Cal Poly rising junior catcher Ryan Stafford picked off one runner and threw out two would-be base stealers in a four-game intrasquad training camp series at USA Baseball's National Training Complex this week in Cary, N.C.
Ryan Stafford Selected for 2023 Collegiate National Team Roster
6/29/2023 1:58:00 PM | Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly catcher/left fielder Ryan Stafford wrapped up play Wednesday in USA Baseball's four-game Collegiate National Team intrasquad training camp series with a .467 batting average for the Stripes.
The rising junior went 7-for-15 at the plate with a double and two RBIs, completing the series with a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly in a 10-4 Stripes victory over the Stars at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
The two teams split the four-game series. The Stars won Sunday's game 11-4 and Tuesday's contest 16-0 while the Stripes countered with a 6-0 win Monday and 10-4 Wednesday.
Stafford opened the series with three hits, including a double, and one RBI on Sunday and singled once on Monday. He had one of the Stripes' four hits in Tuesday's lopsided shutout win by the Stars and went 2-for-4 in Wednesday's finale.
Defensively, Stafford fielded 1.000 with 15 putouts, three assists and no errors in 18 chances. He picked off one Stars runner and threw out two others trying to steal.
As a result, Stafford has been selected as one of 31 players who will compete in the 20th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series on Friday through July 4 at Cary, Durham, Kannapolis and Fayetteville, N.C., and the 44th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Championship Series, scheduled for July 7-12.
First three games of the USA-Japan series will be played in Cary, with the final two contests to be played at Joseph Riley Jr. Park in Charleston.
The Collegiate National Team's coaching staff, headed by first-time manager and 21-year Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee, announced on Thursday the 31 players from the 56 candidates in training camp.
"Ryan earned his spot on the team," said Lee. "From Day 1, he was our best defender, from receiving, blocking and throwing standpoints. He communicates well with the other players.
"Offensively he was very impactful and successful," Lee added. "His experience here will help him moving on. He's one of the best catchers in the country and has held his own very well."
Twenty-four different schools are represented on the 2023 Collegiate National Team roster, with six boasting a pair of athletes: Florida, Kansas State, Stanford, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wake Forest.
"After the most talented and competitive Training Camp, the staff completed a grueling selection process to get to the final roster today," said Lee. "Our roster is full of extremely talented and capable baseball players, and we are focused on representing the United States well in international competition. We are looking forward to getting our series against Chinese Taipei started tomorrow night here in Cary."
Stafford is the sixth Mustang selected to play in friendship series. The others were Brooks Lee (2021), Drew Thorpe (2021), Nick Meyer (2017), Mark Mathias (2014) and Matt Imhof (2013). Five more ex-Cal Poly players accepted training camp invitations -- Matt Jensen (2009 and 2010), Mike Zirelli (1997), Jon Macalutas (1995), John Orton (1986) and Ozzie Smith (1976).
Lee is serving as manager for USA Baseball's 2023 Collegiate National Team, six years after he was an assistant coach for Team USA under manager John Savage, the head coach at UCLA. One of Lee's assistants this year is former Mustang pitcher Thomas Eager, now the pitching coach at Stanford.
Ryan Stafford played for Stripes in training camp.
Other assistants include Brady Austin (East Carolina), Reggie Christiansen (Sacramento State), Andy Stankiewicz (USC) and José Vázquez (Alabama State).
"As a coach, it was great to be surrounded by some of the best collegiate baseball players in the country and see what their skill level is," said Lee. "It's real difficult, particularly in the first week. First, we had to release 25 players and some very deserving players didn't make the team. At some positions, there were no wrong choices.
"We had a practice this afternoon and things were more manageable," he added.
Training camp is more than just suiting up and playing the games.
"There's a lot that goes into it," said Lee. "We had an hour-and-a-half meeting before leaving the hotel each morning and two-and-a-half hour meetings when we got done on the field. There was a lot of preparation for the next day's games. You have to make sure you are able to see players at multiple positions and even out the plate appearances as well. You also have to schedule the pitching for 10-, 11- and 12-inning games.
I am surrounded by some great coaches and, overall, it's been a great experience so far," Lee added. "It's really 24/7 baseball here. You get very little sleep."
The roster of players also includes pitcher Matt Ager of UC Santa Barbara and outfielder Rodney Green Jr. of Cal, both of whom played against Cal Poly earlier this spring. Stanford catcher Malcolm Moore and pitcher/outfielder Braden Montgomery also made the roster.
While Stafford is in Cary, other current and incoming Mustang players are playing summer league baseball on the West Coast and in the midwest. Topping the list are catcher Owen Firestone and a pair of newcomers in pitcher Cam Hoiland and infielder Alejandro Garza.
Firestone, a redshirt last spring from Alameda, is hitting .500 for the Walnut Creek Crawdads of the California Collegiate League, going 5-for-10 in three games so far. He also pitched in relief in one game, tossing 1 1/3 innings against the Humboldt Crabs on June 21.
Hoiland, a graduate of Kentridge High School in Bellevue, Wash., and a transfer from Bellevue College in Bellevue, Wash., is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and one save for the Wenatchee AppleSox in the West Coast League. Hoiland has struck out 13 batters over 15 innings.
Garza, a recent graduate of Highland High School in Bakersfield, sports a .500 average for the Portland Pickles of the West Coast League. He is 4-for-8 at the plate with one RBI and one stolen base.
Baum tossed four scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and six strikeouts for the win against Humboldt on June 24, retiring all 12 batters he faced. Wright went five innings, allowing no runs and three hits with three strikeouts versus Springfield on June 28.
Larkin pitched two hitless innings in relief for the win against Duluth on June 22, Royle allowed one unearned run and one hit over five innings with no walks and three strikeouts in a victory over Bend on June 25 and Rodriguez tossed two innings for a win against Rochester on June 22.
Cabrillo High School graduate and Hancock College transfer Luke Kovach has pitched in seven games for Corvallis with no decisions and an 0.81 ERA. Kovach has struck out 16 batters over 11 innings, allowing no runs in six of his seven appearances. He threw four scoreless frames versus Kamloops on June 11 with four strikeouts.
In his first game at Rochester on June 24, Holden Garcia pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings against Willmar with no hits and two strikeouts in a no-decision. Incoming freshman Griffin Naess, a graduate of Laguna Beach High School and a son of former Cal Poly men's basketball player Coby Naess, has pitched four innings for the Kelowna Falcons with no record and a 2.25 ERA.
At the plate, Evan Cloyd belted a two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 6-3 Portland win on June 21 while newcomer Dylan Kordic of San Pedro High School and Golden West College went 3-for-4 with three singles and two RBIs for La Crosse in a win over Waterloo on May 31.
