May 22, 1998
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame sophomore third baseman Brant Ust (Redmond, Wash.) and freshman righthander Aaron Heilman (Logansport, Ind.) are among 43 players who have been invited to the summer tryout camp for the 1998 USA Baseball national team. The training camp is scheduled to open June 1 at Hi Corbett Field, home of USA Baseball and the spring training home of the Colorado Rockies. Ust also attended the national team trials at Hi Corbett Field in November of 1997.
USA Baseball ultimately will select 22 players to comprise the national team. The team will begin its competition on June 6 and play 33 games in preparation for the International Baseball Association’s XXXIII World Championship in Italy. Ust is one of 12 infielders invited to the tryout camp while Heilman is one of 20 pitchers invited to the tryouts (15 righthanders, five lefthanders).
Ust and Heilman are the only players from the BIG EAST Conference among the 43 invitees while Heilman is the only Indiana native on the list. University of Minnesota sophomore lefthander Ben Birk is the only other invitee from a Midwest school while Delaware sophomore outfielder Kevin Mench is the only invitee from the Northeast.
Heilman is one of 11 freshmen among the invitees, joining four other pitchers: righthanders Jon McDonald and Nick Stocks (both of Florida State), righthander Justin Wayne (Stanford) and lefthander Matt Smith (Oklahoma State). The other five freshman invitees include infielders Seth Davidson (USC), Keoni DeRenne (Arizona) and Xavier Nady (California), outfielder Patrick Boyd (Clemson), and first baseman/catcher Casey Myers (Arizona State).
Heilman, who was born on Nov. 12, 1978, is the seventh-youngest invitee, behind Johnson (7/12/79), Smith (6/15/79), DeRenne (4/30/79), Wayne (4/16/79), Davidson (2/26/79) and Nady (11/14/78). Arkansas sophomore righthander David Walling shares the same birthdate with Heilman.
In addition to FSU’s McDonald and Stocks, two other opposing players from Notre Dame’s 1998 season were invited to the tryouts: Miami, Fla. sophomore shortstop Bobby Hill and sophomore righthander Alex Santos.
This year’s World Championship is slated for July 21 – August 2 and will feature reigning world champion Cuba, host country Italy, Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, China, Netherlands, Spain and Russia. In addition, five teams will qualify from the Americas while the African champion and Oceanian champion also will compete. The 16-team field will be divided into two groups of eight. After playing seven games in a round-robin format, the top four teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals.
In order to participate in the World Championship, the USA must qualify by placing in the top five at the continental qualifier scheduled for June 17-26 in Managua, Nicaragua. In addition to the United States, the tournament will feature the following national teams: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.
In addition to its international competition schedule, the national team will play a majority of its stateside games at Hi Corbett Field versus international baseball powers such as Japan, Korea, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. The squad will also visit several U.S. cities on its domestic exhibition tour prior to the World Championship. The 1998 club will by led by Ron Polk, former head coach at Mississippi State.
Notre Dame Baseball – 1998 Summer Teams
Fairbanks, Alaska Goldpanners (Alaska League)
Allen Greene (jr., OF)
Aaron Heilman (fr., RHP)
Alec Porzel (fr., OF)
Steve Szczepanski (so., RHP)
Kenai Oilers (Alaska Central League)
Chris McKeown (jr., LHP)
Mat-Su Miners (Alaska Central League)
Tim Kalita (So., LHP)
Harwich Mariners (Cape Cod League)
Alex Shilliday (jr., RHP)
Brant Ust (so., IF)
Jeff Wagner (jr., C)
Columbus All-Americans (Ohio League)
Ben Cooke (fr., IF/OF)
Jeff Perconte (so., IF/OF)
Ithaca, N.Y. Lakers (Northeastern League)
Scott Cavey (So., RHP)
Mark Lapinskas (So., LHP)
Larry Zimont (So., OF)
Hays, Kansas (Jayhawk League)
Mike Carlin (Fr., RHP)
Jeff Felker (So., OF)
USA National Team Tryouts (Tucson, Arizona)
Aaron Heilman (Fr., RHP)
Brant Ust (So., IF)
USA National Baseball Team – 1998 Training Camp Roster
(as of May 21, 1998)
