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Ainsworth Named to 2000 U.S. Olympic Team

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
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Ainsworth Named to 2000 U.S. Olympic Team

Courtesy of the Shreveport Captains

LOS ANGELES — Former Tiger and now Shreveport Captains right-handed pitcher Kurt Ainsworth was named to the 2000 Summer Olympic United States Baseball team, it was announced Wednesday.

Ainsworth, 21, was the San Francisco Giants No. 1 pick in 1999 out of LSU. This season in 27 games, he is 8-9 with an ERA of 3.54 with the Class Double-A Captains of the Texas League.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Ainsworth said. “To have a chance to represent your country and play for the gold medal is something you can only dream about.”

He is scheduled to leave Sept. 1 to head to San Diego where the team will meet for workouts before heading to Sydney.

Ainsworth is joined by two other players who have strong ties to Louisiana. Former Captain and now current Minnesota Twins catcher Marcus Jensen was named to the team. Jensen played with the Captains in 1995.

Ben Sheets from University of Louisiana-Monroe was also selected to the team. The St. Amant native was drafted in the first round in 1999 by the Milwaukee Brewers and is currently playing for its AAA team in Indianapolis.

Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda will be the manager for the 29-man squad.

The roster will be pared to 24 after a series of six exhibition games on Australia’s Gold Coast just prior to the Olympic tournament, which begins Sept. 17. The U.S. opens play against Japan, and the five players who don’t make the final cut will remain Down Under as alternates.

PITCHERS
Kurt Ainsworth? 21? San Francisco/Shreveport?
*Ryan Franklin? 27? Seattle/Tacoma?
Chris George? 20? Kansas City/Omaha?
Matt Ginter? 22? Chicago White Sox/Birmingham?
Shane Heams? 24? Detroit/Jacksonville?
*Rick Krivda? 30? Baltimore/Rochester?
Roy Oswalt? 22? Houston/Round Rock?
Jon Rauch? 21? Chicago White Sox/Charlotte?
C.C. Sabathia? 20? Cleveland/Akron?
Bobby Seay? 22? Tampa Bay/Orlando?
Ben Sheets? 22? Milwaukee/Indianapolis?
Todd Williams? 29? Seattle/Tacoma?
*Tim Young? 31? Boston/Pawtucket?
CATCHERS
*Pat Borders? 37? Tampa Bay/Durham?
*Mike Kinkade? 27? Baltimore/Rochester?
*Marcus Jensen? 27? Minnesota/Salt Lake?
INFIELDERS
Brent Abernathy? 22? Tampa Bay/Durham?
Sean Burroughs? 19? San Diego/Mobile?
Brent Butler? 22? Colorado/Colo. Springs?
Mike Coolbaugh? 28? N.Y. Yankees/Columbus?
*Travis Dawkins? 21? Cincinnati/Chattanooga?
Adam Everett? 23? Houston/New Orleans?
*Shawn Gilbert? 35? Los Angeles/Albequerque?
*Mark Johnson? 24? N.Y. Mets/Norfolk?
*Doug Mientkiewicz? 26? Minnesota/Salt Lake?
OUTFIELDERS
*Mike Neill? 30? Seattle/Tacoma?
*Anthony Sanders? 26? Seattle/Tacoma?
Brad Wilkerson? 23? Montreal/Ottawa?
*Ernie Young? 31? St. Louis/Memphis?
* denotes players with major-league experience