Team USA has announced its trials rosters for the 18U, 16U and 14U teams. Between 18U and 16U, two schools are represented well with four players each making a roster. Gulliver Prep (Miami) has four players on the 16U squad in catcher Chris Chinea, infielder/outfielder Adrian Marin, infielder Eric Neitzel and lefthanded pitcher Ivan Pelaez. Gulliver advanced to the Florida 3-A finals, but lost to defending champion The Bolles School (Jacksonville). [...] Continue Reading »

With the conclusion of the Tournament of Stars in Cary, N.C., USA Baseball has now announced the trials rosters for the 18U, 16U and 14U national teams. The 18U squad begins practice and scrimmages this week at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. It will then head to New York to face the Greater N.Y. Alliance All-Stars July 6-10 before going to Minnesota for another tune-up series. The IBAF 'AAA' 18U Junior World Championship begins July 23 in Thunder Bay, Ontario with Team USA facing Australia.

The 16U team trials will be held. Sept. 25-Oct. 6 at College Park High in The Woodlands, Texas. The COPABE Pan Am 'AA' 16U Youth Championships will take place Oct. 8-17 in Culiacan, Mexico.

The 14U team trials will be July 13-20 in Cary and the COPABE Pan Am 'A' 14U Championships are July 23-Aug. 1 in Managua, Nicaragua. [...] Continue Reading »

One of the players that showed the most with his bat this week was first baseman Dan Vogelbach from Bishop Verot High in Fort Myers. Over his 12 at-bats on the week, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound lefthanded hitter hit .500/.571/.750 with one of the event's two home runs. Vogelbach has good power, but also showed some pure hitting ability and only struck out once.

Vogelbach said he was seeing the ball well this week.

"I'm just trying to square everything up and be aggressive and prove I belong out here with all the best players," Vogelbach said. "I just look for that pitch I can drive and hit it hard and hopefully good things will happen with it."
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Technically, Saturday was the fourth day of the Tournament of Stars, but it was the third day of games. Friday consisted of mainly workouts and simulated batting practices, no games. It was more laid back for scouts and college recruiters, plus the weather was much better. On Thursday, temperatures went into the triple digits and the humidity made it much worse.

The highlight of Saturday came during the fourth game with AABC and PONY vying for a spot in Sunday's bronze medal game. Starting for PONY was Lance McCullers Jr., a well-known prospect for 2012, son of an ex-big leaguer and already a favorite among a couple Baseball America staffers.

McCullers is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound infielder/righthander from Jesuit High in Tampa. I first saw McCullers—along with dozens of scouts and recruiters—at the World Wood Bat Championships in Jupiter, Fla. in 2008. He was an incoming freshman then and hadn't thrown a varsity pitch yet. He had an 88-90 mph fastball and also showed a nasty curveball. Almost a year later he made an appearance at USA Baseball's National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. for the Labor Day Cup for Florida Travel Ball, his summer team. He showed the same nasty curve with a little more velocity and ran his fastball up to 94. [...] Continue Reading »

It was a sweltering 100 degrees in Cary, N.C. today for the second day of USA Baseball's Tournment of Stars. Players, scouts and parents were dripping with sweat from the first pitch at 10 a.m. until the final out of the fourth game close to 6 p.m. Despite the oppressive heat, a couple players stood out today. . .

The star of the first game was outfielder/righthander Bubba Starling. Starling is a two-way threat and one of the best athletes in this year's class. He had a great day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two triples.

Starling is proof that, if you're good, scouts will find you. The 6-foot-4, 180-pounder hails from Gardner Edgerton High in Gardner, Kan., a town of about 10,000 near the Kansas-Missouri border.
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The Tournament of Stars began Wednesday morning and the setting was typical: hot, humid weather with plenty of talent, scouts and college recruiters on hand. The TOS is put on by USA Baseball at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The participants play in an eight-team tournament and are evaluated by USA Baseball staff members. A group of 32 players is then selected for a trials roster and that group is whittled down the the 18U National Team roster that will travel to Thunder Bay, Ont. for the IBAF 'AAA' 18U Junior World Championship at the end of July.

Righthander A.J. Vanegas started the game for PONY and shut down the RBI team, as PONY went on to win, 12-1. Over his four innings of work, Vanegas allowed one run on three hits. He walked four, but also struck out eight. His fastball was mostly in the 89-91 mph range and he mixed in a 74-75 mph curveball. [...] Continue Reading »

Two teams in the latest Top 25 poll came into the weekend with high hopes. Klein High of Spring, Texas was the No. 1 team in the country and a favorite among the Texas 5-A final four. In Virginia, No. 24 Woodbridge High was staring a perfect season and 3-A state title in the face. But their opponents had different ideas.

Carroll High of Corpus Christi, Texas, sealed the 5-A title on a spectacular diving catch by senior center fielder Mark Blackmar. Carroll started eight underlcassmen, six of which were sophomores, so it's safe to say the Tigers will be a factor in the rankings beyond this season. Sophomore righthander/outfielder Courtney Hawkins got the win, giving up two runs (none earned) on 10 hits in the complete game. He also struck out six and walked one. [...] Continue Reading »

Originally posted on the Draft Blog:

LONG BEACH—Nothing much seems to bother Peter Tago.

Like Harry Houdini escaping from a locked water tank, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Tago wriggled out of jam after jam on Tuesday at Blair Field, leading his Dana Hills High squad to a 5-3 win against El Dorado High of Yorba Linda in a CIF Southern Section semifinal playoff game.

With two outs in the sixth inning, the righthanded Tago—ranked 36th on BA's Top 200—paused for a moment on the mound. He dropped his head, pinned his chin to his chest, and appeared to be practicing a form of Zen meditation. Suddenly, Tago snapped to attention, went into his windup—and delivered a curveball that seemed to veer around the on-deck circle before dropping onto the outside corner at the knees. Strike three, inning over. [...] Continue Reading »

Shane Rowland is a catcher for Tampa Catholic High and was on the West team in last week's Florida Athletic Coaches Association Baseball Classic. Shane has grown up around the game, and it shows in his maturity and confidence. His father, Donny, is a long-time scout who was the scouting director for the Angels from 2000-2003 and is now the international scouting director for the Yankees. Baseball America's Conor Glassey caught up with Shane for a few minutes last week. . .

[...] Continue Reading »

EDITOR'S NOTE: Nominations must come from a coach.

It's time for Baseball America to begin collecting candidates for the postseason All-America teams and we need help from coaches. We name three teams of players and include their statistics. Please send your nominations to highschoolblog@baseballamerica.com. Put "All-America Nomination" in the subject line and include your name, school, contact info, the player's name, position, class and stats.

Here are a few things that will help us and hopefully answer any questions you have: [...] Continue Reading »