The medal round is underway for the World Junior Championship in Thunder Bay, Ont. You can follow live scoring here. The U.S. will face Cuba Friday at 2 p.m. EDT. ESPN3.com will broadcast the bronze and gold medal games live. Here is the remaining schedule (Updated 9 p.m. EDT):

Friday July 30th
Game 31: France vs. Panama, 9 a.m.
Game 32: Czech Republic vs. Venezuela, 9:30 a.m.
Game 33: Netherlands vs. Chinese Taipei, 12:30 p.m.
Game 34: Cuba vs. U.S.A., 2 p.m.
Game 35: Australia vs. South Korea, 4:30 p.m.
Game 36: Italy vs. Canada, 7 p.m. [...] Continue Reading »

For the third consecutive year, the Under Armour All-America Game powered by Baseball Factory will be held at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The 2010 edition will be held Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. EDT and be broadcast live on MLB Network. The 2009 game featured four first-round picks in righthanders Jameson Taillon and Karsten Whitson, outfielder Chevez Clarke and catcher Kellin Deglan.

This year's event will feature mostly rising seniors, but has two 2012 graduates—shorstop Addison Russell and righthander/infielder Lance McCullers Jr.—as well as two Dominican players that will be eligible to sign in July 2011. They are shortstop Ronniel Demorizi and outfielder Ronald Guzman.

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The Team USA 18U squad wrapped up pool play Wednesday morning with a dominating win over France, 16-0. The U.S. scored 16 runs on 15 hits, five of which were home runs. Tony Wolters, Bubba Starling, Brian Ragira, Michael Lorenzen and Lance McCullers Jr. all went deep. McCullers' shot was a grand slam in the fifth and final inning. Lefthander Daniel Camarena got the start and allowed just two hits while striking out four in five innings of work.

On Tuesday, the U.S. beat Venezuela in a slugfest, 14-7. First baseman Blake Swihart led the charge, going 3-for-6 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs.

Team USA is the only 5-0 team in the tournament and won Pool A. The U.S. will play the fourth-place team from Pool B, but it remains to be seen which team that will be. Games are to be completed Wednesday night.

Four days are complete at the World Junior Championship in Thunder Bay, Ont., and the usual teams sit atop their respective pools in Cuba and Team USA. Both are undefeated in three games. Cuba has outscored its opponents 29-1 while Team USA has a 24-2 edge.

Team USA opened tournament play with a 4-2 win over Australia. Righthander A.J. Vanegas, the Padres' 2010 seventh-round pick, started the game and went six innings, allowing one run on four hits and three walks while striking out eight. Lefthander John Hochstatter finished the game and picked up the save. He allowed one run on two hits in three innings while striking out four. Outfielder Michael Lorenzen, the Rays' seventh-round pick, went 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and a run scored. He also added an outfield assist. [...] Continue Reading »

USA Baseball calls it athlete development. That's the process of identifying players at age 14, 16 or 18, getting those players into USA Baseball's system, and showing them what it means, at an early age, to wear USA on their chests.

In a perfect world, USA Baseball executive director Paul Seiler likes to say, a player can don that uniform throughout high school and college, and now right up through the minor leagues and the majors with the advent of the World Baseball Classic.

If you had to pick one player who was Mr. USA Baseball, it would have to be Huston Street. He wore the uniform in high school during the 2001 18U qualifying tournament in Cuba. That team was loaded with future big leaguers; Street played third base (and didn't pitch), next to shortstop Sergio Santos (who also didn't pitch). Outfielders Denard Span and Jeff Francoeur and shortstop B.J. Upton carried the offense. Scott Kazmir took the loss in the gold-medal game despite striking out 15 in 6 1/3 innings, when Kendry Morales took him deep and got the win on the mound. [...] Continue Reading »

In 2009, Team USA swept gold medals in international competitions at all three high school-aged divisions—14U, 16U and 18U. The quest to repeat that feat in 2010 begins Friday in Thunder Bay, Ont. with the IBAF 'AAA' 18U Junior World Championship. After the Tournament of Stars, USA Baseball selected an 18U trials roster and whittled down to 20 before the team hit the road for some tune-ups.

Team USA went 5-0 against the Greater N.Y. Alliance All-Stars, a collection of New York-area high school seniors and college freshmen. After the New York swing, the team headed to Minnesota to play some summer teams as well as three friendlies against Canada. Team USA went 6-1 there with the one loss coming in a 4-3 decision against the Canadians. [...] Continue Reading »

A little more than a year after the NCAA proposed a ban on composite-barreled bats, the National Federation of State High School Associations has announced a moratorium of its own. The NFHS Baseball Rules Committee now forbids the use of the composite bats. The new rule will take effect for the 2010-2011 school year and remain in effect until the bats can meet the Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution (or BBCOR) standard of performance. [...] Continue Reading »

Rich Hofman, one of the most successful high school coaches of the last 35 years, is returning to the role of head coach. In a press release earlier this week, the University School of Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., announced that Hofman would be taking over as the varsity head coach.

Hofman holds a 965-246-16 career record, 10 state titles, two national championships—with Westminster Christian High (Miami) in 1992 and 1996—and was named Coach of the Decade by Baseball America for the 1990s. Hofman also coached future major leaguers in Alex Rodriguez and Doug Mientkiewicz.

Hofman began coaching in 1969 and is the all-time winningest coach in the state of Florida. His most recent stint as a head coach came at Piper High in Lauderhill, Fla. where he left after the 2008 season. Since then he's stayed involved with Miami-area baseball, organizing and hosting tournaments for local teams as well as some with national significance.

The rosters for the eighth annual Aflac All-American Baseball Classic were released last night and have plenty of prospects for the 2011 draft prospects. The game will be played Sunday, August 15 at the San Diego Padres' Petco Park. Game time is 8 p.m. EDT and it will air on FOX Sports Net. Last year's game featured first-round picks Bryce Harper, Jameson Taillon, Karsten Whitson, Dylan Covey, Josh Sale, Kaleb Cowart, Cam Bedrosian, Chevez Clarke and Justin O'Conner. [...] Continue Reading »

USA Baseball announced the final roster for its 18U team over the weekend. The team is currently in New York to face the Greater N.Y. Alliance All-Stars 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. [...] Continue Reading »