Logan Forsythe Selected to Team USA
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the second straight year an Arkansas baseball player will spend his summer playing for the USA National Team in was announced by USA Baseball on Thursday.
Razorback third baseman Logan Forsythe will join a squad of 20 collegiate players from across the country that has completed their freshman or sophomore seasons.
“It has been a challenging and exciting past nine months as we identified and evaluated the top non-draft eligible collegiate players in the country for this program,” Eric Campbell, USA Baseball General Manager, National Teams said. “We are very pleased with how the final roster has come together over the past couple of weeks, and it is always rewarding for our staff to see the strong mix of USA Baseball alumni who were selected.”
Forsythe hit .347 for the Hogs in 2007 with a team-high 16 doubles and 18 stolen bases. He also cracked nine home runs and drove in 55 runs while playing spectacular defense at third base.
“Logan developed into one of the best all-around baseball players in the country from his freshman to sophomore season,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “His offense and his glove were consistently outstanding all season. It is great to see Logan get the chance to play for such a prestigious baseball team. It is only going to make him a better baseball player.”
The 2007 USA Baseball National Team will open its season in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) in preparation for four international series and two international events this summer. Team USA will play in the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the World Port Tournament in The Netherlands. The USA Baseball National Team will also host the 36th Annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate Championship Series and an Inaugural Friendship Series with the Chinese National Team.
The USA Baseball National Team will be led by Long Beach State University Head Coach Mike Weathers who will be making his second coaching tour with the USA Baseball National Team. In his previous USA Baseball coaching assignment, Weathers was an assistant on the 2003 USA Baseball National Team, which captured a silver medal at the 2003 Pan Am Games.Assisting Weathers on the 2007 USA Baseball National Team coaching staff will be Rob Cooper (Head Coach, Wright State), Bill Kinneberg (Head Coach, University of Utah), and Mark Scalf (Head Coach, UNC Wilmington). In addition, current Long Beach State University Baseball SID Niall Adler will serve as the 2007 USA Baseball National Team Press Officer.
Nick Schmidt, who just completed his junior season as a Razorback and was a first-round selection of the San Diego Padres in the 2007 MLB Draft, played for Team USA last summer. The left-hander went 3-1 with a 1.31 ERA in 34.1 innings of work.
Forsythe is one of six SEC players on the 20-man Team USA roster, along with Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt), Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt), Lance Lynn (Ole Miss), Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) and Justin Smoak (South Carolina).
