North Carolina State University Athletics
Corona Invited to USA Baseball Trials
6/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 23, 2006
By Tony Haynes
If NC State second baseman Ramon Corona has a good showing at the upcoming USA baseball trials, he might get the honor of playing for his country. Starting this weekend, Corona will be one of 35 players vying for a spot on the USA National Team. The official 22-man roster will be announced on Sunday, July 2nd. Corona, a rising junior at NC State, will begin his quest for a spot on the final roster this weekend, when he takes part in a series of trials that will be staged at a variety of parks in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
The tryouts will last through July 1.
Corona, a native of Coral Gables, Florida, is coming off a stellar sophomore campaign in which he batted .354 with six homers and 57 RBIs. In conference games, Corona batted .386, a figure that trailed only teammate Matt Camp.
The U.S. National Team consists of the top freshman and sophomore college baseball players in the country. The team performs each summer in a schedule of exhibition games across America and overseas, versus the world's top baseball talent. It also takes on the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars in an annual five-game series, and lead the all-time series between the two countries by a 20-14 margin - having never lost the series on home soil.
Should Corona land a spot on this year's squad, he'll have the opportunity to participate in international competition close to home since the U.S. team will play a pair of exhibition series at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The opening series will take place against Taiwan July 8, 9, and 11. Team USA will then return to the DBAP for a four game set versus Korea July 21-25.
The last Wolfpack player to wear the Red, White and Blue was relief pitcher Joey Devine, who helped the U.S. National Team capture a gold medal in the World Games in the summer of 2004.
