June 24, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State freshman shortstop Dustin Pedroia (Woodland, Calif.) has been named to the 22-player USA National Team that is set to embark on a 30-game summer schedule. The annual Red, White and Blue Tour includes 17 games in the United States, followed by a tournament in the Netherlands (July 19-28) and the August 3-11 World Championships in Messina, Italy.
Pedroia - one of three middle infielders selected after the USA team trials last week- was one of six freshmen named to the team, with the rest of the squad filled out by college sophomores. Pedroia is the fifth Arizona State player in the last five years who has been named to the elite national-team squad, following in the footsteps of former Sun Devils Willie Bloomquist (1998), Casey Myers (2000), Jon Switzer (2000) and Mike Esposito (2000).
Pedroia was a first-team All-Pac-10 member and was named to both the Collegiate Baseball (first team) and Baseball America (second team) Freshman All-American squads. He hit .347 on the year while setting the ASU freshman record with 82 hits. He was the only Sun Devil to start and play in all 58 games, playing stellar defense at three different infield positions (2B, SS, 3B). He led the team with 27 multi-hit games and ended the season with an 11-game hitting streak in-tact.
The other five freshmen on the squad include Rice RHP Philip Humber, Notre Dame RHP Grant Johnson and closer Huston Street from CWS champion Texas. The squad also includes two freshman position players: Georgia catcher Clint Sammons and Georgia Tech second baseman Eric Patterson.
Arizona State closer Ryan Schroyer, who led the Pac-10 with a 2.37 ERA while going 4-1 with eight saves, did not make the team despite throwing three shutout innings in the trials. Schroyer is likely to play this summer in the Alaskan League.
USA Baseball also has announced that a "real-time" game scoring webcast feature has been launched at www.usabaseball.com. All 30 USA Baseball National Team games will be shown by live play-by-play on National Team website, including tonight's opening game against the Santa Barbara Foresters in Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field) at 7:00 p.m.
To follow Pedroia this summer, as well as the rest of the ASU's players in various summer leagues, check back to www.TheSunDevils.com as a complete list will be available in the next two weeks.