Showing posts tagged “Middle Tennessee”
Mike Potter ·
26 Jul 2009, 10:47 PM ·
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Start up that classic ’70s song from “Queen.”
USA Baseball’s National Team has won the World Baseball Challenge.
Drew Pomeranz (pictured) of Ole Miss took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, helping his team avenge an earlier defeat in an 8-1 pounding of Germany in the championship game in Prince George, B.C.
After the Germans scratched out a run in the first, the USA dominated the rest of the way.
Blake Forsythe of Tennessee tied the game in the bottom of the second with an RBI single. Then in the third, Rice’s Rick Hague added an RBI single and Texas-Arlington’s Michael Choice a solo homer over the left field fence.
The lead went to 6-1 in the fourth on a two-run double from Florida State’s Tyler Holt. Then in the eighth, Miami’s Yasmani Grandal and Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz added solo homers.
Choice, Grandal, Pomeranz and UCLA’s Gerrit Cole were named to the all-tournament team. Choice earned the home-run hitting award with three while Hague took the best hitter award with a .474 average.
Team USA finished its season with a 19-5 record, with all five losses to teams from Eurasia.
The next over-18 USA team to play before the public will be the professional World Cup team, which will take on Canada for a three-game series in Cary beginning Sept. 3.
ACC, Baseball, USA Baseball Blake Forsythe, British Columbia, Bryce Brentz, Canada, Drew Pomeranz, Florida State, Germany, Gerrit Cole, Miami Hurricanes, Michael Choice, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi Rebels, Ole Miss, Prince George, Queen, Rice Owls, Rick Hague, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas-Arlington, Tyler Holt, UCLA, World Baseball Challenge, World Cup, Yasmani Grandal
Mike Potter ·
23 Jul 2009, 10:41 PM ·
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Now they’re on a roll again.
USA Baseball’s National Team won its third straight game, walloping British Columbia 12-2 in a contest stopped by the mercy rule after eight innings, to earn the top seed for the medal round of the World Baseball Challenge in Prince George, B.C.
Rice’s Rick Hague, Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz (pictured) and Texas-Arlington’s Michael Choice each homered during the big fifth-inning rally for the Red, White and Blue.
B.C. took a 2-0 lead off Cody Wheeler of Coastal Carolina as Devon Franklin hit a solo shot in the first and Mike Collins added another in the fourth.
The USA, batting in the bottom of each frame, evened the score in the fourth on an RBI double from Arkansas’ Andy Wilkins and a wild pitch by Corey Parsons.
The winners then exploded in the fifth as Hague blasted a solo shot, Brentz a two-run tater and Choice another solo clout for a 6-2 lead.
Wheeler (3-0) pitched seven full innings, striking out 10.
The USA will play its first medal-round game Friday night at 10 (EDT) against the No. 2 seed, Canada’s National Team, with UCLA’s Gerrit Cole on the hill. The winner will get an automatic spot in Sunday’s title game.
Baseball, USA Baseball Andy Wilkins, Arkansas Razorbacks, British Columbia, Bryce Brentz, Canada, Coastal Carolina, Cody Wheeler, Corey Parsons, Devon Franklin, Gerrit Cole, Michael Choice, Middle Tennessee, Mike Collins, Prince George Axemen, Rice Owls, Rick Hague, Texas-Arlington, UCLA, World Baseball Challenge
Mike Potter ·
6 Jul 2009, 11:21 PM ·
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Domestic opposition may be giving USA Baseball’s National Team its first serious competition of the season, but for the second straight day the Red, White and Blue won a three-run victory.
Bryce Brentz (pictured) of Middle Tennessee led the way with a double and a single for two RBI in a 5-2 victory over the Holyoke Blue Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
The crowd of 4,811 was a park record.
Jake Rosenbeck of Buffalo homered for Holyoke in the first inning off Kansas’ eventual winning pitcher T.J. Walz (2-0), just the second homer USA pitching has allowed this season.
The USA set a National Team club record with 11 stolen bases in the contest, with four steals from Cal State-Fullerton’s Christian Colon setting a new individual mark.
The Red, White and Blue’s winning streak is 35 games. Tuesday’s scheduled contest with the NECBL’s North Shore Navigators in Lynn, Mass., has been cancelled because of rain. The team now heads to Japan for six games including the annual five-game Friendship Series with its Japanese counterpart.
Baseball, USA Baseball Bryce Brentz, Buffalo Bulls, Christian Colon, Holyoke Blue Sox, Jake Rosenbeck, Japan, Kansas Jayhawks, Lynn, Middle Tennessee, NECBL, North Shore Navigators, T.J. Walz
Mike Potter ·
5 Jul 2009, 7:10 PM ·
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Finally, a competitive game.
USA Baseball’s National Team took on an outside domestic opponent for the first time this season, beating the All-Stars of the New England Collegiate Baseball League 4-1 on Sunday in Manchester, N.H.
t was the first time Team USA, which opened with a five-game series against Canada’s 18U team followed by a four-game set against a weak Guatemala club, had beaten an opponent by fewer than six runs this season.
The contest was part of a doubleheader, the second half being an Eastern League squabble between the host New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Portland Sea Dogs.
Team USA, which has won 34 straight games going back to last season, led 3-0 before the NECBL picked up its only run in the fifth.
