Trio Of Gators To Participate In USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Trials
Thursday, July 1, 2010 | Baseball
University of Florida freshmen Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.), Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) and Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) were among the 39 players announced by USA Baseball on Thursday who have been named to the 2010 Collegiate National Team Trials roster. Trials are scheduled to be held July 6-11 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex (NTC) in Cary, N.C.
Of the 39 invitees, 36 will compete for a spot on the final 22-man roster, while three players were named as alternates. Eleven of the players will be attending trials on the heels of helping their respective schools advance to the 2010 NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Earlier this week, Fontana became the first player in school history to be named to the Rawlings NCAA Division I Gold Glove Team. He was the lone freshman selected to the nine-player positional squad after committing just four errors in 279 chances for a .986 fielding percentage. In helping the Gators (47-17) to their first SEC crown since 2005 and first appearance at the CWS in five years, Fontana earned Freshman All-America recognition from Collegiate Baseball, collected second-team All-SEC honors and was chosen to both the league's Defensive Team and All-Freshman squad. He started 63 games at shortstop and was fourth on the club with a .287 average with 56 runs, a team-high 53 walks, 23 RBI, 15 doubles and 11 stolen bases. In addition, Fontana was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Week twice, March 8 and May 17.
Named as a Freshman All-American by both Louisville Slugger and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), Johnson earned spots on the SEC's All-Freshman Team as a starting pitcher and designated hitter. In 16 appearances on the mound, with 14 starts, the southpaw was 6-4 with a 4.03 earned run average and recorded 51 strikeouts in 73.2 innings. Johnson served as the Gators' DH in 27 games and batted .405 (34-for-84) with 21 RBI, 13 runs, nine walks, five doubles, four homers and two grand slams. He was tabbed as the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Gainesville Regional after going 5-for-8 (.625) at the plate and twirling seven shutout innings in the championship game. Johnson batted .500 (14-for-28) in eight postseason games and was 9-for-19 (.474) during the NCAA Tourney.
Another member of the SEC's All-Freshman Team, Zunino started 51 games behind the plate for UF and one as the designated hitter and hit .267 with 41 RBI, 31 runs, nine homers and seven doubles in 55 games played. He was 8-for-11 on the basepaths, caught 14-of-38 runners attempting to steal and had three pickoffs. Zunino put together a 12-game hitting streak between April 21-May 15 in which he was 19-for-44 (.432) with 16 RBI and 11 runs. After being sidelined with a thumb injury, he returned to the lineup and earned All-Tournament accolades at the NCAA Gainesville Regional after batting .364 (4-for-11) with four runs and four RBI.
Sophomores Gerrit Cole (UCLA), Sonny Gray (Vanderbilt), Brad Miller (Clemson) and Kolten Wong (Hawaii) all return from the 2009 Collegiate National Team in attempt to join Team USA for the second year in a row. The roster also includes CWS Most Outstanding Player Jackie Bradley, Jr. (South Carolina), as well as CWS participants Taylor Featherston (TCU), Fontana, Sean Gilmartin (Florida State), Johnson, Andrew Maggi (Arizona State), Steve Rodriguez (UCLA), Kyle Winkler (TCU) and alternate Zunino. Cole and Miller also competed in this year's CWS.
The quartet of returnees helped the 2009 Collegiate Team to a 19-5 overall record and the 2009 Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline World Baseball Challenge crown in Prince George, British Columbia (Canada). Cole and Gray combined to post a 7-1 record on the mound with 73 strikeouts, while Miller and Wong started a combined 32 of 44 games, collecting 28 hits, scoring 28 runs and driving in 16.
Also named to the roster was Baseball America first-team All-America and College Player of the Year Anthony Rendon (Rice). The sophomore third baseman was a semifinalist for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award for the nation's top amateur player and is a finalist for the Dick Howser Award, recognizing college baseball's player of the year. Other Baseball America All-Americans invited to trials include first-teamer Taylor Dugas (Alabama), Ryan Wright (Louisville) of the second team and Cole, C.J. Cron (Utah), Alex Dickerson (Indiana), and Noe Ramirez (Cal State Fullerton) from the third team. Invitee Anthony Meo (Coastal Carolina) was also a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist.
Following the trials and training period in Cary, the U.S. will play a five-game series against Korea before squaring off against a Japanese Collegiate All-Star Team in a one-game, international friendship competition in Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium on July 21. From there, the team will travel to Taipei, Taiwan, for a four-game series against Chinese Taipei at Tien-Mu Stadium beginning July 25.
Team USA will close its summer season at the FISU World University Championships in Tokyo, Japan, from July 30-Aug. 7. The U.S. has won the last three FISU Worlds (2004, '06, '08), while host nation Japan will be looking for its first title.
The Collegiate National Team Trials roster is as follows (name, class, position[s], school):
2010 Collegiate National Team Trials Roster
Tyler Anderson, So., LHP, Oregon
Jett Bandy, So., C, Arizona
Matt Barnes, So., RHP, Connecticut
Jackie Bradley, Jr., So., OF, South Carolina
Gerrit Cole, So., RHP, UCLA
Zach Cone, So., OF, Georgia
C.J. Cron, So., C, Utah
Alex Dickerson, So., OF, Indiana
Taylor Dugas, So., OF, Alabama
Taylor Featherston, So., IF, TCU
Dylan Floro, Fr., RHP, Cal State Fullerton
Nolan Fontana, Fr., IF, FLORIDA
Sean Gilmartin, So., LHP/OF, Florida State
Sonny Gray, So., RHP, Vanderbilt
Greg Holt, Jr., RHP, North Carolina
Matt Jensen, So., IF, Cal Poly
Brian Johnson, Fr., LHP, FLORIDA
Andrew Maggi, So., OF/IF, Arizona State
Mikie Mahtook, So., OF, LSU
Nick Martini, So., OF, Kansas State
Scott McGough, So., RHP, Oregon
Anthony Meo, So., RHP, Coastal Carolina
Brad Miller, So., IF, Clemson
Brett Mooneyham, So., LHP, Stanford
Austin Nola, So., IF, LSU
Peter O'Brien, Jr., C, Bethune-Cookman
Nick Ramirez, So., IF/LHP, Cal State Fullerton
Noe Ramirez, So., RHP, Cal State Fullerton
Anthony Rendon, So., IF, Rice
Steve Rodriguez, So., C, UCLA
Lex Rutledge, Fr., LHP, Samford
Carson Smith, So., RHP, Texas State
George Springer, So., OF, Connecticut
Kyle Winkler, So., RHP, TCU
Kolten Wong, So., IF/C, Hawaii
Ryan Wright, So., IF, Louisville
Alternates
Evan Brock, Fr., RHP, UC Irvine
Adam Conley, So., LHP, Washington State
Mike Zunino, Fr., C, FLORIDA
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