Raleigh, N.C. - Former South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak(2006-07-08) is among 23 players selected to play for Team USA at the2009 International Baseball Federation (IBAF) World Cup in Europe asannounced by USA Baseball on Thursday afternoon. A MLB first roundselection last year, Smoak has risen quickly in the Texas Rangersorganization. Smoak is currently in Triple-A with the Oklahoma CityRedhawks and is rated as the No. 4 best prospect in the Minor Leaguesby Baseball America.
In his three-year career at Carolina, Smoak set school recordsfor home runs (62), runs batted in (207), bases on balls (151) andtotal bases (485). He is fifth on the SEC career list for home runs andis of only seven players in SEC history to record 60 or more roundtrippers. Smoak twice earned Most Outstanding Player honors in the NCAARegionals, receiving the distinction in 2007 in Columbia and in 2008 inRaleigh.
He started every game at first base for three straight yearswith 194 consecutive starts on the corner. Smoak played on three NCAARegional teams and twice made it to the NCAA Super Regional. He wasalso a consensus first-team All-America his junior year in 2008 afterbatting .383 (90-for-235) with 23 HR and 72 RBI.
This is Smoak's second stint with USA Baseball. He played on the 2007 Collegiate National Team as well.
Team USA is the defending World Cup champion, having defeatedCuba, 6-3, in the 2007 final in Taiwan. It was the first World Cuptitle for the U.S. since 1974. Two former Gamecocks played for the U.S.in 2007, right-handed pitcher Lee Gronkiewicz (1999-2000-01) and firstbaseman Steve Pearce (2004-05). Pearce is currently in the Major Leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Twenty countries will begin IBAF World Cup competition in five groupsof four teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the secondround (the top-four third-place teams also advance). Once there, theywill be joined by Italy and the Netherlands - the two hosts of Round 2- to form a 16-team quarterfinal. The top-eight teams from thequarterfinals advance to the third round, which will be heldexclusively in Italy, where they will be split into two pools andadvance to the finals based on best pool-play record. The U.S. willkick off World Cup play on Sept. 10 in
Regensburg, Germany in Pool Eand will be joined by China, Germany and Venezuela. In addition toRegensburg, the World Cup will also feature first round pool play inBarcelona; Prague; Sundbyburg, Sweden; and Zagreb, Croatia.
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Gamecock fans can catch Smoak and the World Cup Team as they will firstgather in Cary, N.C. at the USA Baseball National Training Complexwhere the squad will train from Sept. 2-6. It will work out on Sept. 2and square off against the Canadian World Cup Team Sept. 3-6.
South Carolina owns the longest current streak of NCAA Regionalappearances among the 12 SEC schools with 10 straight trips to thetournament dating back to the 2000 season. In that span, Carolina hasseven NCAA Super Regional appearances (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,2006, 2007) and three trips to the College World Series (2002, 2003,2004). South Carolina is one of only seven schools in the nation tomake at least seven NCAA Super Regionals in the last 10 years and oneof only eight schools in the country to have reached the NCAA Regionalsevery season in this decade. The program's 10-year total record of468-201 is the fourth highest win total among NCAA Division I schools.
