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ALL PING!BASEBALL 2008 PRESEASON
FIRST TEAM
Behind the plate for the 2008 All Ping!
Team is Florida State catcher Buster Posey. As if batting
.382 with 21 doubles and 65 RBI in his first year as
a catcher wasn’t enough to earn first team honors,
the former shortstop who threw out over 40% of baserunners
last season is planning on taking to the mound in relief
more for the Seminoles this season after making one
appearance last year.
 Dustin
Ackley hit .402 in his first season playing first base
for the North Carolina Tar Heels with 33 extra base
hits and 10 stolen bases to earn first team honors at
the most highly contested position on the diamond.
At second base few could argue that
Texas A&M’s Blake Stouffer is one of the most
impressive athletes in the game. A speedy switch hitter
who can play multiple positions, Stouffer led college
baseball in RBI in ’07 with 85 and finished the
season at .398 with 40 extra base hits and 22 stolen
bases.
The All Ping! third baseman is Pedro
Alvarez of Vanderbilt is frequently mentioned as a possible
top draft pick at the 2008 MLB draft for hardball skills.
Alvarez batted .386 with 18 homeruns and was the only
college player not eligible for last year’s amateur
draft who was a Golden Spikes Award finalist.
Alvarez’s Commodore and Team
USA teammate Ryan Flaherty is the shortstop selection.
A junior who is just as gifted with the glove as the
bat, Flaherty batted .381 and ended the season with
just eight errors and a 35 game hitting streak. While
Robin Ventura’s record isn’t quite in jeopardy
yet, if any batsman can do it, the Maine native and
his smooth swing could be the man to eclipse the Okalahoma
State great’s mark.
Around the outfield, Ping! has selected
Kyle Russell of Texas, a third Vanderbilt Commodore,
Dominic de la Osa, and Coastal Carolina’s David
Sappelt. Russell launched an NCAA-leading and University
of Texas record breaking 28 home runs last season while
batting .336 with 71 RBI, 68 runs scored, 11 doubles,
five triples and ten stolen bases. He was selected by
the St. Louis Cardinals in fourth round of last year’s
draft, but chose to return to Austin rather than sign
with the Redbirds. De la Osa also turned down an opportunity
to play professional ball and return to campus. He was
selected in the 10th round of last year’s draft
(the second time he has been picked by the Tigers, 49th
round in 2004) after batting .378 with 20 homeruns and
20 stolen bases. Sappelt was the Big South’s Player
of the Year, batting .359 with 17 doubles, 7 triples,
10 homeruns and a stellar all out defensive effort.
Brett Wallace of Arizona State is the
All Ping! designated hitter. Wallace hit .426 last season
with 16 homeruns and 12 stolen bases. A first baseman
last season, Wallace is slated to move across the diamond
for the Sun Devils to the hot corner where he played
in high school.
A pair of players were added to the
All Ping! first team as utility selections. San Diego’s
Josh Romanski excelled both at the plate and on the
mound last season for the breakout Toreros. In the outfield
Romanski batted .348 with 13 homeruns and 10 stolen
bases. As a pitcher he posted a 9-1 record with an ERA
of 3.05 and 92 strikeouts. After playing second base
as a freshman and shortstop as a sophomore, Delaware’s
Alex Buchholz is slated to play third base in ’08.
Last year Buchholz batted .387 with 27 doubles, 6 triples,
and 11 homeruns for the Fightin’ Blue Hens.
On the mound Ryan Berry and Scott Gorgen
finished off years in which their team made it to the
College World Series by playing for the USA Baseball
Team. Berry won 11 games for the Rice Owls as a freshman
and Gorgen tallied a dozen victories (including six
complete games and three shutouts) for the UCI Anteaters.
Another pitcher who came through in a big way his debut
season was Vanderbilt’s Mike Minor. Minor won
nine games for the ‘Dores with a 3.09 ERA allowed
only 19 walks while striking out 88 batters. Another
big season from Minor could have folks in Nashville
forgetting about last year’s top draft pick David
Price.
Two pitchers from the Grand Canyon
State, Arizona’s Preston Guilmet and Arizona State’s
Josh Satow both could pitch their teams to Omaha. Guilmet
went 12-2 with a 1.87 ERA and 146 strikeouts in 135
innings pitched. Satow went 13-3 with a 2.76 ERA in
133.2 innings pitched and 115 Ks. The two teams don’t
meet until the last series of the regular season (May
22-24) in Tucson with a possible Pac-10 title on the
line.
Louisiana Lafayette’s Danny Farquhar
recorded 115 strikeouts in 87.2 innings of work to rank
ninth in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings. He
had a 2.80 ERA and pitched both in relief and as a starter
for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Old Dominion’s Anthony
Shawler also fanned players at an impressive rate, sitting
down 130 in only 114.2 innings. The Monarch won 11 games
and had a tiny 2.20 ERA for the season. Another pitcher
who took that bat out of opponents’ hands all
season was San Diego’s Brian Matusz. The Torero
ace finished his sophomore season with an overall record
of 10-3 and a 2.85 ERA, and struck out 163 batters in
just 123 innings pitched.
All Ping! relievers include a trio
any team would hate to face in the bottom of the ninth.
Baylor’s Nick Cassavechia compiled a 6-2 record,
11 saves and 72 K’s in just 52 innings for the
Bears. Had he not been roughed up by TCU in the last
game of the season, his ERA would have been 2.12. Cole
St. Clair missed the first two months of the season
with a shoulder injury, but returned to put up the kind
of numbers Rice fans were accustomed to, saving nine
games with a 1.91 ERA. Pat Venditte’s 1.88 ERA
ranked him 12th nationally. His uncanny ability to throw
effectively with either arm allowed him to made 38 appearances
last season for the Creighton Bluejays.
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