July 25

Lineup Card

Lineup Card is a feature highlighting notes from around college baseball.

July 19-25, 2010

Terry Sisisky, the former radio voice of the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams, passed away on July 22 from cancer at the age of 58. Sisisky broadcast games for the Rams for 28 years, including baseball and men’s and women’s basketball, before retiring in 2008. He also called high school games for 36 years, primarily at his alma mater, Petersburg High School. Sisisky broadcast football for Randolph-Macon College, summer college baseball for the Petersburg Generals, professional baseball for the Richmond Braves and the annual Boys Invitational Baseball (BIB) Tournament. Sisisky was inducted into the Richmond Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2006, the VCU Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the VCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. Our condolences go out to his family, including his wife and daughter.

Team USA had its nine-game win streak halted with a 3-1 loss to Chinese Taipei Sunday evening in the first of a four-game set at Hsinchuang Field. Jackie Bradley Jr. of South Carolina has a run-scoring single in the third to snap a scoreless tie before Chinese Taipei scored two in the sixth to take the lead for good. Bradley had three of Team USA’s six hits. Sonny Gray of Vanderbilt allowed three hits and struck out seven in four scoreless innings.

Former William and Mary infielder Will Rhymes was called up to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, his first MLB promotion. He was hitting .304 with the Toledo Mud Hens with 19 doubles, six triples and 34 RBI. Rhymes was a two-time All-CAA selection while with the Tribe. He was taken by the Tigers in the 27th round of the 2005 MLB Draft.

Penn State will host the PIAA State Championships in baseball, softball and boys’ volleyball from 2011-14. The baseball championships will be played on June 17, 2011, June 15, 2012, June 14, 2013 and June 13, 2014 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

Illinois State third baseman Ryan Court is the recipient of the Fairchild Endowed Scholarship for the second consecutive year. The scholarship is named for former ISU President Raymond W. Fairchild, who was president from 1933-54. The award is presented each academic year to a Redbird baseball player. Court batted .295 with 10 home runs in 2010. He was Second Team All-MVC, a member of the MVC All-Tournament Team and a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team selection. A redshirt junior, Court has a 3.77 GPA as a business teacher education major.

First baseman David Chester of Pittsburgh became the first player to win both the Home Run Derby and Offensive Player of the Game in the 12-year history of the Coastal Plain League all-star festivities. Chester rapped 11 homers over three rounds to capture the Home Run Derby crown. He went 2 for 3 with three RBI for the National team in the CPL All-Star Game. Chester will return to Pitt for his senior season.

Stetson signed three junior college transfers for 2011: Trey Blackman (C/OF, Tallahassee CC), Mitchel Brennan (P/OF, Tallahassee CC), and Chad Rood (P, Florida State College at Jacksonville).

Houston signed shortstop Chase Jensen to a National Letter of Intent. He spent one season at Weatherford College after graduating from Martin High School in Arlington, Texas.

Jay Morris has transferred from New Orleans to Middle Tennessee. An outfielder and first baseman, Morris played three years for the Privateers and will have one year of eligibility. He will not have to sit out a year because UNO is dropping to Division III.

Former Long Beach State catcher Brad Davis and Vance Worley have reached the major leagues. Davis was called up by the Florida Marlins and Worley joined the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dirtbags have now had 36 alums reach the big leagues. Davis spent seven seasons in the minors after being taken by the Marlins in the fifth round of the 2004 draft. Worley was a three-round pick of the Phillies in 2008.

USC has signed eight players for 2011: Omar Cotto-Lozada (OF, Guaynabo, Puerto
Rico/Bonneville HS); James Guillen (RHP, Covina/Damien HS); Jake Hernandez (C, Rancho Cucamonga/Los Osos HS); Joc Pederson (OF, Palo Alto/Palo Alto HS); Kyle Richter (LHP, Santa Margarita/Santa Margarita HS); James Roberts (SS/RHP, Cupertino/Archbishop Mitty HS); Bobby Wheatley (LHP, Villa Park/Orange Lutheran HS) and Austin Wood (RHP, Niceville, Fla./St. Petersburg College).

Kentucky signee Cory Littrell was named the Kentucky High School Player of the Year by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association. The lefty went 8-3 with a 1.90 ERA and seven complete games. He struck out 101 and walked 21 in 77.1 innings. Littrell hit .333 and was 12 for 12 on stolen bases.

Indiana signed a pair to National Letters of Intent: infielder Dillon Dooney (Poway, Calif./Poway) and right-hander Ryan Halstead (Alta Loma, Calif./Los Osos).

Peter O’Brien of Bethune-Cookman homered twice and knocked in four as Team USA blanked Strike Zone of Omaha in seven innings Thursday. Alex Dickerson also went deep and drove in four as Team USA raised its record to 9-0. Three hurlers combined on a one-hitter. Matt Barnes (2-0) fanned three in two innings to earn the win.

