Baseball Standouts Make Final USA Baseball Cut

July 12, 1998

Clemson’s Ryan Mottl and Patrick Boyd are among the 22-man USA National Team roster that will represent the United States at this summer’s World Championship. Mottl, a junior-to-be from Florissant, MO, is 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched (five starts, two relief appearances) this summer. The 33.1 innings is only 1.1 innings behind the team leader in that category. Boyd, a rising sophomore from Palm Harbor, FL, is hitting .267 in 75 at bats after going 3-for-6 with a double, three RBIs, and two runs scored in the 19-5 win over the Mexican National 2 Team. Boyd, who has played in centerfield, is one of just two players to play in as many as 31 games.

The team began its competition on June 6 and has thus far played 31 games in preparation for the International Baseball Association’s XXXIII World Championship in Italy. To date, the team, coached by former long-time Mississippi State coach Ron Polk, has compiled a record of 22-9. This year’s World Championship is slated for July 21 through August 2 and will feature reigning World Champion Cuba among the 16 teams. The 16 teams have been divided into two groups as follows:

            Group A                     Group B            China                       Australia            Cuba                        Canada            Dominican Republic          Chinese Taipei            Italy                       Korea            Japan                       The Netherlands            Panama                      Nicaragua            South Africa                Russia            Spain                       United States

After playing seven games in the preliminary round, the top four teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals.

Clemson, along with Florida State, Miami (FL), Mississippi State, and Southern California all have two players apiece on the national squad.

Below is Boyd and Mottl’s USA National Team’s up to date stats:

RYAN MOTTL USA National Team StatsYear    ERA     W-L  G-GS   CG  SHO SV  IP    H   R   ER  BB  SO1997    6.21    2-2  8-6    0   0   0   29.0  33  24  20  15  161998    4.05    2-0  7-5    0   0   0   33.1  38  18  15  12  30Total   5.05    4-2  15-11  0   0   0   62.1  71  42  35  27  46

PATRICK BOYD USA National Team Stats Year AVG GP-S AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB HBP SF OB% SB 1998 .267 31-17 75 13 20 2 0 1 13 25 7 4 1 .356 1-1