Saturday, July 24, 2010

Taiwan, U.S. teams to meet ahead of world university baseball series

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) Taiwan's university baseball team is scheduled to play the United States in a four-game warmup in Taipei starting Sunday as the final preparation for the World University Baseball Championship in Japan next week.

The U.S. team, which arrived in Taipei Saturday, will play its Taiwan counterpart from July 25-27 at Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in Taipei County and will wrap up its Taiwan tour on July 28 with a friendly game against the amateur Taipei County baseball team.

Team Taiwan will depart for Tokyo, Japan July 28, one day before the U.S., for the world tournament, which will take place July 30-August 8.

Seeking its fourth consecutive title in the championship, the U.S. team features a strong pitching rotation, headlined by Gerrit Cole of UCLA, Sonny Gray of Vanderbilt University and Kyle Winkler of Texas Christian University. It boasts a 9-0 record in previous warmup games, having swept a powerful South Korean national team in a five-game series.

Among the top U.S. players are the 2010 College World Series Most Outstanding Player Jackie Bradley Jr. (South Carolina), 2010 Baseball America Player of the Year and Dick Howser Trophy Winner Anthony Rendon (Rice) and infielder Brad Miller (Clemson).

Taiwan has fared well in the past four championships, finishing fourth in 2002 and 2004, second in 2006 and third in 2008. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc