stanford, and UCLA to round out the Top 5. The full article is available here.

COPPELL FORCES GAME 3 IN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES in The TCL!!

Brandon Belt's three-run double in the seventh inning propelled Coppell to a 4-1 victory over McKinney Saturday night, forcing a third and final game in the Texas Collegiate League championship series. Belt's two-out flyball hooked toward the rightfield line, out of the reach of Marshal outfielder Zach Chamberlin, clearing the bases and breaking a 1-1 tie.

The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak in TCL playoff games for McKinney. The Marshals are now 3-1 in the 2007 playoffs after running the table to go 5-0 en route to the 2006 championship.

Texas Collegiate League

Texas Collegiate League ANNOUNCES REGULAR SEASON AWARDS

The Texas Collegiate League is known for preparing the elite prospects in college baseball for a big league journey. Every season there is immense talent throughout the league and this summer was no different.

Player of the Year Chris Richburg (Texas Tech) was consistently dangerous at the plate throughout the 2007 summer posting some of the league’s top overall numbers. Looking at the league leaders, Richburg’s name is plastered on almost every category as he finished out the season leading the league with 44 hits, 15 doubles, 5 triples, 33 RBI and a .591 slugging percentage. The Red Raider outfielder also ranked in the top five in batting average (.346), on-base percentage (.436) and runs scored (25). Richburg was named Player of the Month during his torrid July hitting .403 with 10 doubles, three triples, and 22 RBI. The Lubbock, TX native led the Roughnecks to the Rogers Hornsby division top seed for their second consecutive playoff appearance (third overall).

Pitcher of the Year Justin Murray (Kansas State ) proved to be nearly unhitable tallying a 5-2 record with a miniscule 0.54 ERA only giving up three earned runs all summer. The Wildcat hurler was dominant striking out 48 and allowing only eight walks in 50 innings of work. Murray led the TCL in ERA, wins (tied with three others), third in innings pitched and fourth in strikeouts. TCL’s June Pitcher of the Month led the Marshals to their second consecutive division title and trip to the TCL championship series. Murray becomes the second Marshal to be named Pitcher of the Year with Austin Creps being honored in 2005.

Freshman of the Year Casey Whitmer (Texas) led the Bombers to the playoffs in their inaugural season as the ace of the staff. The Kilgore, TX native led the league with 51 strikeouts, posted a remarkable 1.57 ERA and held opponents to a .163 average. He was named the starting pitcher for the Speaker division in the All-Star Game and at that time had 19 more strikeouts than the next closest pitcher. Whitmer, who attended Florida State in the spring, will head to Austin to pitch for the Longhorns for the 2008 season.

The head coaches throughout the TCL elected Johnny Cardenas as 2007 Coach of the Year in voting conducted at the end of the regular season. Cardenas guided the Roughnecks to a first place finish in the Hornsby division registering a 25-18 overall record earning their second consecutive playoff appearance (third overall). Wichita Falls was an offensive machine leading the league in hitting (.270 -tie), doubles (68), triples (12) and second in RBI (199). The Roughnecks offense was led by Player of the Year Chris Richburg and TCL batting champion John Dao, who finished out the season with a .365 average. In Cardenas ’ second season, he boosted the Roughnecks’ winning percentage to .581, which was 143 points better than the previous season.


