USA Baseball's Rosters Announced

Congratulations to DK's good friend and teammate.
Way to go Chuckie Fick!

Just checked on USA's status and thought I would post this.

They are off to Mexico for the Pan American games.


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Coming off a bronze medal in last week's IBAF Baseball World Cup in Panama, the 2011 U.S. Pan American Baseball Team arrives in Mexico looking to secure Pan Am gold for the first time since 1967 in Winnipeg.
The 23-man U.S. team (also referred to as the 2011 World Cup/Pan Am Team) is comprised of non-40-man roster professional players, making up some of the best players in minor league baseball. The club includes six players with Major League Baseball experience and seven athletes who have worn the red, white and blue for Team USA in past international competition. Team USA is led by manager Ernie Young, who competed on the gold medal-winning Sydney 2000 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team, along with four other coaches who have served on past U.S. staffs.

The U.S. roster includes Jordan Danks (Austin, Texas) and Jordy Mercer (Taloga, Okla.), both of whom suited up for the U.S. in the 2007 Rio de Janeiro Pan Ams. With a team made up of non-draft eligible college players, the U.S. lost the 2007 final to Cuba, 3-1, marking the 10th time in a row Cuba had won the event, and its 12th overall title of the 15 Pan Am baseball competitions ever held. Team USA's 1967 gold medal finish is the last time Cuba has not topped a Pan Am medal stand.

Despite not following up its back-to-back World Cup gold medals in 2007 and 2009 with another championship, last week's bronze medal finish was still a positive step for Team USA. The U.S. opened competition in Panama with a loss to Puerto Rico, and after subsequent defeats to Netherlands and Canada, it needed a win against the host nation on the final day of Round 1 to advance in the event. A 5-0 victory later, the Americans moved on to Round 2, only to drop its first game of the second stage to Cuba. Sitting at 1-3 with only three games remaining, the U.S. needed to win-out if it had any hope for a medal. Due to rain, the schedule was abbreviated, with each of the remaining three games shortened to seven innings and a final day-doubleheader. A 2-1 win over Australia on Thursday got the ball rolling, and Team USA put an exclamation on its comeback with a 3-1 victory over South Korea in Friday's Game 1, and a come-from-behind win against Venezuela in Game 2, to advance to the bronze medal game against Canada on Saturday. Although the game was ultimately rained out and canceled, the finish provided the U.S. with momentum heading into Lagos de Moreno.

The U.S. offense is led by second baseman Joe Thurston (Fairfield, Calif.), who topped the club in multiple statistical categories in Panama. The Florida Marlins farmhand paced the team in batting average (.439, 18-for-41), hits (18), doubles (6), RBIs (10), and on-base percentage (.489) en route to being named to the All-World Cup Team.

Matt Clark (.342; Riverside, Calif.), Brett Jackson (.412; Berkeley, Calif.) and Mercer (.345) all finished with averages north of .340 to help lead the U.S. attack as well, while Clark and Tommy Mendonca proved to be legitimate power threats with three home runs apiece.

On the mound, the red, white and blue finished with a 3.26 team ERA for the World Cup. Starter Andy Van Hekken (Holland, Mich.) led the U.S. with a 2-0 record, and Justin Cassel (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Chuckie Fick (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) combined for 12 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, with six strikeouts against only eight hits and no walks.

The 2011 Pan Am baseball competition will be held in Lagos de Moreno, Oct. 18-25, at Pan American Stadium. The venue played host to the 2011 16U World Baseball Championships in August, with the U.S. coming away with the gold medal. Team USA opens pool play against the Dominican Republic at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local), on Thursday, Oct. 20.

I just popped in and saw that USA clobbered the Dominican Republic 20 - 2 today...actually the game is still going on in the 8th. I guess they don't have a mercy rule....I am sure both sides wished there was. Yikes.

http://livestats.prestosports..../?e=5y1y5fcqpscte4pw

Saw that we lost to Canada 2-1 in gold medal game . Congrats to the boys for taking the silver .