June 27, 2006
Notre Dame pitcher Kyle Weiland – who just completed a Freshman All-America season with the Irish while ranking third in the nation with 16 saves – recently headed to the northeast for the weeklong tryout with the United States National Team program. Weiland (Albuquerue, N.M.) is one of 35 players who were invited to compete for spots on the 22-player roster that will comprise the USA squad for a summer-long series of games and tournaments, with the most noteworthy competition coming at the end of the summer in the World University Championships (to be held in Cuba). Weiland is looking to become Notre Dame’s fourth player in the past nine years to play for Team USA.
Weiland saw his first action in a competitive situation (scrimmage or game) at the USA trials on June 27 in Keene, N.H. He picked up the save in the second intrasquad scrimmage of the trials, as the Blue topped the Red in a 7-5 game. Weiland faced nine batters in his two-inning stint, allowing a run in the 9th while striking out two overall with one hit and a walk allowed.
The 1-2-3 top of the 8th saw Weiland induce a flyout from Miami second baseman Jemile Weeks before Dallas Baptist outfielder Austin Krum lined out to left field and Virginia outfielder Sean Doolitle went down looking at a third strike. Tennessee catcher J.P. Arencibia’s leadoff walk proved costly in the 9th, with a passed ball and groundout (off the bat of Vanderbilt 3B Pedro Alvarez) moving the runner to third before Auburn infielder Mike Bianucci sent an RBI single into right field. A fielding error allowed Mississippi shortstop Zack Cozart to reach but Weiland completed the save when Kentucky outfielder Collon Cowgill struck out and Washington State outfielder Jared Prince lined out to the second baseman.
Weiland’s bid to make the final 2006 USA roster puts him in position to follow is the footsteps of infielder Brant Ust (’98), pitcher Aaron Heilman (’99) and fellow righthander Grant Johnson (’02) as the fourth Notre Dame player in the past nine years to play with the USA National Team.
The Team USA trials began with a practice on June 24 in Hinsdale, Mass., followed by the first Blue/Red team scrimmage on the 25th and a June 26th game versus the homestanding Pittsfield (Mass.) Dukes, a team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League). The game with the Dukes at Wahconah Park was halted due to rain early in the 4th inning, with the USA holding a 6-0 lead.
Vanderbilt lefthander David Price struck out four while walking two in the first 3.0 innings for Team USA versus the Dukes. One of the BIG EAST Conference’s top players, Rutgers shortstop Todd Frazier, gave the USA an early 3-0 lead with his bases-clearing triple while the top of the 4th saw Texas catcher Preston Clark stroke a two-run double before Cozart added a run-scoring single.
The trials continued in Keene, N.H., with a practice on June 26 and the scrimmage the next day, followed by a game on the night of June 27 versus the NECBL’s Keene Swamp Bats. The home team took a 1-0 lead into the 6th but pinch-hitter Mike Bianucci ultimately gave Team USA a 2-1 lead on his solo home run in the 7th, helping lead his team to a 5-1 win with 2,758 fans looking on at Alumni Field.
TCU righthander Jake Arrieta (TCU) drew the start for Team USA, surrendering the lone run while allowing one hit and walk to go along with a strikeout in 3.0 innings. Missouri State LHP Ross Detwiler followed with 2.1 shutout innings (BB, 2 Ks) before Alabama RHP Tommy Hunter picked up the win with six strikeouts in his own shutout stint (2.2 IP). Clemson LHP Daniel Moskos closed out the game with a pair of Ks in the scoreless 9th.
Cheyne Hurst’s run-scoring groundout gave Keene an early lead that held up until Frazier reached on a 6th-inning fielding error and moved around to third (on a HBP to Alvarez and a flyout) before swiping home base when pitcher George Brown tried to erase Alvarez on a pickoff throw to first base.
Bianucci ended Brown’s no-hit bid (8.1 IP, 3 R/1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 7 Ks) in the 7th, as the Auburn infielder cleared the fence in center field for the 2-1 lead. A pair of errors helped the USA score three unearned runs in the 9th, with Weeks plating two on his home run versus reliever Matt Karl.
The USA squad got out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth when the Swamp Bats had runners on the corners and one out. Tommy Hunter (Alabama) came on in relief of Ross Detwiler (Missouri State) and struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
The USA National Team will be back in game action on Thursday as they will play another Red-Blue scrimmage, followed by a game against the host team Torrington (Conn.) Twisters at 7:00 p.m.
