6/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 24, 2009
CARY, N.C. - Coastal Carolina University lefthanded pitcher Cody Wheeler (Spotsylvania, Va./Spotsylvania) has made the 22-man roster for the 2009 USA Baseball National Collegiate Team, the organization announced tonight. Wheeler was one of 10 pitchers and one of only two lefthanded pitchers to make the team.
Wheeler was 10-1 with a 3.83 earned-run average in 15 starts this season for the Chanticleers. The Big South Pitcher of the Year has struck out a team and conference high 98 batters in 91.2 innings pitched this year. Wheeler pitched a complete-game no-hitter in a 4-0 win over Hawai'i March 26 and had seven-inning, one-hit performances in wins over Stony Brook and VMI. Wheeler was 7-0 in Big South games and has 63 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched in conference matchups. He was named the Big South Pitcher of the Week three times this season. The Chanticleer opponents hit just .222 off Wheeler. He was named a Louisville Slugger Third Team All-America and was an All-Atlantic Region First Team member.
The National Team begins its summer season Thursday, opening a five-game series against the Canadian National Team in Cary, N.C. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET at the National Training Complex. Following its domestic exhibition schedule, the U.S. will travel to Japan to compete in the 37th Annual Japan vs. USA Collegiate Championships before closing out its summer in Canada at the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline World Baseball Challenge in Prince George, British Columbia.
Wheeler is the second Chanticleer in as many years to be on the USA Collegiate National Team. Sophomore Scott Woodward (Markle, Ind./Norwell) was on last year's team that went 24-0 and won the FISU World University Championships in the Czech Republic and the Honkbal Tournament in the Netherlands.
