BATON ROUGE — LSU baseball coach Smoke Laval returned to Baton Rouge Tuesday from Tucson, Ariz., where he served as an evaluator in the selection process for the 2003 USA National Team. The team, which opens its summer tour Wednesday in Durham, N.C., versus Japan, will represent the United States in the Pan American Games next month in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Laval, the 2003 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year, assisted USA coach Ray Tanner — the head coach at South Carolina — and his staff in selecting the 20-man National Team roster during a weeklong tryout period.
The team is composed of some of the nation’s top freshman and sophomore collegiate players.
“I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the team selection process,” Laval said. “Working with USA Baseball is truly a privilege, and I’m hopeful my role with the National Team can expand in future years. The 2003 team features some fantastic young talent that will represent our country extremely well in the Pan Am Games.”
Laval worked closely with Tanner and his staff, which consists of three college head coaches — Dick Cooke of Davidson, Mark Scalf of North Carolina-Wilmington and Mike Weathers of Long Beach State.
During the trials, players were evaluated in the following areas — hitting for power, hitting for average, arm strength, fielding ability, running speed, aptitude, attitude and ability to play a secondary position.
Southeastern Conference players on the squad include Ole Miss outfielder Seth Smith, Auburn pitcher Steven Register, Ole Miss pitcher/infielder Stephen Head and South Carolina pitcher Matt Campbell.
Statistics and results from the USA National Team summer tour, including the Pan American Games, can be accessed at www.usabaseball.com.