Additional notes on Team USA and Weiland follow below.
USA 0-0-0 0-0-1 1-0-3 – 5 5 0
Keene 1-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 – 1 4 5
Arrieta, Detwiler (4), Hunter (6; W), Moskos (9) and Arencibia, Clark.
Brown (L), Karl (9) and Berg.
ROSTER CHANGES – The 35-man tryout roster has three additions, in the form of Weeks, Moskos and Mississippi RHP Cody Satterwhite … they replaced Tulane RHP Sean Morgan, South Carolina RHP Wynn Pelzer and Rice 1B/LHP Joe Savery.
SCRIMMAGE #1 RECAP – The USA National Team held its first intrasquad game of the summer at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, Mass., on June 25, with the Red holding on for the 4-3 win … Tennessee CF Julio Borbon opened the scoring for the Blue team as he led off the game with a single, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on Doolittle’s sacrifice fly … the Red’s four-run 4th included Krum’s leadoff triple versus Florida RHP Bryan Augenstein, RBI singles from Weeks (stolen base) and Arizona State 1B Ike Davis, Texas Tech RF Roger Kieschnick’s run-scoring triple and a fielding error on Frazier (at third) … the Blue’s run in the 4th came vs. Arkansas LHP Nick Schmidt, with Doolittle and Arencibia drawing leadoff walks before Frazier singled throguh the right side and Bianucci was hit by a bases-loaded pitch … the Blue added a run in the 5th, thanks to Borbon’s single and stolen base, Cowgill’s walk, a wild pitch, a walk by Doolittle and Arencibia’s bases-loaded single (vs. California RHP Tyson Ross, who recovered with two Ks) … Schmidt picked up the win (4 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks) while Ross allowed one run in his 3.0 IP (3 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks) and Moskos notched the save (1.0 IP, 0 H) … Augenstein was charged with the loss (4.0 IP, 4 R/3 ER, 4 H, 6 Ks), with other Red pitchers including Eastern Kentucky LHP Christian Friedrich (2.1 IP, H, BB, 5 Ks) and Wichita State RHP Damon Sublett (1.2 IP, H) … Borbon and Frazier led all hitters with three hits each for the Blue.
SCRIMMAGE #2 RECAP – The Blue came out on top in the second scrimmage, on June 27 in Keene, N.H. (7-5) … Kieschnick’s three hits, included two home runs that helped bring home five of the Blue’s runs … Davis opened the scoring for the Blue with a 2nd-inning solo home run to left but the Red tied the game in the 3rd on a home run by Prince … Kieschnick’s 2-run blast helped the Blue go ahead 4-1 in the 3rd but the Red used RBI singles from Bianucci and Cozart to make it 4-3 in the 4th … Kieschnick added an RBI single in the 5th but Cozart’s solo homer to left yieled another one-run score in the 7th (5-4) … Kieschnick then closed out his day with a two-run blast to right (7-4) … Army LHP Nick Hill picked up the win (4.0 IP, 3 R, 5 H) while Wichita State RHP Aaron Shafer suffered the loss (4.0 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks) … Satterwhite (3.0 IP, R, 2 H, BB, 3 Ks) preceded Weiland to the mound for the Blue … Rice LHP Cole St. Clair closed the game for the Red (4.0 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks).
USA BASEBALL NATIONAL TEAM TRIALS PRACTICE AND GAME SCHEDULE
Date – Event … Time … Venue (City)
June 24 – Practice … 1:00 p.m. … Dan Duquette Sports Academy (Hinsdale, Mass.)
June 25 – Blue/Red scrimmage … 12:15 p.m. … Wahconah Park (Pittsfield, Mass.)
June 25 – vs. Pittsfield Dukes … 5:00 p.m. … Wahconah Park (Pittsfield, Mass.)
June 26 – Practice … 12:00 p.m. … Alumni Field (Keene, N.H.)
June 27 – Blue/Red scrimmage … 1:00 p.m. … Alumni Field (Keene, N.H.)
June 27 – vs. Keene Swamp Bats … 7:00 p.m. … Alumni Field (Keene, N.H.)
June 28 – Practice … 11:00 a.m. … Fuessenich Park (Torrington, Conn.)
June 29 – Blue/Red scrimmage … 12:00 p.m. … Fuessenich Park (Torrington, Conn.)
June 29 – vs. Torrington Twisters … 7:00 p.m. … Fuessenich Park (Torrington, Conn.)