Player Pos. Ht./Wt. B/T DOB Yr. School HometownBarbier, Blair IF 5-10/195 R/R 2/13/78 So. LSU Harvey, LABard, Josh C 6-3/205 S/R 3/30/78 So . Texas Tech Englewood, COBirk, Ben LHP 6-5/200 L/L 11/6/77 So. Minnesota St. Paul, MNBloomquist, Willie IF/OF 5-11/180 R/R 11/27/77 So. Arizona State Port Orchard, WABoyd, Patrick OF 6-3/200 S/R 9/7/78 Fr. Clemson Palm Harbor, FLCresse, Brad C 6-3/215 R/R 7/31/78 So. LSU Seal Beach, CADavidson, Seth IF 6-0/170 S/R 2/26/79 Fr. USC San Diego, CADeRenne, Keoni IF 5-7/160 S/R 4/30/79 Fr. Arizona Honolulu, HIFossum, Casey LHP 6-1/160 S/L 1/6/78 So. Texas A&M Waco, TXGall, John OF 6-0/195 R/R 4/2/78 So. Stanford Portola Valley, CAGinter, Matt RHP 6-1/215 R/R 12/24/77 So. Mississippi St. Winchester, KYHeaverlo, Jeff RHP 6-1/185 R/R 1/3/78 So. Washington Ephrata, WAHeilman, Aaron RHP 6-4/200 R/R 11/12/78 Fr. Notre Dame Logansport, INHill, Bobby IF 5-10/170 S/R 4/3/78 So. Miami San Jose, CAJennings, Jason RHP 6-2/225 L/R 7/17/78 So. Baylor Mesquite, TXJohnson, Adam RHP 6-2/200 R/R 7/12/79 Fr. CS Fullerton San Diego, CALoeb, Bryan C 6-1/180 R/R 4/8/78 So. Baylor Sugar Land, TXLudwick, Ryan OF 6-3/205 R/L 7/13/78 So. UNLV Las Vegas, NVMcAuley, JAmes C 6-0/180 R/R 12/17/77 So. Louisville Tampa, FLMcDonald, Jon RHP 6-2/185 R/R 10/16/77 Fr. Florida State Orlando, FLMench, Kevin OF 6-0/205 R/R 1/7/78 So. Delaware Newark, DEMoraga, Omar IF 5-10/180 L/R 5/23/77 Jr. Arizona Tucson, AZMottl, Ryan RHP 6-3/195 S/R 12/9/77 So. Clemson St. Louis, MOMunson, Eric C 6-3/220 L/R 10/3/77 So. So. California San Diego, CAMyers, Casey 1B/C 5-11/190 R/R 10/23/78 Fr. Arizona State Casa Grande, AZNady, Xavier IF 6-1/185 R/R 11/14/78 Fr. California Salinas, CANance, Shane LHP 5-7/175 L/L 9/7/77 So. Houston Houston, TXNichols, Jeff RHP 6-3/190 R/R 10/20/77 So. Rice Duncanville, TXOwens, Ryan IF 6-2/185 R/R 3/18/78 So. CS Fullerton La Habra, CARamos, Mario LHP 6-0/165 L/L 10/19/77 So. Rice Pflugerville, TXRoberts, Brian IF 5-9/165 S/R 10/9/77 So. North Carolina Chapel Hill, NCSantos, Alex RHP 6-1/205 R/R 8/9/77 So. Miami Lake Worth, FLScheschuk, John IF 6-1/200 L/L 2/2/77 Jr . Texas A&M Pasadena, TXSheets, Ben RHP 6-1/210 R/R 7/18/78 So. NE Louisiana St. Amant, LASmith, Matt LHP 6-5/200 L/L 6/15/79 Fr. Oklahoma St. Henderson, NVStocks, Nick RHP 6-2/185 R/R 8/27/78 Fr . Florida State Tampa, FLTopolski, Jon OF 5-10/175 L/R 12/28/76 Jr. Baylor Houston, TXUst, Brant IF 6-2/190 R/R 7/17/78 So. Notre Dame Redmond, WAWalling, David RHP 6-5/195 R/R 11/12/78 So. Arkansas San Diego, CAWayne, Justin RHP 6-2/195 R/R 4/16/79 Fr. Stanford Honolulu, HIWoods, Kyle OF 6-0/200 R/R 11/23/77 So. Washington Marysville, WAWright, Dan RHP 6-5/200 R/R 12/14/77 So. Arkansas Batesville, ARWright, Shane RHP 6-2/210 R/R 10/28/76 Jr. Texas Tech Topeka, KS
STAFF – Ron Polk ( Head Coach), Pete Dunn (Asst. Coach, Stetson), Mike Gaski (Asst. Coach, UNC Greensboro), Jim Pizzolatto (Asst. Coach, Nichols State), Steve Smith (Asst. Coach, Baylor), Jerry Kindall (Senior Advisor, USA Baseball), Paul Seiler (Dir. of Baseball Operations), Warren Turner (Business Manager, Missouri Southern), Jay Logan (Athletic Trainer, Mississippi State), George Doig (Dir. of Media Relations)
USA Baseball National Team 1998 Summer Schedule
Day Date Opponent Site (Location)Sat. June 6 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Sun. June 7 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Mon. June 8 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Tue. June 9 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Wed. June 10 Canada Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Thu. June 11 Canada Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Fri. June 12 Canada Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Sat. June 13 Canada Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Sun. June 14 Canada (5:05 p.m.) Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Wed. June 17 World Championship Qualifier Managua, NicaraguaThu. June 18 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Fri. June 19 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Sat. June 20 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Sun. June 21 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Mon. June 22 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Tue. June 23 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Wed. June 24 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Thu. June 25 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Fri. June 26 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)Sun. June 28 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Mon. June 29 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Tue. June 30 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Wed. July 1 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Thu. July 2 Australia Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Fri. July 3 Japan Scottsdale Stadium (Scottsdale, AZ)Sat. July 4 Japan (6:05 p.m.) Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Sun. July 5 Japan Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Mon. July 6 Australia (5:05 p.m.; 7 innings) Hi Corbett Field (Tucson) Japan (following first game) Hi Corbett Field (Tucson, AZ)Tue. July 7 Japan Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)Wed. July 15 Canada Mercer County Waterfront Park (Trenton, NJ)Thu. July 16 Canada Thomas J. Dodd Stadium (Norwich, CT)Fri. July 17 Canada Yale Field (New Haven, CT)
All game times are 7:05 p.m. local time, unless otherwise indicated.