Team USA

Friday Links: Minor Leagues 0-3

College Baseball, Minor League Baseball

B. J. RosenbergThursday was another winless night on the diamond for Kentucky minor league teams.  The big news of the day was another UofL alum being selected to Team USA.  Check out those stories and more in some Friday links:

Summer Leagues Top Prospects

College Baseball
Braden Kapteyn; Photo: UK Athletics

Braden Kapteyn; Photo: UK Athletics

With the conclusion of the collegiate summer leagues, rankings of the top prospects in each league are starting to emerge.  As I head about them I’ll pass them along.  Earlier today we already told you that UofL’s Tony Zych had been named the 17th best prospects on the collegiate Team USA by Baseball America.

According to UK Athletics, RHP Logan Darnell has been named the third best prospect in the Alaska Collegiate Summer League by PGCrosschecker.com.  PGCrosschecker also selected Kentucky native and Seattle Mariners’ draft pick Tyler Blandford as the top prospect in the California Collegiate Summer League.

The New York Collegiate Baseball League has also released its own list of top prospects from the summer.  UK outfielder and pitcher Braden Kapteyn was named the top prospect in the league after a summer that saw him take home all-league and MVP honors.

Friday Links: Bats Comeback

College Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Louisville Slugger Field

I’ll probably have fewer posts than normal over the next couple of days as I recover from having my wisdom teeth removed, but never fear here are some Friday links to hold you over.  Look for a recap of UofL summer league action this afternoon.

  • The Bats scored five times in the eighth and ninth innings to come back and defeat Lehigh Valley 12-8.
  • The West Virginia Power used an eight-run sixth inning and a home run from first-round pick Tony Sanchez to defeat Lexington 12-6.
  • Matt Moore struck out nine in five innings to lead Bowling Green to a victory in the series-opener against Hickory.
  • Don’t look for team USA member and UofL pitcher Tony Zych to pitch in the Olympics anytime soon.  The IOC decided Thursday that baseball would not return to the 2016 games.
  • UK Athletics reports about Braden Kapteyn’s NYCBL MVP.

UofL’s Zych = World Champion

College Baseball

Tony Zych

The Bluegrass has a world champion baseball player in the form of UofL closer Tony Zych.  Zych and his teammates on the Collegiate USA National Team won the 2009 World Baseball Challenge Sunday with a 8-1 victory over Germany.   UofL head coach Dan McDonnell served as the first-base coach for Team USA.

Team USA finished the summer with a 19-5 record, winning its last five games to clinch the title.  Zych didn’t appear in the championship game but had an ERA of 2.91 with 17 strikeouts in 15.2 innings during the summer.  Zych, a freshman, pitched out of the pen for most of 2009 for the Cardinals before moving to the rotation in his final three appearances.  He won each of his three starts including six strong innings in UofL’s NCAA Regional Championship win over Vanderbilt.

I saw Zych pitch in one of his two losses during the 2009 season.  He was Louisville’s closer at the time and blew a save in the state rivalry against Kentucky at home.  At the time Zych was 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA.  He surrendered two runs in that game, but he obviously had as much talent as anyone on the Louisville roster.  UK coach Gary Henderson was generous in his praise of the UofL reliever.

“Your kids get confidence that they did it against Louisville’s best guy,” Henderson said.

You can find full coverage of Team USA’s win at the team’s home page.