June 30 – Practice … 1:00 p.m. … Salve Regina University (Newport, R.I.)
July 1 – Blue/Red scrimmage … 2:00 p.m. … Cardines Field (Newport, R.I.)
July 1 – vs. Newport Gulls … 6:35 p.m. … Cardines Field (Newport, R.I.)
Note: After the 22-player Team USA roster is announced on July 2, the team will play a total of seven exhibition games at the Durham (N.C.) Bulls Athletic Park before competing in the 35th annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star series (July 25-29; in the U.S.), in addition to playing a series versus Taiwan and then heading to Cuba in August for the World University Championship.
2006 USA BASEBALL NATIONAL TEAM TRYOUT ROSTER
No. Name Pos. B/T Ht. Wt. Yr. School/Hometown2 Krum, Austin OF L/L 5'11" 175 So. Dallas Baptist/Highlands Ranch, CO3 Delmonico, Tony SS/UT S/R 6'0" 185 Fr. Tennessee/Knoxville, TN5 Borbon, Julio OF L/L 6'1" 190 So. Tennessee/Santo Domingo, D.R.6 Kieschnick, Roger OF L/R 6'3" 200 Fr. Texas Tech/Rockwall, TX7 Clark, Preston C R/R 5'11" 210 RFr. Texas/Rockwall, TX8 Cozart, Zack SS R/R 6'1" 180 So. Mississippi/Collierville, TN9 Frazier, Todd SS R/R 6'4" 215 So. Rutgers/Toms River, NJ10 Price, David LHP L/L 6'6" 215 So. Vanderbilt/Murfreesboro, TN11 Weeks, Jemile IF S/R 5'9" 155 Fr. Miami/Altamonte Springs, FL14 Moskos, Daniel LHP R/L 6'2" 205 So. Clemson/Alta Loma, CA15 Prince, Jared OF/RHP R/R 6'3" 186 Fr. Washington State/Poulsbo, WA16 Detwiler, Ross LHP R/L 6'4" 180 So. Missouri State/Wentzville, MO17 St. Clair, Cole LHP L/L 6'5" 225 So. Rice/Santa Ana, CA18 Crawford, Brandon SS L/R 6'2" 195 Fr. UCLA/Pleasanton, CA19 Schmidt, Nick LHP L/L 6'5" 220 So. Arkansas/St. Louis, MO20 Hill, Nick LHP L/L 6'1" 185 Jr. Army/Bluff City, TN24 Doolittle, Sean LHP/IF L/L 6'2" 175 So. Virginia/Tabernacle, NJ25 Friedrich, Christian LHP R/L 6'3" 195 Fr. Eastern Kentucky/Evanston, IL28 Ross, Tyson RHP R/R 6'5" 215 Fr. California/Oakland, CA31 Sublett, Damon 2B/RHP L/R 6'1" 185 So. Wichita State/Wichita, KS32 Corona, Ramon UTIL R/R 5'11" 192 So. N.C. State/Coral Gables, FL34 Arrieta, Jake RHP R/R 6'4" 225 So. TCU/Plano, TX35 Bianucci, Mike OF R/R 6'1" 212 Fr. Auburn/Fairfax, VA37 Cowgill, Collin OF R/L 5'9" 190 So. Kentucky/Lexington, KY39 Davis, Ike LHP/1B L/L 6'5" 204 Fr. Arizona State/Scottsdale, AZ43 Weiland, Kyle RHP L/R 6'4" 175 Fr. Notre Dame/Albuquerque, NM44 Arencibia, J.P. C R/R 6'1" 195 So. Tennessee/Miami, FL45 Satterwhite, Cody RHP R/R 6'4" 195 Fr. Mississippi/Jackson, MS46 Alvarez, Pedro 3B L/R 6'2" 212 Fr. Vanderbilt/New York, NY47 Shafer, Aaron RHP L/R 6'4" 195 Fr. Wichita State/Moscow Mills, MO50 Hunter, Tommy RHP R/R 6'4" 255 Fr. Alabama/Indianapolis, IN53 Augenstein, Bryan RHP R/R 6'5" 225 So. Florida/Sebastian, FL Barney, Darwin SS R/R 5'10" 175 So. Oregon State/Beaverton, OR Federowicz, Tim C/1B R/R 5'9" 180 Fr. North Carolina/Apex, NC Roemer, Wes RHP R/R 6'0" 185 So. Cal State Fullerton/Glendora, CA
Coaching Staff4 Corbin, Tim - Head Coach12 Schlossnagle, Jim - Assistant Coach26 Machtolf, Mark - Assistant Coach27 Slater, Tom - Assistant Coach13 Ginsburg, Caleb - Aux. Coach
Weiland converted 16-of-17 save chances while compiling a 2.37 ERA during the 2006 season (photo by Pete LaFleur).
