June 15, 1999
TUCSON, Ariz. – Notre Dame sophomore righthander Aaron Heilman (Logansport, Ind.) has been named to the final 22-player roster for the 1999 USA Baseball National Team, as announced today at the USA Baseball headquarters.
Heilman follows in the footsteps of former Notre Dame infielder Brant Ust, who finished as Team USA’s third-leading hitter in the summer of 1998 while playing third base. Notre Dame is one of just six schools that have produced a Team USA player during each of the past two seasons, joining Arizona, Houston, Miami (Fla.), Stanford and Texas A&M in that distinction.
Arizona infielder Keoni DeRenne and Stanford outfielder John Gall have been selected to the team in each of the past two summers while the 1998 team included Houston lefthander Shane Nance, Miami shortstop Bobby Hill, Miami righthander Alex Santos and Texas A&M lefthander Casey Fossum.
Team USA completes a four-game series with Mexico tonight at Hi Corbett Field (home of USA Baseball), after romping to an 18-2 win over Mexico on Monday. The team then will depart on Wednesday for a pair of exhibition games in Salem, Ore., and Tacoma, Wash., before leaving to play the Japan Collegiate All-Star Team in Japan, from June 22-July 1.
The USWest Red, White and Blue Tour also will take Team USA to Albuquerque, N.M., Ogden, Utah, Boise, Idaho, Portland, Ore., Spokane, Wash., Fargo, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., Des Moines, Iowa, St. Paul, Minn., Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Quad Cities, Iowa. The USA also is entered in the National Baseball Congress World Series, which will be held August 6-17 in Wichita, Kansas.
Heilman is the only player on the 22-man roster who hails from a school in the midwest or northeast area of the country. He likewise is the only midwest native on the squad, which includes eight players from California, plus two each from Florida, Texas, Hawaii and Arizona and one from Colorado, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Washington and Nevada.
The 22 invitees hail from 16 different schools, including three each from UCLA and the University of Arizona and two each from Stanford and the University of California.
Heilman is one of 10 pitchers named to the team, including fellow righthanders Jon Brandt (UCLA), Kyle Crowell (Houston), Ben Diggins (Arizona), Josh Karp (UCLA), Mark Prior (Vanderbilt) and Justin Wayne (Stanford). The staff’s lefthanders include Len Dinardo (Stetson), Phil Seibel (Texas) and Matt Smith (Oklahoma State).
The USA kept two catchers: California’s Mike Tonis and Kentucky’s John Wilson. The team’s infielders include Taggert Bozied (San Francisco), Keoni DeRenne (Arizona), Koyie Hill (Wichita St.), Xavier Nady (California) while the outfielders include Shelley Duncan (Arizona), Tyrell Godwin (North Carolina), Daylon Holt (Texas A&M) and Bill Scott (UCLA). Miami’s Manny Crespo can play second base and outfield while Stanford’s John Gall can play first base and outfield. DeRenne and Gall are the only returnees from the 1998 Team USA squad. The final USA roster includes 17 players who advanced through the USA trials during the last four days in Tucson, Ariz., while five players will be joining Team USA after they finish play in the College World Series (Crespo, Gall, Holt, Smith and Wayne).
USA ROSTER
NAME POS HT WT YR SCHOOL HOMETOWNBozied, Taggert IF 6-3 215 So. San Francisco Denver, CO Brandt, Jon RHP 6-2 190 So. UCLA Palo Alto, CA Crespo, Manny OF/IF 5-10 190 So. Miami Miami, FL Crowell, Kyle RHP 5-11 185 So. Houston Friendswood, TX DeRenne, Keoni IF 5-7 155 So. Arizona Honolulu, HI Diggins, Ben RHP 6-6 230 Fr. Arizona Phoenix, AZ Dinardo, Len LHP 6-4 190 Fr. Stetson High Springs, FL Duncan, Shelley OF 6-5 210 Fr. Arizona Tucson, AZ Gall, John OF/1B 6-1 195 Jr. Stanford Portola Valley, CA Godwin, Tyrell OF 6-1 190 So. North Carolina Council, NC Heilman, Aaron RHP 6-4 210 So. Notre Dame Logansport, IN Hill, Koyie IF 6-1 185 So. Wichita State Lawton, OK Holt, Daylon OF 6-1 200 So. Texas A&M Mesquite, TX Karp, Josh RHP 6-5 195 Fr. UCLA Bothell, WA Nady, Xavier IF 6-1 185 So. California Salinas, CA Prior, Mark RHP 6-5 215 Fr. Vanderbilt Bonita, CA Scott, Bill OF 6-1 210 So. UCLA Granada Hills, CA Seibel, Phil LHP 6-1 185 So. Texas Cypress, CA Smith, Matt LHP 6-4 215 So. Oklahoma State Henderson, NV Tonis, Mike C 6-3 220 So. California Sacramento, CA Wayne, Justin RHP 6-2 200 So. Stanford Honolulu, HI Wilson, John C 6-0 205 So. Kentucky Northridge, CA
1999 USA BASEBALL SCHEDULE
Day/Date National Team Opponent Location/result Sat., June 12 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson; L, 11-18) Sun., June 13 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson; W, 3-1) Mon., June 14 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson; W, 18-2) Tue., June 15 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Thur., June 17 Salem Volcanoes Salem, Ore. Sat., June 19 Canada Tacoma, Wash.
Wed., June 23 Japan Collegiate All-Stars Tokyo, Japan Thur., June 24 Japan Collegiate All-Stars Ibaragi, Japan Sat., June 26 Japan Collegiate All-Stars Yamagata, Japan Sun. June 27 Japan Collegiate All-Stars Aomori, Japan Tue., June 29 Japan Collegiate All-Stars Tokyo, Japan
Sat., July 3 Korea Scottsdale Stadium Sun., July 4 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson) Mon., July 5 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Wed., July 7 Korea Albuquerque, N.M. Thu., July 8 Korea Ogden, Utah
Sat., July 10 Nicaragua Boise, Idaho Tue., July 13 Nicaragua Portland, Ore. Wed., July 14 Nicaragua Spokane, Wash. Fri., July 16-19 Pre Pan Am Games Hi Corbett Field (Tucson) Exhibitions vs. Pro Teams (AA, AAA All-Stars) of the USA, Nicaragua, andDominican Republic: TBA
Wed. July 21 Mexico Fargo, N.D. Thu., July 22 Mexico Sioux Falls, S.D. Fri., July 23 Mexico Des Moines, Iowa Sun., July 25 Mexico St. Paul, Minn. Mon., July 26 Mexico Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Wed., July 28 Rockies rookies Hi Corbett Field (Tucson) Thu., July 29 Diamondbacks rookies Hi Corbett Field (Tucson) Fri., July 30 White Sox rookies Hi Corbett Field (Tucson) Sat., July 31 USA Juniors Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Tue., Aug. 3 TBA Quad Cities, Iowa Fri., Aug 6-18 NBC World Series Wichita, Kansas
All game times are 7:05 p.m. local unless otherwise noted, and all games are subject to change.