2007 Texas Collegiate League All-League Team:
C – Heath Pugh, Denton (S am Houston State)
.295, 9 2B, 23 RBI
INF – Matt Curry, Coppell (Howard JC)
.280, 7 HR, 25 RBI, .512 slg
INF – John Dao, Wichita Falls (NE Texas CC)
.365, 10 2B, 16 RBI, .519 slg
INF – Tyler Ladendorf, Denton (Howard JC)
.295, 10 2B, 15 RBI, 18 SB
INF – Jason Seefeld, Wichita Falls (T exas Tech)
.306, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 6 2B
OF – Chris Richburg, Wichita Falls (Texas Tech)
.346, 15 2B, 5 3B, 33 RBI, .591 slg
OF – Bo Coffman, Mineral Wells (Grayson CC)
.312, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 9 2B
OF – Joey Butler, Weatherford (New Orleans)
.347, 7 2B, 20 RBI, 15 SB
DH – Brandon Belt, Coppell (San Jacinto JC, Texas)
.333, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 7 2B, .581 slg
RHP – Justin Murray, McKinney (Kansas State )
5-2, 0.54 ERA, 48 SO
LHP – Jon Kibler, Weatherford (Michigan State)
5-0, 1.36, 29 SO, .154 opp
Reliever – Tyler Davis, Brazos Valley (McNeese State)
2-1, 1.72, 6 SV, 31 SO

Player of the Year – Chris Richburg, Wichita Falls (Texas Tech)
Pitcher of the Year – Justin Murray, McKinney (Kansas State)
Freshman of the Year – Casey Whitmer, Brazos Valley (Texas)
Coach of the Year – Johnny Cardenas, Wichita Falls

Texas Collegiate League

The Texas Collegiate League Championship Series!

Marshals starter Justin Murray scattered five hits over seven innings and allowed only one run as McKinney defeated Coppell 3-1 to earn a one-game-to-none lead in the TCL Championship playoff series in front of a great crowd full of Marshals faithfuls.

Murray walked three and struck out six in earning his sixth win of the season on the day he was announced as TCL Pitcher of the Year for 2007.

Daniel Meadows pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two Copperheads and Chris Wright closed out the ninth for the save, his fifth of the season. Wright also had two strikeouts as the Marshals staff fanned ten Coppell batters on the night.

Brandon Glover's one out single in the top of the seventh ignited the Marshals. Glover stole second before Tyler Hohman fought off a tough two strike pitch to single to right and score Glover, breaking a 0-0 tie

TexasCollegiateLeague.com

Cape Cod Playoff Day 1 Recap

The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox knocked off the Chatham A's 4-3 with a walkoff RBI from Matt Long. Codball.com has an excellent recap available here. The teams will be back in action in Game 2 of the best of three series on Sunday at 7 pm in Chatham.

The Falmouth Commodores took Game 1 of their series with Bourne on Saturday by a score of 7-2. Aaron Crow started for Falmouth and went 6 innings while giving up only one run on three hits to pick up the win. Codball has a full recap available here. The teams will head to Falmouth for Game 2 at 7 pm.

Waynesboro wins Valley League

Courtesy of Valley League

LURAY, Va., Aug. 10, 2007 - Top-seeded Waynesboro broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run eighth-inning rally and defeated third-seeded Luray on its home turf at Bulldog Field to capture the Jim Lineweaver Cup as the Valley Baseball League 2007 champion.

Waynesboro won the best of five series three games to one over Luray, the defending champion from 2006. Game four was the first game in the series won by the visiting team. It was the first league championship for the Generals since 1998 when they swept Staunton 3-0.

This season, Waynesboro went 30-13-1 overall to earn the VBL's top seed. The Generals have the best regular season record over the last two seasons combined with a 27-15 mark in 2006. Skipper Lawrence Nesselrodt was honored with his second straight VBL Coach of the Year honor this year.

Danny Williamson (Middleburg, Fla./North Florida C.C.) earned the victory for Waynesboro, pitching three innings of no-hit relief with two strikeouts to improve to 3-1. Jimmy Stanley (Lexington, Ky./Belmont) pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save of the season. Kenny Cedel (Staten Island, N.Y./Long Island) took the loss for the Wranglers, allowing all three runs in the eighth.

Russ Brewer (Norwood, N.C./Vanderbilt) had the big hit for the Generals, a solo home run that proved to be the game winner in the eighth inning. All-Valley League selection Kurt Davidson (North Canton, Ohio/Akron) followed with a two-run double to break the game open to the 6-3 final.

