After two weeks of scrimmages and exhibitions, the USA Collegiate Baseball Team has officially set its roster for this month’s World Collegiate Baseball Championship in Taiwan.
Tennessee rising sophomore catcher Trent Grindlinger made the 28-player roster after a standout freshman season in Knoxville. USA Baseball did not originally invite Grindlinger to its tryouts but changed course with the freshman moving from the Cape Cod League to the USA tryouts in North Carolina.
Grindlinger started just two games and played in only three games as part of the tryouts in part because of an injury. He combined to hit 2-for-7 with two strikeouts while catching in all three games he played in.
A California native, Grindlinger started 36 games as a freshman where he slashed .345/.414/.575 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs. The vast majority of his success came in SEC play, making his numbers all the more impressive.
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Tennessee freshman pitcher Cam Appenzeller was also on the roster for the two weeks of scrimmages, allowing no runs on no hits and one walk in two innings pitched in games against Appalachian League teams. The left-handed pitcher did not pitch in last week’s five intrasquad scrimmages.
Appenzeller posted a 6-1 record, 4.76 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in his freshman season. He struck out 64 batters and walked 15 in 56.2 innings pitched.
Tennessee transfer shortstop commit Chris Ramirez also did not make the roster after going through tryouts. The Cal Baptist transfer combined to hit 1-for-9 with five walks.
Ramirez slashed .389/.452/.575 with seven home runs, 22 doubles, two triples and 42 RBIs during his sophomore season at Cal Baptist.
The inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship runs from July 11-15 in Taiwan. It’s a four-team event including the United State, Japan, Chinese Tapai and South Korea. The United States begins pool play on July 11 when it faces off against Korea at 12:30 a.m. ET.
