University of Tennessee Athletics
Arencibia Accepts Invitation to USA Baseball National Team Trials
May 03, 2005 | Baseball
May 3, 2005
Tennessee catcher J.P. Arencibia was among an elite group of 13 college baseball players who accepted invitations Tuesday to the 2005 USA Baseball National Team Trials. The true freshman from Miami, Fla., will take part in the trials June 27-30 in Raleigh, N.C.
"This is a great honor," Arencibia said. "This is something that I hoped would happen, and I'm glad all my hard work is paying off."
Arencibia has started every game for Tennessee this season and ranks among the team and SEC leaders with 54 RBIs and 11 home runs. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, he is one home run away from breaking former Vol Todd Helton's UT freshman record (Helton hit 11 homers in 1993). Arencibia was one of only four freshmen included on Tuesday's initial list of national team invitees.
USA Baseball will announce a second list of invitees to the trials in late May and a final list of invitees in June. The national team will be selected from the resulting pool of 36 players, and the official 20-man team roster will be announced July 1.
The 2005 USA Baseball National Team will participate in the 34th Annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate Championship Series in Japan, July 8-12, and a Friendship Series vs. Taiwan in Chinese Taipei, July 15-19. The squad then returns home to play six exhibition games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park this summer (July 22-24 and July 29-31).
Tennessee has had six players on the USA Baseball National Team since 1993. Most recently, current Vols ace Luke Hochevar donned the red, white and blue as a member of last year's squad.
For more information on the USA Baseball National Team, visit www.usabaseball.com.