Luray jumped on board first in the contest with two runs in the third inning. All-league short stop Tyler Kuhn (Louisville, Ky./West Virginia), the 2006 league MVP, hit an RBI double to plate Alec Lowrey (Weston, Fla./Louisville). Gerard Hall (Washington, D.C./Old Dominion) also scored on the play on the second of four Waynesboro errors for the night.

The Generals struck right back in the fourth with a two-run single by Brewer, who finished the night with three RBIs. Luray regained the lead, however, on a Justin Miller (Dayton, Va./Ohio State) home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth, his fifth of the season. Once again the Generals had the answer in the fifth with an RBI single by Ryan Adams (Burlington, N.C./Elon).

The 3-3 score held up until the three-run outburst by the Generals in the eighth. Waynesboro finished the night with six runs on nine hits and four errors. Luray scored its three runs on six hits with no errors.

Brewer finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored. Adams also had two hits with a run and RBI. Davidson was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a walk. Luray had no players with multiple hits. Kuhn and Miller had the only RBIs.

Box Score and Play-by-Play
http://www.valleyleaguebaseball.com/Stats/12/lu0810.htm

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)

CCBL Playoffs Postponed until Saturday

The Cape Cod Baseball League playoffs have been pushed back to Saturday after rain washed out both games on Friday evening. The new schedule is posted below

West Division:
Saturday, August 11th - Falmouth @ Bourne at 3:00pm
Sunday, August 12th - Bourne @ Falmouth at 7:00pm
Monday, August 13th - Falmouth @ Bourne at 3:00pm, if necessary.

East Division:
Saturday, August 11th - Chatham @ Y-Dennis at 3:00pm
Sunday, August 12th - Y-Dennis @ Chatham at 7:00pm
Monday, August 13th - Chatham @ Y-Dennis at 3:00pm, if necessary.

MTSU to build new stadium

Adam Sparks of Gannett Tennessee is reporting that an agreement in principle has been reached for the construction of a $6.6 million on-campus baseball stadium. Construction could begin within the month, with fundraising a prime goal in moving forward. Athletic Director Chris Massaro points to the project as a prime focus of the Blue Raiders commitment to baseball. The full article can be read here

Commodores Baseball Update

This is my inaugural post on the CBB and I’ll be helping Brian and the team cover Vanderbilt, SEC and Southeastern College Baseball. Up first are three recent developments with Commodore baseball: Ryan Davis’ transfer, David Price’s negotiations with Tampa Bay and a first commitment for the Class of 2009.

Mike Rapp of VandySports.com (Rivals) caught up with Coach Tim Corbin and discussed Davis’ transfer. Corbin wishes Davis well and thanks Ryan for his contributions to the program. Davis should be a key contributor to San Diego next year in the Outfield or at DH. Mike’s article can be read here.

Meanwhile, Chris Lee of VandySports.com landed the first public interview in some time with the #1 overall pick of the 2007 Draft. Negotiations appear to be heating up with Tampa in this final week of signing eligibility. Rivals subscribers can read Price’s thoughts and the potential for returning at Vandy for a swan song here (Rivals subscription required).

On the recruiting trail, Commodores recruiting coordinator Erik Bakich picked up his first verbal commitment for the class of 2009. Dough Fritz at the Johnson City Press is reporting that Catcher/Firstbaseman Dylan Pratt will enter the program as a Sophomore in the 2008-09 school year. Pratt was on the Commodores’ radar as a HS Junior; however, an injury led to a loss in interest. Recent strong performances changed Bakich and Corbin’s mind and Pratt will come on board after spending a year at Walters State Community College, where he will play alongside former Vandy target Adam Milligan. The full article can be read here. Perfect Game rated Pratt 8.5 out of 10 in the summer between his Sophomore and Junior years of High School.

In other Commodore news, it's expected that both All-American RF Dom De la Osa and reserve OF Jonathan White will be returning for their Senior seasons with the 'Dores, providing strong outfield depth for the '08 campaign.

Photo courtesy of Mike Rapp of VandySports.com

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.