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Kyle Weiland UPDATED BIO. CAPSULE (Fr., RHP, 6-4/175; Albuquerque, N.M.)
(see roster link on und.com for preseason bio., including pre-ND info.; roster bio. page also includes link to articles on Weiland and link to his 2006 game-by-game stats)
Named by Collegiate Baseball magazine to its 2006 Freshman All-America team while joining Notre Dame DH/2B Jeremy Barnes as second team all-BIG EAST Conference selections (other Freshman All-America teams still are TBA) … finished 2006 season ranked 3rd in nation with 16 saves, trailing only Oregon State’s Kevin Gunderson (20) and Don Czyz of Kansas (19) … ended up 13 innings shy of the NCAA minimum for the national ERA leaders (his 2.37 would have ranked 36th on that list) … among BIG EAST pitchers, his 16 saves were nearly double the total by the next player on that list (Georgetown’s Daniel Kennedy had 9 saves) … his 30 appearances ranked 3rd among BIG EAST pitchers, behind South Florida’s Chase Lirette (36) and Louisville’s Griffin Bailey (34) … Lirette (30) was the only BIG EAST pitcher to finish more games than Weiland (29) … if Weiland had met the inning minimum, his 2.37 ERA would have ranked 3rd-best in the BIG EAST (behind the 2.00 posted by teammate Wade Korpi and the 2.04 by UConn’s Tim Norton) while his .224 opp. batting avg. would have been 5th, behind Norton (.190), Korpi (.204), Scott Barnes of St. John’s (.218) and another ND teammate, Jeff Manship (.223) …
IN THE ND RECORD BOOK – His 16 saves blew past the ND freshman record (9, by Aaron Heilman in ’98) and then bested the ND overall season record (13) set by J.P. Gagne in 2003 … already ranks 4th in ND record book for career saves, trailing only John Corbin (20; ’97-’00), Ryan Doherty (20; ’03-’05) and Gagne (19; ’00-’03) … surpassed 40 innings in the 2006 season and thus qualified for the ND single-season ERA charts … his 2.37 season ERA ranks 25th in the ND record book and 8th-best in the 12-year Paul Mainieri era, behind Heilman (1.61 in ’98; 1.74 in ’01), Korpi (2.00 in ’06), Tom Thornton (1.81 in ’03), Grant Johnson (1.87 in ’04), Peter Ogilvie (1.90 in ’01) and Darin Schmalz (2.23 in ’96) … Mike Coffey (37, in ’89) and Heilman (31, in ’98) are the only ND pitchers ever to log more appearances in a season than Weiland (30; one shy of Heilman’s freshman record) … three other ND pitchers – Corbin (’00), Gagne (’03) and Doherty (’04) – also had 30 GP in a season (each of those former closers had the chance to see Weiland pitch this season) … limited opponents to a .224 batting avg. that ranks 3rd-best ever by an ND freshman behind Heilman’s .198 in ’98 and the .201 allowed by Larry Mohs in ’94 … his 49.1 innings are among the most by an ND closer in recent history and most since Gagne logged 53.0 in ’03 (he also had a 7-inning start that season) …
Weiland – picured during midseason – was impressive in his final outing of the 2006 season, logging 7.0-plus innings out of the bullpen as the Irish battled the College of Charleston in a 16-inning NCAA Tournament classic (photo by Matt Cashore).
