Third Bruin Invited to 1999 USA Baseball Summer Training Camp
May 26, 1999
Sophomore LF Bill Scott was included in the final round of collegiate players invited to participate in this summer's USA Baseball training camp. Scott and UCLA teammates sophomore RHP Jon Brandt and freshman RHP Josh Karp will compete against 37 other college baseball players for 22 spots on the 1999 USA Baseball National Team. The Granada Hills, CA native was one of four final invitees, joining LHP Pat Pinkman and LHP Larry Bowles of Virginia Tech and C Bryan Kennedy of Long Beach State. Trials will begin on June 9 at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ, current spring training home of the Colorado Rockies. The addition of Scott ties UCLA with Arizona for the most invitees.
The sophomore slugger has had a breakthrough season for the Bruins, who are headed to Wichita State University to play Oklahoma State in game one of the NCAA Tournament's Wichita Regional on Friday, May 28 at 1:00pm PST. He leads the Bruins in almost every major offensive category including average (.372), home runs (25), RBI (79), total bases (177), slugging percentage (.783), on-base % (.459), 2-out RBI (27), in multi-hit games (30) and multi-RBI games (22). This first team All Pac-10 selection and two-time "Pac-10 Player of the Week" award winner also leads the entire conference in total bases and home runs and is 13th nationally in homers per game with an average of 0.42. He has homered in each of his last six games, breaking the school record.
On March 30 at Washington, Scott hit four home runs, including two grand slams, knocked in 11 runs, and racked up 17 total bases against the Huskies in a 16-15 loss. All three achievements set Pac-10 records. No one in thirty years of Pac-10 baseball and 80 years of Bruin baseball has accomplished what Scott did in that game. In addition, Scott was 5-for-6 in the game with five runs scored, which places him second on the all-time Pac-10 single-game runs list. He garnered "Pac-10 Player of the Week" and "Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week" honors for his record-setting performance.
The U.S. National Team will play the Japanese Collegiate All-Star Team in Japan from June 22-July 1, compete in a USWest sponsored Red, White, and Blue Summer Tour and is also entered in the NBC World Series in Wichita, KS, August 6-17. They begin their schedule on June 12 at Hi Corbett Field against the Mexican National Team in the opener of a four-game series.