Surkamp Added To USA Baseball Roster
7/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
After missing the cut for Team USA in June, Surkamp went back to the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod League, where he spent the summer of 2006, and went 2-0 with a 1.85 ERA in five appearances. A second-team All-ACC selection, Surkamp worked 24 1/3 innings and allowed 20 hits for the Cardinals, walked eight and struck out 26. Team USA was paying attention. Surkamp received the call from USA Baseball following his 1-0 victory over Falmouth on July 23 and will pitch for the USA vs. The Netherlands on July 29 at 11 a.m. at USA Baseball’s National Training Center in Cary, N.C.
Surkamp will travel with Team USA to The Netherlands for the 2007 World Port Tournament in Rotterdam. The tournament will last from August 2-12 and will include teams from The Netherlands, Cuba, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and the United States.
A rising junior with the Wolfpack, Surkamp leaves a solid Orleans team that is currently in third place in the Cape League’s Eastern Division. NC State teammates Clayton Shunick and Sam Brown remain with the Cardinals, 19-16 and in third place. Orleans trails first-place Yarmouth-Dennis (24-10-1) by 11 points and second-place Chatham (20-12-3) by five points. The Cape League standings are computed with a point system, with two points for each win and one point for each tie.
Shunick, a rising junior who ranked among the Cape League’s leaders in ERA a year ago, was 1-2 for the Cardinals this season with a 3.23 ERA. He had made seven appearances, including four starts, and had thrown 27 2/3 innings. Brown, a rising sophomore, was 0-3 but with a 2.50 ERA in 14 appearances all in relief.
The Wolfpack’s lone other player on the Cape was rising junior outfielder Jeremy Synan, who was hitting .182 in nine games with the Chatham A’s.
Summer Baseball Notes
Way Out West: Freshman All-America second baseman Dallas Poulk is playing shortstop this summer for the Santa Barbara Foresters of the California Collegiate League with the hopes that he will be able to shift over to shortstop this coming season. Offensively, Poulk was hitting .276 (27-for-98) with six doubles, one triple, 11 RBIs, 25 runs scored and 10 steals in 13 attempts in 29 games. Defensively he had nine errors in 122 chances for a .926 fielding percentage.
Rising junior lefthander Drew Taylor also is with the Foresters and after pitching in relief his first two seasons with the Wolfpack, Taylor has moved to the starting rotation and was 3-0 with a 0.60 ERA in five games, the last two of which were starts. He had allowed seven hits and walked nine in 15 innings while striking out 18.
The Foresters, ranked the No. 2 summer college team in the country by Perfect Game USA, were 40-7 overall and 16-4 in league games, one game ahead of Santa Maria with less than a week remaining in the regular season. The defending National Baseball Congress champions, Santa Barbara begins defense of its championship on August 1.
Up North: Taylor isn’t the only 2007 member of the NC State bullpen pitching as a starter this summer. Rising senior righthander Eryk McConnell, who saved 11 games for NC State in 2007, was in the rotation for the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League, and while his stats weren’t especially pretty 2-2, 6.75 the best news is that he will be returning for his senior campaign. The Baltimore Orioles took McConnell in the 10th round of the 2007 First Year Player Draft, but talks have broken off. The Orioles have until August 15 to sign McConnell, and all signs indicate that he will be back with the Wolfpack this fall, most likely back in the starting rotation.
Rising junior Travis High, who missed the 2007 season following Tommy John surgery, is a teammate of McConnell at Madison this summer. High was 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA in 10 games, all in relief. He had worked 12 1/3 innings.
Infielder Joe Florio also was in the Northwoods League. A rising senior, Florio was hitting .156 in limited action for the Thunder Bay Border Cats.
In the Valley League: NC State has one current player and one incoming recruit in the Shenandoah Valley Legue, and both are off to terrific starts. Matt Payne, a rising senior who can play both outfield corners as well as third base, was hitting .424 (25-for-59) with a home run and 12 RBIs after 16 games for the Staunton Braves. He had two doubles, five home runs and 16 RBIs.
Nick Stanley, a rising junior catcher who is transferring to NC State from South Florida Community College, was named to the Valley League’s Southern Division All-Star team after batting .331 with 14 doubles, two home runs and 17 RBIs in 38 games for New Market.
Closer to Home in the CPL: Five Wolfpack players are on rosters in the Coastal Plain League. Rising senior outfielder Ryan Pond is with the Outer Banks Daredevils. Pond, who played for Orleans in the Cape League last summer, opted to stay in the neighborhood in 2007 and was hitting .245 (13-for-53) in 15 games. He also had made one appearance on the mound, working a scoreless inning.
Outfielder Wade Moore, a rising sophomore, was hitting .284 with four doubles, two triples and seven RBIs in 22 games for the Florence Red Wolves. Bill Edwards, another rising sophomore, was hitless in 11 at-bats for the Gastonia Grizzlies.
Lefthander Jake Kensmoe, a rising sophomore, was 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 appearances for Thomasville. He had made a pair of starts and had worked 21 2/3 innings. Joey Cutler, a rising junior righthander, was 1-2 with a 7.98 ERA for Gastonia. He had made 12 appearances, including one start.