Press Release USA Baseball
The 2015 USA Baseball Premier12™ Team assembled in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday to begin workouts at Grand Canyon University. Team USA will compete in the WBSC Premier12™ World Championship in Taipei, Taiwan from Nov. 10 to 21 with semifinals and finals to be held in Tokyo, Japan on Nov. 19-21.
Team USA will take the field at 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1 against Canada, in the first of three games to be played between the two teams. All three games will be played at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix, Ariz., home of the Milwaukee Brewers Spring Training facility.
The U.S. team features 25 players not currently on Major League Baseball 40-man rosters, which will be filled out to a 28-man roster once Team USA departs for Taipei on Nov. 4.
Among those named to the team include Milwaukee Brewers outfield prospect Brett Phillips, who is currently ranked No. 32 on MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospect List, as well as Major League veterans Dana Eveland of the Baltimore Orioles and Aaron Laffey of the Colorado Rockies.
The Philadelphia Phillies led all Major League clubs with five players from its farm system named to the team. The New York Mets and Kansas City Royals each had three players named to the club. Two players each were named to the team from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox and the Colorado Rockies. The remaining players each came from one of six other big league organizations, while Dan Black joins the team from the KT Wiz in the Korean Baseball Organization and Zack Segovia joins from the Uni-Lions in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
The 2015 Premier12™ team roster has a wealth of international experience with six players having previously worn the red, white and blue. Alumni include Zack Segovia (1999 16U, 2000-’01 18U, ’06 Olympic Qualifier), Tyler Pastornicky (2015 Pan Am), Casey Coleman (2015 Pan Am), Gavin Cecchini (2011 18U), Cody Satterwhite (2007 CNT) and Jake Barrett (2008 18U, ’15 Pan Am).
Willie Randolph will manage the team in Taiwan, and he will be joined on the coaching staff by pitching coach Rick Peterson, hitting coach Ernie Young, and assistant coaches Anthony Sanders, Roly De Armas and Ed Blankmeyer. Randolph begins his second stint with Team USA, previously as an assistant coach with the 2013 World Baseball Classic team.
“I’m so excited for this opportunity, I’ve been in baseball my whole life and I’ve experienced a lot of championships and a lot of great moments, but I’m just looking forward to this challenge”, said Randolph when asked about what it means to manage Team USA. “We have an outstanding staff, a great bunch of kids and meeting all of the guys last night and hearing them speak gave me goose bumps because I know this group is ready to go to battle.”
Randolph, who brings over 20 years of Major League managerial and playing experience, has a veteran international staff with Young, Blankmeyer and De Armas, who have all previously coached with Team USA. Sanders and Young were also teammates on the U.S. gold medal winning team at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
“I was impressed with the guys today, the hitters had a great approach and Rick (Peterson) had the pitchers getting loose and ready to go” noted Randolph after the squad’s first workout. “Today showed me how committed the guys are to this team because a lot of them have been off since the season ended and they came in to camp in great shape.”
Team USA will play two exhibition games in Taipei City against the Netherlands on Nov. 6 and against Taiwan and Nov. 7. Premier12™ competition gets underway on Nov. 10 as the U.S. will take on the Dominican Republic at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium.
Along with the Domincan Republic, the U.S. will face Japan, South Korea, Venezuela and Mexico in a round-robin group play format.
The players named to the 2015 USA Baseball Premier12™ Team are as follows:
Jake Barrett, RHP, Upland, Calif., Arizona Diamondbacks
Dan Black, IF, Indianapolis, Ind., KT Wiz
John Church, RHP, Winter Haven, Fla., New York Mets
Casey Coleman, RHP, Fort Myers, Fla., Kansas City Royals
Joey Denato, LHP, San Diego, Calif., Philadelphia Phillies
Brett Eibner, OF, The Woodlands. Texas, Kansas City Royals
Dana Eveland, LHP, Olympia, Wash., Baltimore Orioles
Cody Forsythe, LHP, Paducah, Ky., Philadelphia Phillies
Jarrett Grube, RHP, Corunna, Ind., Cleveland Indians
Aaron Laffey, LHP, Cumberland, Md., Colorado Rockies
Kyle Martin, IF, Simpsonville, S.C., Philadelphia Phillies
Jacob May, OF, Liberty Township, Ohio, Chicago White Sox
Matt McBride, OF, Bethlehem, Pa., Colorado Rockies
Parker Morin, C, Richmond, Va., Kansas City Royals
Tyler Pastornicky, IF, Bradenton, Fla., Philadelphia Phillies
Brett Phillips, OF, Seminole, Fla., Milwaukee Brewers
Dan Rohlfing, C, St. Louis, Mo., New York Mets
Cody Satterwhite, RHP, Jackson, Miss., New York Mets
Joe Sclafani, UTL, Brooklyn, N.Y., Houston Astros
Zack Segovia, RHP, Dallas, Texas, Uni-Lions
Seth Simmons, RHP, Winston-Salem, N.C., Arizona Diamondbacks
Elliot Soto, UTL, Elgin, Ill., Miami Marlins
Zeke Spruill, RHP, Chesapeake, Va., Boston Red Sox
Anthony Vazquez, LHP, San Antonio, Texas, Philadelphia Phillies
JB Wendelken, RHP, Savannah, Ga., Chicago White Sox