June 11, 2008
KEENE, N.H. -- Baylor's Shaver Hansen and Kendal Volz both reported to USA Baseball National Team Trials late Tuesday. The trials run from June 11-23 in a series of games played throughout the East Coast. The final National Team roster will be announced June 24.
Hansen, a rising junior from Grand Junction, Colo., and Volz, a rising junior from Bulverde, Texas, were among 22 players who reported to the National Team Trials Tuesday. Seven more players will join the trials roster by the end of the week, and six more are currently competing at the College World Series.
"It's an exciting experience to be here," Hansen said. "It's an honor to be included with such a strong group of guys and to compete with some of the nation's best players. We're going to jump right into games, so that will be fun."
The reporting players were greeted Tuesday by above-normal temperatures (highs approaching 100 degrees), but a line of late-night thunderstorms brought more temperate weather for Wednesday's first workout. The team begins competition Thursday.
"This is such a great experience," Volz said. "We were sitting at breakfast this morning and looking around the room. There are so many good players here. It's an honor to be included in this group. It's also nice having Shaver here; having a familiar face around is always good."
ELSEWHERE
Brooks Pinckard has swung a hot bat through the first two weeks of the 2008 Northwoods League schedule. Pinckard, a native of Hays, Texas, who sat out the 2008 season as a non-medical redshirt, is tied for the league lead in batting average (.429) and ranks third in RBI (13). He also ranks fifth in slugging percentage (.579). ... Chris Slater, a rising sophomore from Plano, Texas, has helped the Wisconsin Woodchucks to a 10-2 record and a first-place standing in the Northwood League's South Division. Slater is hitting .273 with a double, a triple and four RBI. ... Baylor has eight student-athletes assigned to teams in the Cape Cod; Hansen and Volz would join their respective Cape Cod teams only if they do not make the 22-man National Team roster. The 2008 Cape Cod League season opens Friday.
