June 17, 1997
Bears Contributing to USA Baseball National Team
The 1997 USA Baseball National Team, led by California head coach Bob Milano, is off to a 5-1 start this summer, most recently defeating Nicaragua, 10-5, Tuesday in at Space Coast Stadium (the official training site of USA Baseball).
Two current Cal baseball players, sophomore shortstop Brian Oliver and sophomore catcher Jason Hill, have both made the USA National Team's 24-man travel roster that will go to Japan for a five-game, four-city tour versus the Japanese Collegiate All-Star Team. This year's competition marks the 26th consecutive year the two countries have met for the USA-Japan College Baseball Championships and represents USA Baseball's first trip to Japan since 1994.
Oliver and Hill are playing extremely well for USA Baseball so far this summer. Oliver, a first team All-Pac-10 selection this spring, has started four of the team's five games at second base, batting .400 (6-for-15) with five runs and is 2-for-3 in stolen bases. Hill has started 3-of-5 games for Team USA behind the plate and is batting .545 (third on the team, 6-for-11) with two doubles and four RBI.
