Brant Ust led the Irish in batting in 1998.
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Aaron Heilman, Brant Ust Invited to USA Baseball National Team Tryouts
Irish standouts among 43 players competing for 22 roster spots.
May 22, 1998
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Notre Dame sophomore third baseman Brant Ust (Redmond, Wash.) and
freshman righthander Aaron Heilman (Logansport, Ind.) are among
43 players who have been invited to the summer tryout camp for
the 1998 USA Baseball national team. The training camp is
scheduled to open June 1 at Hi Corbett Field, home of USA
Baseball and the spring training home of the Colorado Rockies.
Ust also attended the national team trials at Hi Corbett Field in
November of 1997.
USA Baseball ultimately will select 22 players to comprise the
national team. The team will begin its competition on June 6 and
play 33 games in preparation for the International Baseball
Association's XXXIII World Championship in Italy. Ust is one of
12 infielders invited to the tryout camp while Heilman is one of
20 pitchers invited to the tryouts (15 righthanders, five
lefthanders).
Ust and Heilman are the only players from the BIG EAST Conference
among the 43 invitees while Heilman is the only Indiana native on
the list. University of Minnesota sophomore lefthander Ben Birk
is the only other invitee from a Midwest school while Delaware
sophomore outfielder Kevin Mench is the only invitee from the
Northeast.
Heilman is one of 11 freshmen among the invitees, joining four
other pitchers: righthanders Jon McDonald and Nick Stocks (both
of Florida State), righthander Justin Wayne (Stanford) and
lefthander Matt Smith (Oklahoma State). The other five freshman
invitees include infielders Seth Davidson (USC), Keoni DeRenne
(Arizona) and Xavier Nady (California), outfielder Patrick Boyd
(Clemson), and first baseman/catcher Casey Myers (Arizona State).
Heilman, who was born on Nov. 12, 1978, is the seventh-youngest
invitee, behind Johnson (7/12/79), Smith (6/15/79), DeRenne
(4/30/79), Wayne (4/16/79), Davidson (2/26/79) and Nady
(11/14/78). Arkansas sophomore righthander David Walling shares
the same birthdate with Heilman.
In addition to FSU's McDonald and Stocks, two other opposing
players from Notre Dame's 1998 season were invited to the
tryouts: Miami, Fla. sophomore shortstop Bobby Hill and sophomore
righthander Alex Santos.
This year's World Championship is slated for July 21 - August 2
and will feature reigning world champion Cuba, host country
Italy, Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, China, Netherlands, Spain
and Russia. In addition, five teams will qualify from the
Americas while the African champion and Oceanian champion also
will compete. The 16-team field will be divided into two groups
of eight. After playing seven games in a round-robin format, the
top four teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals.
In order to participate in the World Championship, the USA must
qualify by placing in the top five at the continental qualifier
scheduled for June 17-26 in Managua, Nicaragua. In addition to
the United States, the tournament will feature the following
national teams: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic,
El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.
In addition to its international competition schedule, the
national team will play a majority of its stateside games at Hi
Corbett Field versus international baseball powers such as Japan,
Korea, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. The squad will also visit
several U.S. cities on its domestic exhibition tour prior to the
World Championship. The 1998 club will by led by Ron Polk, former
head coach at Mississippi State.
Notre Dame Baseball - 1998 Summer Teams
Fairbanks, Alaska Goldpanners (Alaska League)
Allen Greene (jr., OF)
Aaron Heilman (fr., RHP)
Alec Porzel (fr., OF)
Steve Szczepanski (so., RHP)
Kenai Oilers (Alaska Central League)
Chris McKeown (jr., LHP)
Mat-Su Miners (Alaska Central League)
Tim Kalita (So., LHP)
Harwich Mariners (Cape Cod League)
Alex Shilliday (jr., RHP)
Brant Ust (so., IF)
Jeff Wagner (jr., C)
Columbus All-Americans (Ohio League)
Ben Cooke (fr., IF/OF)
Jeff Perconte (so., IF/OF)
Ithaca, N.Y. Lakers (Northeastern League)
Scott Cavey (So., RHP)
Mark Lapinskas (So., LHP)
Larry Zimont (So., OF)
Hays, Kansas (Jayhawk League)
Mike Carlin (Fr., RHP)
Jeff Felker (So., OF)
USA National Team Tryouts (Tucson, Arizona)
Aaron Heilman (Fr., RHP)
Brant Ust (So., IF)
USA National Baseball Team - 1998 Training Camp Roster
(as of May 21, 1998)
Player Pos. Ht./Wt. B/T DOB Yr. School Hometown
Barbier, Blair IF 5-10/195 R/R 2/13/78 So. LSU Harvey, LA
Bard, Josh C 6-3/205 S/R 3/30/78 So . Texas Tech Englewood, CO
Birk, Ben LHP 6-5/200 L/L 11/6/77 So. Minnesota St. Paul, MN
Bloomquist, Willie IF/OF 5-11/180 R/R 11/27/77 So. Arizona State Port Orchard, WA
Boyd, Patrick OF 6-3/200 S/R 9/7/78 Fr. Clemson Palm Harbor, FL
Cresse, Brad C 6-3/215 R/R 7/31/78 So. LSU Seal Beach, CA
Davidson, Seth IF 6-0/170 S/R 2/26/79 Fr. USC San Diego, CA