The seventh annual Maryland Baseball Golf Classic will be Friday, Oct. 1, at the University of Maryland Golf Course.

Matt Talarico has been hired as hitting coach at Dayton. A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Talarico was a volunteer assistant this past year at Toledo. He was first base coach, worked with the outfielders, helped with bunting and base running, and coordinated camps. Talarico was an assistant for two years at Division III Heidelberg. The Student Princes won the Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles both years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Talarico played four years at Manchester College and earned a degree in history in 2007. He received a master’s of arts in education from Heidelberg.

Georgia State head coach Greg Frady will coach the German National Team at the European Baseball Championships. The 12-team event will be held in Germany from July 23 to August 1.

Former USC Upstate standout Chris Nowak signed with the Milwaukee Brewers and was assigned to the Double-A Huntsville Stars of the Southern League. He played with the Spartans from 2002-04. Former Spartan pitcher Bradley Blanks signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and is with the Williamsport Crosscutters. He played at Upstate in 2006-07.

Gerrit Cole (1-0) of UCLA fanned seven in six innings as Team USA defeated Japan 4-1 Wednesday at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. Noe Ramirez of Cal State Fullerton recorded his third save. Drew Maggi of Arizona State, Nick Ramirez of Cal State Fullerton and Steve Rodriguez of UCLA each had two hits.

Auburn learned that Justin Fradejas, Bradley Hendrix and Kevin Patterson plan to return for their senior seasons. Fradejas was selected in the 35th round of the MLB draft by the Colorado Rockies. The outfielder hit .358 with 52 runs and 14 steals for the Tigers in 2010. Hendrix was taken in the 30th round by the Cincinnati Reds. The reliever was 4-2 with one save this past season at Auburn. Patterson was picked in the 23rd round by the Tampa Bay Rays. He hit .315 in 2010 and 16 of his 39 hits were for extra bases.

Bryant Ward has been added to the staff as an assistant at Loyola Marymount. Head coach Jason Gill, first-year assistant coach Ted Silva and Ward all worked together at Cal State Fullerton in 2005 and 2006. Ward coached for the past four seasons at South Florida. He was hitting coach and in charge of overall development of position players. Ward also coached at Pitt Community College from 2003-04. He was an infielder at East Carolina from 1998-2002, helping the Pirates earn four straight NCAA Tournament bids.

Former ULM infielder Boomer Blanchard has signed a professional contract with the Worcester Tornadoes of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. He batted .303 in two seasons with the Warhawks with 15 doubles, 13 home runs, 60 RBI and 16 steals. He was the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year and second team all-conference.

Tim Dixon will be the top assistant and pitching coach at Air Force. He spent the past four seasons as pitching coach at Southern Illinois. The Salukis had seven draft picks over that time, including three in 2010.

Former Wright State outfielder Casey McGrew signed a professional contract with the Lake Erie Crushers of the independent Frontier League. McGrew batted .383 this past season with 19 doubles, 48 RBI and 58 runs. He was First Team All-Horizon League for the second straight year.

A celebration of the life of former Duke coach Tom D’Armi is scheduled for Saturday, August 14, at 5 p.m. at Scharf Hall on the West Campus of Duke and is open to the public. D’Armi passed away on July 10 at the age of 75. He spent seven years as head coach of the Blue Devils and 28 years as an employee of the Duke athletic department.

George Springer of Connecticut had two hits and three RBI as Team USA topped the Omaha Diamond Spirit of the MINK League 8-4 Tuesday to raise its record to 7-0. Brett Mooneyham (1-0) of Stanford allowed three hits and one run over five innings with no walks and four strikeouts to earn the win.

Tony Vitello has been named assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at TCU. He has worked for the past eight seasons on the staff at Missouri. Vitello was a three-year letter-winner for the Tigers from 2000-02. He was a volunteer assistant in 2003 and promoted to full-time assistant in 2004. Vitello was the pitching coach at Missouri and assisted with the hitters as well as serving as first base coach. The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament in six of the past eight seasons.

Former Georgia State pitcher Ryan Moore has signed a professional contract with the Florence Freedom of the independent Frontier League. Moore was 10-4 in two seasons with the Panthers. He was Second Team All-CAA in 2009, going 7-2 with a 4.41 ERA.

South Carolina outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. threw out the first at Monday’s Major League game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Bradley is playing with Team USA. The team worked out at Kauffman Stadium Monday morning before a pair of games in Omaha on Tuesday and Wednesday. Bradley was the Most Outstanding Player in the 2010 College World Series.

Former Long Island hurler Couri Benz has signed a professional contract with the Rockford RiverHawks of the independent Northern League. Benz went 4-15 with a 6.88 ERA in two seasons with the Blackbirds (2008-09). He struck out 107 in 137.1 innings.