Virginia catcher Matt Thaiss (So., Jackson, N.J.) has received and accepted an invitation to play for the 2015 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. He will report to the team on Sunday.
Named a Third-Team All-American by Louisville Slugger, Thaiss batted a team-leading .323 while hitting 10 home runs and driving in 64 runs for the Cavaliers’ national championship team. In 67 games, Thaiss recorded 82 hits, including 18 doubles, while scoring 49 runs. He was named to the All-College World Series Team and batted a team-leading .318 in the NCAA tournament.
Thaiss is the 10th Virginia player to earn an invitation from a USA Baseball National Team and the second this year, along with Connor Jones. Other Cavaliers named to the USA Baseball National Team: Bill Narleski (1986), Seth Greisinger (1996), Ryan Zimmerman (2004), Sean Doolittle (2005-06), Mark Reynolds (2006), Jacob Thompson (2007), Branden Kline (2011) and Nathan Kirby (2014). Kirby later withdrew before competing with the team.
The USA Collegiate National Team will compete in international friendship series against Chinese Taipei and Cuba in North Carolina, as well as participating in the Americas Baseball Festival against the Canadian Senior National Team, Cuban National Team and USA Baseball Pan American Games Team. The summer schedule began on June 20 and continues through July 8.
The USA Collegiate National Team will be coached by Ed Blankmeyer of St. John’s and assisted by Gary Henderson (Kentucky), Rich Hill (San Diego) and Paul Mainieri (Louisiana State).
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Chris Graham
