JOURNAL SPORTS
BATON ROUGE — LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews and first baseman Tre’ Morgan have been named to the final 26-man U.S. Collegiate National Team Roster, USA Baseball announced on Tuesday.
The U.S. Collegiate National Team will compete at Honkbalweek Haarlem for a week beginning Friday at Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, Netherlands. The final squad was named after completing the 2022 Collegiate National Team Training Camp, a five-game intrasquad series played throughout North Carolina.
LSU is one of five schools with two players on the U.S. Collegiate National Team, along with Florida State, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
Team USA will travel to the Netherlands on Wednesday and begin Honkbalweek Haarlem on Saturday. The Stars and Stripes open against Japan at 7 a.m. CT Saturday and follow with games against Italy, Cuba, the Netherlands and Curacao to complete group play. All games will be streamed online via HonkbalSoftbal.tv.
The 2022 Collegiate Team is led by manager Mike Bianco of College World Series champion Ole Miss, and he is joined on the staff by Xan Barksdale, Scott Brown (Vanderbilt), Cliff Godwin (East Carolina), Josh Holliday (Oklahoma State) and Mike’s son Drew Bianco, who is serving as Team USA’s bullpen coach after completing his fourth season as an LSU player.
The roster features four returning members from last summer’s Collegiate National Team, including Crews, Jacob Gonzalez (Ole Miss), Paul Skenes (Air Force), and Kyle Teel (Virginia). Yohandy Morales (Miami) is the fifth and final member of the roster with national team experience, having played for the Red, White, and Blue as a member of the 2013 12U National Team–where he won a world title–and the 2018 18U National Team.
This is the third time Crews and Skenes have made a national team, playing on the 2017 15U and 2014 12U National Teams, respectively, in addition to the 2021 Collegiate team.
Five of the athletes on the 2022 roster also participated in the USA Baseball National Team Development Program (NTDP). Crews worked his way through the NTDP three times.
The U.S. has competed at Honkbalweek Haarlem five times since 2000 and has earned four gold medals in that time, including winning the championship in its most recent appearance at the event in 2014. Team USA also won gold in the event’s 2000, 2002, and 2008 editions and earned a bronze medal in 2012.
Photo courtesy LSU ATHLETICS