DeRenne, Keoni IF 5-7/160 S/R 4/30/79 Fr. Arizona Honolulu, HI
Fossum, Casey LHP 6-1/160 S/L 1/6/78 So. Texas A&M Waco, TX
Gall, John OF 6-0/195 R/R 4/2/78 So. Stanford Portola Valley, CA
Ginter, Matt RHP 6-1/215 R/R 12/24/77 So. Mississippi St. Winchester, KY
Heaverlo, Jeff RHP 6-1/185 R/R 1/3/78 So. Washington Ephrata, WA
Heilman, Aaron RHP 6-4/200 R/R 11/12/78 Fr. Notre Dame Logansport, IN
Hill, Bobby IF 5-10/170 S/R 4/3/78 So. Miami San Jose, CA
Jennings, Jason RHP 6-2/225 L/R 7/17/78 So. Baylor Mesquite, TX
Johnson, Adam RHP 6-2/200 R/R 7/12/79 Fr. CS Fullerton San Diego, CA
Loeb, Bryan C 6-1/180 R/R 4/8/78 So. Baylor Sugar Land, TX
Ludwick, Ryan OF 6-3/205 R/L 7/13/78 So. UNLV Las Vegas, NV
McAuley, JAmes C 6-0/180 R/R 12/17/77 So. Louisville Tampa, FL
McDonald, Jon RHP 6-2/185 R/R 10/16/77 Fr. Florida State Orlando, FL
Mench, Kevin OF 6-0/205 R/R 1/7/78 So. Delaware Newark, DE
Moraga, Omar IF 5-10/180 L/R 5/23/77 Jr. Arizona Tucson, AZ
Mottl, Ryan RHP 6-3/195 S/R 12/9/77 So. Clemson St. Louis, MO
Munson, Eric C 6-3/220 L/R 10/3/77 So. So. California San Diego, CA
Myers, Casey 1B/C 5-11/190 R/R 10/23/78 Fr. Arizona State Casa Grande, AZ
Nady, Xavier IF 6-1/185 R/R 11/14/78 Fr. California Salinas, CA
Nance, Shane LHP 5-7/175 L/L 9/7/77 So. Houston Houston, TX
Nichols, Jeff RHP 6-3/190 R/R 10/20/77 So. Rice Duncanville, TX
Owens, Ryan IF 6-2/185 R/R 3/18/78 So. CS Fullerton La Habra, CA
Ramos, Mario LHP 6-0/165 L/L 10/19/77 So. Rice Pflugerville, TX
Roberts, Brian IF 5-9/165 S/R 10/9/77 So. North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC
Santos, Alex RHP 6-1/205 R/R 8/9/77 So. Miami Lake Worth, FL
Scheschuk, John IF 6-1/200 L/L 2/2/77 Jr . Texas A&M Pasadena, TX
Sheets, Ben RHP 6-1/210 R/R 7/18/78 So. NE Louisiana St. Amant, LA
Smith, Matt LHP 6-5/200 L/L 6/15/79 Fr. Oklahoma St. Henderson, NV
Stocks, Nick RHP 6-2/185 R/R 8/27/78 Fr . Florida State Tampa, FL
Topolski, Jon OF 5-10/175 L/R 12/28/76 Jr. Baylor Houston, TX
Ust, Brant IF 6-2/190 R/R 7/17/78 So. Notre Dame Redmond, WA
Walling, David RHP 6-5/195 R/R 11/12/78 So. Arkansas San Diego, CA
Wayne, Justin RHP 6-2/195 R/R 4/16/79 Fr. Stanford Honolulu, HI
Woods, Kyle OF 6-0/200 R/R 11/23/77 So. Washington Marysville, WA
Wright, Dan RHP 6-5/200 R/R 12/14/77 So. Arkansas Batesville, AR
Wright, Shane RHP 6-2/210 R/R 10/28/76 Jr. Texas Tech Topeka, KS
STAFF - Ron Polk ( Head Coach), Pete Dunn (Asst. Coach,
Stetson), Mike Gaski (Asst. Coach, UNC Greensboro), Jim
Pizzolatto (Asst. Coach, Nichols State), Steve Smith (Asst.
Coach, Baylor), Jerry Kindall (Senior Advisor, USA Baseball),
Paul Seiler (Dir. of Baseball Operations), Warren Turner
(Business Manager, Missouri Southern), Jay Logan (Athletic
Trainer, Mississippi State), George Doig (Dir. of Media
Relations)
USA Baseball National Team 1998 Summer Schedule
Day Date Opponent Site (Location)
Sat. June 6 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Sun. June 7 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Mon. June 8 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Tue. June 9 Mexico Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Wed. June 10 Canada Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Thu. June 11 Canada Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Fri. June 12 Canada Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Sat. June 13 Canada Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Sun. June 14 Canada (5:05 p.m.) Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Wed. June 17 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua
Thu. June 18 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Fri. June 19 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Sat. June 20 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Sun. June 21 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Mon. June 22 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Tue. June 23 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Wed. June 24 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Thu. June 25 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Fri. June 26 World Championship Qualifier Managua, Nicaragua)
Sun. June 28 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Mon. June 29 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Tue. June 30 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Wed. July 1 Korea Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Thu. July 2 Australia Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Fri. July 3 Japan Scottsdale Stadium (Scottsdale, AZ)
Sat. July 4 Japan (6:05 p.m.) Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Sun. July 5 Japan Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Mon. July 6 Australia (5:05 p.m.; 7 innings) Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Japan (following first game) Hi Corbett Field (Tucson, AZ)
Tue. July 7 Japan Hi Corbett Field (Tucson)
Wed. July 15 Canada Mercer County Waterfront Park (Trenton, NJ)
Thu. July 16 Canada Thomas J. Dodd Stadium (Norwich, CT)
Fri. July 17 Canada Yale Field (New Haven, CT)
All game times are 7:05 p.m. local time, unless otherwise indicated.
