Virginia's Ryan Zimmerman Makes 2004 USA Baseball National Team Roster
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June 28, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – University of Virginia baseball player Ryan Zimmerman (Virginia Beach, Va./Kellam) was one of 22 players selected to make up the 2004 USA Baseball National Team that will compete in the Japan vs. USA Collegiate All-Star Series (July 2-8) and the FISU II World University Games in Tainan, Taiwan (July 22-August 1).
Manager Frank Cruz, the head coach at Loyola Marymount, paired the original 36-man USA Baseball National Team Trials Roster down to 22 players after a four-game series against Canada at Durham Bulls Athletic Park last week (June 20-26).
Through the first first games of the USA Baseball National Team Trials, Zimmerman is batting .364 after going 4-for-11 at the plate with two home runs and two singles and had recorded six RBI and scored five runs. He started two of the five games he appeared in and has posted six assists and four putouts to go along with his 1.000 fielding percentage.
“There were some tough decisions to make to put this team together, but as a coaching staff we feel like we have a great group of 22 players to bring home the gold medal,” said Cruz. “Releasing players is never easy, especially when you have the best college baseball players in the nation. This is a group of young men that are excited to represent our country on the baseball field.”
The 22-man roster features 12 position players, nine pitchers and one utility player. The squad is comprised of players from 15 colleges, eight conferences, 12 states and features two returning National Team players (Jeff Clement – Southern California, Mark Romanczuk – Stanford) and three players with experience on the USA Junior National Team (Daniel Bard – North Carolina, Chris Valaika – UC Santa Barbara, Ian Kennedy – Southern California). In addition, five players who were not selected from the Trials last year, made the team this season (Travis Buck – Arizona State, Taylor Teagarden – Texas, Mike Pelfrey – Wichita State, John Mayberry Jr. – Stanford, Joey Devine – NC State).
Team USA has won all five games against Canada during the trials stage and will finish the six-game series with a game against the Canadians on June 29th in Myrtle Beach, S.C at Coastal Federal Field.
Here is a look at the 22-man USA Baseball National Team roster:
2004 USA Baseball National Team
No. Player Pos Ht Wt B/T Yr College Hometown4 Buck, Travis OF 6-3 210 L/R So. Arizona State Richland, Wash.6 Lowrie, Jed INF 6-0 180 B/R So. Stanford Salem, Ore.7 Mayberry Jr., John INF 6-5 225 R/R So. Stanford Kansas City, Mo.8 Crowe, Trevor IF/OF 6-0 185 B/R So. Arizona Portland, Ore.10 Zimmerman, Ryan INF 6-2 210 R/R So. Virginia Virginia Beach, Va.11 Valaika, Chris INF 5-11 180 R/R Fr. UC Santa Barbara Newhall, Calif.15 Tulowitzki, Troy INF 6-3 200 R/R So. Long Beach State Sunnyvale, Calif.16 Devine, Joey RHP 6-0 200 R/R So. N.C. State Junction City, Kan.17 Hayes, Brett C 6-1 180 R/R So. Nevada Calabasas, Calif.19 Hochevar, Luke RHP 6-5 205 R/R So. Tennessee Fowler, Colo.21 Romanczuk, Mark LHP 6-2 195 L/L So. Stanford Newark, Del.24 Clement, Jeff C 6-1 205 L/R So. USC Marshalltown, Iowa27 Ramos, Cesar LHP 6-2 190 L/L So. Long Beach State Pico Rivera, Calif.28 Bogusevic, Brian P/OF 6-3 214 L/L So. Tulane Oak Lawn, Ill.31 Kennedy, Ian RHP 6-0 180 R/R Fr. USC Huntington Beach, Calif.35 Bard, Daniel RHP 6-4 195 R/R Fr. North Carolina Charlotte, N.C.42 Pelfrey, Mike RHP 6-7 215 R/R So. Wichita State Wichita, Kan.44 Gordon, Alex INF 6-1 215 L/R So. Nebraska Lincoln, Neb.-- Cox, J. Brent RHP 6-3 215 L/R So. Texas Bay City, Texas-- Romero, Ricky LHP 6-1 190 R/L So. CS Fullerton Los Angeles, Calif.-- Teagarden, Taylor C 6-1 210 R/R So. Texas Carrollton, Texas-- Stubbs, Drew OF 6-4 190 R/R Fr. Texas Atlanta, Texas
No. Coaching Staff13 Cruz, Frank Manager - LMU9 Avent, Elliott Assistant Coach - N.C. State22 Smitheran, Jack Assistant Coach - UC Riverside30 Trapasso, Mike Assistant Coach - Hawai'i
— UVa —