FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
DURHAM, N.C. — USA Baseball announced the four members of the 2011 Collegiate National Team coaching staff on Thursday. Missouri’s Tim Jamieson will manage the club next summer, and he will be joined by pitching coach Rob Walton (Oral Roberts) and assistant coaches Dave Van Horn (Arkansas) and Scott Stricklin (Kent State).
Jamieson and Walton made their Team USA debuts together on the 2005 Collegiate National Team coaching staff, serving as an assistant coach and the pitching coach, respectively, for manager Steve Smith of Baylor. Van Horn and Stricklin will both be wearing the red, white and blue for the first time.
“We are thrilled to announce Tim Jamieson as our 2011 manager,” said Eric Campbell, USA Baseball General Manager of National Teams. “His experience from 2005 — coaching players like David Price, Matt Wieters and Matt LaPorta — will serve him well, and teaming him with Dave Van Horn, Scott Stricklin and Rob Walton will provide our athletes with a unique opportunity to learn from some of the best college coaches in the game. Once again, the college coaching community has rallied around the Collegiate National Team program.”
Tim Jamieson enters his 17th season as the head coach of the Missouri Tigers in 2011. He is the second-winningest coach in Mizzou baseball history and will begin the 2011 campaign with a career record of 544-382-2. In 2009, Jamieson passed legendary head coach John “Hi” Simmons on the university’s all-time win list and trails only Gene McArtor’s 733 victories. While with the 2005 Collegiate Team, Jamieson helped lead Team USA to a 16-4 record, which included games played in Japan and Taiwan. He was accompanied that summer by Missouri players Max Scherzer and Hunter Mense, the first Collegiate National Team representatives for MU since 1991.
ORU’s Rob Walton returns for his third stint with Team USA. In addition to his time with the 2005 club, Walton managed the 2008 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, which, in finishing an undefeated 24-0, is widely considered one of the greatest U.S. Collegiate Teams of all time. Known as one of the top pitching minds in baseball, Walton helped lead an ’08 staff that featured the likes of Stephen Strasburg, Mike Leake, Mike Minor and Kyle Gibson. Walton will be entering his eighth season as manager of the Golden Eagles in 2011. He owns a 290-120 (.707) record over that span, and he is a four-time Summit League Coach of the Year.
Next spring will mark Dave Van Horn’s ninth season as head coach of Arkansas. In 2010, the Razorbacks made it through to their second consecutive super regional for the first time ever, and they later advanced to Omaha for the sixth time in program history. Four Arkansas players were drafted in the first five rounds of the 2010 Major League First-Year Player Draft, including Zack Cox who went No. 25 overall to St. Louis. Van Horn holds a career record of 319-179 (.641) at Arkansas and an overall record of 904-419 (.683) in 22 years as a head coach.
Scott Stricklin enters his seventh season as head coach of the Kent State baseball program in 2011. The Kent State alum and 2006 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year has guided his alma mater to a 222-128 overall record, including five MAC championships and three NCAA tournament appearances. The Golden Flashes closed out the 2010 regular season with their fourth MAC East Division crown in five years, and they won five elimination games in three days to capture the MAC tournament title and earn a trip to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional — its second consecutive NCAA berth.
The Collegiate National Team is coming off a 16-3 2010 season which ended in a heart-breaking loss in the gold medal final of the FISU World University Championships in Japan. The U.S. lost 4-3 in extra innings to a Cuban team featuring several players from its top-level National Team. The 2011 schedule is highlighted by five games against Japan, marking the 38th time the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team has met the Japan Collegiate All-Stars in an international friendship series. The complete 2011 schedule has yet to be announced.