Coastal Carolina’s Cody Wheeler (pictured), who gave up the NECBL’s only two hits, improved to 2-0 with seven strikeouts in five innings while Texas Tech’s Chad Bettis cashed in on his team’s first save opportunity of the season.
Michael Choice of Texas-Arlington led the USA’s 13-hit attack with three hits including a double that was the game’s only extra-base hit, while Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz added three singles.
Team USA will visit the Holyoke (Mass.) Blue Sox of the NECBL tonight.
Baseball, USA Baseball Bryce Brentz, Canada, Chad Bettis, Coastal Carolina, Cody Wheeler, Eastern League, Guatemala, Holyoke Blue Sox, Manchester, Michael Choice, Middle Tennessee, NECBL, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Portland Sea Dogs, Texas Tech, Texas-Arlington
Mike Potter ·
3 Jul 2009, 10:28 PM ·
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COLEMAN FIELD/CARY It’s Game 3 of what has so far been a very lopsided series between the USA National Team and Guatemala.
In Game 1 on Wednesday night in Kannapolis the USA pitching staff combined for 24 strikeouts and then on Thursday night on this field the staff combined for the first official no-hitter in team history.
The crowd is a little bigger on a very pleasantly warm evening at the National Training Complex, perhaps drawn in by the post-game fireworks. And maybe there will be some during the game, too.
The USA is in camo uniforms tonight to celebrate the Independence Day weekend.
To review, this Guatemalan team has a massively wide age range. Infielder Jorge Gutierrez, who came into the game with the Quetzals’ only two hits of the series and isn’t in the starting lineup, is 42 while center fielder Manuel Hernandez is 16.
And once again, I’m the only one in the house representing local media - or in fact any general-circulation publication not specializing in baseball. Baseball America is also on site.
The Americans are batting in the top of the first inning, and it quickly becomes obvious this is like the movie “Groundhog Day” for the overmatched Guatemalans, who are on the way to an 18-0 loss that’s stopped after seven innings. UCLA’s Trevor Bauer (pictured) gets the win. Continue reading »
Baseball, Durham Bulls, USA Baseball Al Yevoli, Baseball America, Bryce Brentz, Cal State-Fullerton, Cary, Christian Colon, Groundhog Day, High Point Panthers, Jorge Gutierrez, Kannapolis, Manuel Hernandez, Mario Cruz, Marlon Claveria, Michael Choice, Middle Tennessee, Rick Jones, San Diego Padres, Sonny Gray, Texas-Arlington, Trevor Bauer, Tulane, UCLA, Vanderbilt
Mike Potter ·
2 Jul 2009, 11:14 PM ·
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COLEMAN FIELD/CARY It’s Game 2 of the USA National Team series against Guatemala, and the main suspense is to see whether or not the visitors can get closer than Wednesday night’s 15-1 loss in Kannapolis.
It’s partly cloudy and warm - temperatures in the high ’80s - and the crowd for this one is pretty sparse.
There are no food freebies for the media tonight. Bummer. At least I’ve called ahead to find out and had a good meal at home with the family.
Already today I’ve been at Durham Bulls Athletic Park to do an interview with a player for a “Top 50 prospects” project for a baseball website.
The Bulls weren’t home on Wednesday either and neither were the Carolina Mudcats, making it one of those rare days since March on which there wasn’t at least one high quality baseball game in the Triangle.
That off-day gave me some time for some serious exploration of Facebook, which I had never bothered to join until last weekend. I’m going to start posting my Indy posts to my page every day, as well as putting them all on Twitter, where I am “mikepotterrdu.”
Guatemala has about the widest age range I have ever seen on a baseball team that plays together regularly. Infilelder Jorge Gutierrez, who got the only two hits on Wednesday, is 42, while center fielder Manuel Hernandez is 16.
And apparently on what turns out to be an historic night, I am the only journalist covering the game for local media (Baseball America is also in the house) as the USA wins 10-0 on the first regular-season no-hitter in team history. UCLA’s Gerrit Cole (pictured), The Citadel’s Asher Wojciechowski, Tulane’s Nick Pepitone and Texas Tech’s Chad Bettis team up for the feat. (The 9-0 win against Canada in 2004 at DBAP was during the team’s “trials” phase.) Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats, Durham Bulls, USA Baseball Andy Wilkins, Arkansas Razorbacks, Asher Wojciechowski, Baseball America, Blake Forsythe, Bryce Brentz, Cal State-Fullerton, Canada, Casey McGrew, Chad Bettis, Christian Colon, Facebook, Follow us on Twitter!, Gerrit Cole, Guatemala, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, Jorge Gutierrez, Manuel Hernandez, Middle Tennessee, Nick Pepitone, Rick Jones, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas Tech, The Citadel, Trevor Bauer, Tulane, UCLA, Wright State
Mike Potter ·
19 Jun 2009, 8:32 AM ·
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USA Baseball’s National Team played its second intrasquad game of the season Thursday night at the National Training Complex in Cary.
Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz (pictured) was the hero for the Blues, with three hits including a solo homer, a double and a steal in a 3-1 win over the Reds.
The two teams will square off again tonight at 6, and tickets are for sale.
Here’s the lowdown from the press release:
Continue reading »
ACC, Baseball, USA Baseball Bryce Brentz, Florida State, Miami Hurricanes, Middle Tennessee, Mike McGee, Yasmani Grandal