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2006 STATISTICAL SUMMARY – Played a lead role in helping ND currently rank 21st nationally in staff ERA (3.52), 27th in Ks per 9.0 IP(7.9) and 12th in win pct. (.722; 45-17-1) … led ’06 staff in saves (16) and GP (30) while his 2.37 ERA was 4th-best, behind LHPs Korpi (2.00) and Mike Dury (2.17) and RHP Jess Stewart (2.31) … compiled 4th-best opp. batting avg. on staff (.224), behind Korpi (.204), Dury (.208) and Manship (.224) … totaled 5th-most strikeouts (48) and innings (49.1) on staff (also 5th with 15 Ks “looking”) … had the most wild pitches (6) and hit batters (8) on staff, with his other stats including a 2-4 record (2-1 in final three decisions, with loss coming in 16-inning NCAA game) … his 1.71 groundout/flyout ratio (58 total GOs) was 2nd on the staff behind Manship’s 1.82 … allowed 9-of-16 inherited runners to score (56%) while first batters hit 8-for-26 (.308) vs. him (3 BB, HBP, 6 R, 7 Ks) and opposing batters reached 50% of the time (21-of-42) when leading off any inning (the rest of the staff allowed just 33% of leadoff batters to reach) … despite those rocky starts to his appearances, he led the staff with a lowly .183 opp. batting avg. when runners were on base (17-for-93) and also had the lowest 2-out opp. batting avg. on the staff (.145; 9-for-62) … after facing the first batters in his outings (.308, 8-for-26), he held opposing hitters to a combined .210 batting avg. (31-for-148) … his 9-inning averages: 8.8 Ks (3rd-best behind Korpi’s 11.1 and Manship’s 10.6), 3.6 BB, 7.1 H (3rd-best, behind Korpi’s 6.5 and Dury’s 6.5), 10.6 GOs and 39.0 batters faced … averaged nearly 20 outs per 9.0 IP via Ks or GOs (19.4) … limited RH hitters to .198 batting avg. (23-for-116) … the only Irish pitcher with better success v. RH hitters actually was a LHP (Dury, .167) … his opp. batting avg. by LH hitters was .276 (7th on staff) … his season ERA stood at 4.60 in early April, with a .259 opp. batting avg. (14-for-54), nearly as many walks (12) as Ks (13) and almost as many hits allowed (14) as innings (15.2) at that point (10 GP) … his impressive second half of the season included a 1.34 ERA and .208 opp. batting avg. in final 20 GP, with better than a 4-to-1 K-to-walk ratio (35/8) and just 25 H in 33.2 IP … converted first nine save chances and final seven save opp.’s … only failed save came in series finale vs. St. John’s on April 15, but the Irish rallied (7-5) to give him the win (2 IP, 2 R/1 ER, 4 H, BB, K, WP, 2 inher. runners scored) … helped ND staff allow just 18 home runs all season … allowed a costly HR in his second appearance (pinch-hit blast in extra innings of loss to Memphis) but he did not allow a long ball in his final 28 GP (40 IP) … led the way for an ND bullpen that allowed just 3 HRs all season (in 102 IP) and none in final 21 GP (79 IP) … was part of amazing 25-game stretch in which the entire ND pitching staff did not allow a home run (spanning nearly 1,000 BF) …
2006 HIGHLIGHTS – His signature outing came in NCAA Lexington Regional, logging season-high 7.0-plus innings before heartbreaking 5-4 loss to College of Charleston in 16 innings … the ND and CC pitching staffs combined to throw 19 straight zeroes up on the scoreboard before the decisive rally … threw 103 pitches (60 strikes), with his 21 outs including 7 Ks and 9 GOs … allowed four leadoff batters to reach but limited CC to 1-for-9 batting with runners on base and 0-for-8 with 2-outs … his clutch pitches in that game included: blowing an 0-2 pitch by Jess Easterling in the 10th (runner on 3rd; 2-outs); striking out Chris Campbell in the 12th (runner on 2nd; 2-outs; behind 0-2 before four straight breaking balls and full-count K) … inducing 1-out flyout and groundout in 13th (with runners on 1st and 2nd); and a rightside groundout from Campbell to end the 14th (with a runner on 3rd) … his only other extended outing came in finale of showdown series at UConn, logging 5.0 IP as game ended 1-1 after 13 innings due to the travel curfew (0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks) … picked up wins over St. John’s (2.0 IP, 2 R/1 ER, 4 H, BB, K; 7-5) and IPFW (1.2 IP, K; 4-3) while his top saves included shutout outings vs. then-#15 Texas A&M (2.0 IP, 4 BB, K; 5-4), Illinois (0.1 IP; 4-2), Central Michigan (2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 Ks; 11-9), Ball State (0.2 IP; 6-4), South Florida (1.0 IP, H, 2 Ks; 9-6), Rutgers (2.2 IP, 2 H, 4 Ks; 14-12), Purdue (1.0 IP, H; 2-1) and UConn (0.2 IP; 7-6) – plus pair of saves at BIG EAST Tournament vs. USF (1.1 IP, H, 2 Ks; 3-1 opener) and in 5-3 elimination game vs. SJU ( 2 IP, R, 3 H, BB, 3 Ks).