Published: June 29, 2008 12:02 am            

College report: Phegley holding out hope to make national baseball team

Josh Phegley is still clinging to a slim hope of being named to USA Baseball’s National Team, which continues a series of exhibition games through Tuesdays and then departs for Europe.

The Indiana University junior catcher was not named to the 20-man roster last week after struggling at the plate during a 12-game series of games at the team’s trials. The final two spots on the team’s roster were to be added this weekend, and on Saturday the team added Fresno State shortstop Tommy Mendonca.

Only two catchers — Micah Gibbs of Louisiana State and Ryan Lipkin of San Francisco — are currently on the roster.

Phegley played in eight of the 12 games in the trials, starting five, and was the starting catcher batting third in the order in the first game. Phegley was 2-for-9 at the plate after his first two games, but did not get another hit in 14 at-bats and finished the trials hitting .087 with two doubles, two runs and three RBI.

Three other catchers are also waiting to see if they can be given the team’s final spot, Ryan Ortiz of Oregon State, Tommy Medica of Santa Clara and Ben Petralli of Oral Roberts.

A total of 38 players were in contention for the 22 spots on the team.

The USA team will play Chinese Taipei today at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, then will travel to the USA National Training Center at Cary, N.C., on Monday for two final exhibitions before taking off for the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, the post-season honors for Phegley continue to roll in. The Terre Haute North grad and 2006 Mr. Baseball was named an ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association, and also to the 2008 ABCA/Rawlings All-Mideast Region Team. Phegley was a first team selection at catcher,



In other college news:

• Bassett visits Arkansas — Former Terre Haute South and Indiana University guard Armon Bassett made an official visit to Arkansas on Thursday, according to hawgsillustrated.com.

Bassett was dismissed from Indiana’s team after his sophomore season.

• Bretscher at Olympic Trials — Greencastle graduate Andrew Bretscher is in Omaha, Neb., this week trying to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic swimming team. in the United States will be converging on Omaha, Neb. next week, all of them seeking a spot at the U.S. Olympic team and a chance to compete in August Olympic games in Beijing.

Bretscher, who will be a junior member of Ohio State’s team next winter, swam a 55.05 in the 100-meter butterfly in the Olympic Trials to qualify. That time was .54 seconds better than the Olympic standard.

The odds will be tough for Bretscher, whose seed time tied him for the 64th best in the 109-man field.

The top seed is world and American record holder Ian Crocker, with his time of 50.40.

“I was really excited when I got the cut,” Bretscher said. “Just to get a chance to compete against these guys and make an Olympic Team, that's really a dream for any swimmer.”

• Huffman to IUPUI — IUPUI volleyball coach Steve Payne has officially announced the addition of Northview graduate Kaley Huffman to his team as a walk-on.

Huffman helped Northview High School go 31-4 in her senior year, filling both offensive and defensive roles with the Knights. The 5-foot-6 team captain finished tied for 35th in the state of Indiana with 3.5 kills per game while also leading the team in digs. For the third straight season, Huffman was named First Team All-Western Indiana Conference.

A member of the Crossroads of America Volleyball Club, Huffman will primarily focus on the back row at IUPUI. “Kaley will help add depth and solidify our back row,” Payne said. “On the defensive end of the court, her ball control skills will play a vital role.”

• Greenville gets LIC trio — Three former Little Illini Conference basketball standouts are taking their skills to Greenville College this fall.

Casey-Westfield graduate Logan Boyd and Martinsville’s Chase Lee will suit up for Greensville’s men’s team, while Brittani Wolfe of Martinsville will join the women’s program.

Lee is a 6-3 guard who averaged 14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.9 assists per game.

Boyd is a six-foot point guard averaged 13. 5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 5.9 assists per game for the 14-12 Warriors.

Wolfe averaged 11.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game for the 25-3 Lady Bluestreaks.

• Timm to Marian — Jered Timm of Northview will become the fourth ex-Knight to play football at Marian College this fall.

Timm — a standout wide receiver — joins Jaime Bays, Matt Crooks and Dayne Upperman at the Indianapolis school.

He was a four-year Scholar Athlete who also earned Academic All-Conference honors at Northview. Timm was named team's Most Valuable Player and was a two-time All-Conference selection in football, and also was named Offensive Most Valuable Player.



Joey Bennett is a former Tribune-Star sports reporter and copy editor who now teaches and coaches at Northview High School in Brazil. He can be reached at tribstarcollegereport@yahoo.com.

        

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