Cal's Josh White, Dylan Beavers Named to Collegiate National Baseball Team
Two Cal baseball players who developed from little-used freshmen in 2020 to standouts as sophomores this season were selected to the 2021 U.S. Collegiate National Team.
Golden Bears pitcher Josh White, who was among the Pac-12 leaders in ERA, and outfielder Dylan Beavers, who led the conference in home runs, were two of the 48 college players named to the team this week.
Also, Cal pitcher Paulshawn Pasqualotto earned a spot on the 2021 Perfect Game/Rawlings Freshman All-America Second Team following an impressive rookie season with the Golden Bears. He was Cal's No. 3 starter and posted a 4-3 record with a 4.57 ERA.
White and Beavers will continue playing high-visibility games. Instead of playing international competition, the Collegiate National Team will be split into two teams, the Stars and the Stripes, and will go head-to-head in 11 games beginning July 2.
Ten of the 11 games will be played in the cities of the Appalachian League, which is in its first season as a summer collegiate league as part of the Major League Baseball and USA Baseball's Prospect Development Pipeline.
The Collegiate National Team will also play a game at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, on July 4.
As a freshman in 2020, Beavers played in just 12 games, including eight starts, and hit .250 with one home run.
He was not among the Bears’ starters at the beginning of the 2021 season, but quickly established himself as major part of the batting order. He finished with a conference-leading 18 home runs while batting .303 with an OPS of 1.031. Beavers was named all-conference.
White appeared in just four games as a freshman and had a 5.84 ERA with no decisions. However, he became the Bears’ closer for much of the 2021 season before being used as a starter late in the year.
He had a 5-3 record and led the Pac-12 in ERA for much of the 2021 season before finishing with a 2.79 ERA, second-best in the conference.
White has outstanding stuff, as indicated by his 81 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings. His 11.89 strikeouts per nine innings ranked second in the Pac-12.
With the selections of Beavers and White, Cal has had 13 baseball players play for the Collegiate National Team dating back to 1990.
Here are former Bears who were on the Collegiate National team. The seven most recent selections all went on to play in the majors, as did eight of the 11:
Mike Harrison (1990)
Ryan Drese (1995)
Jason Hill (1997)
Brian Oliver (1997)
Xavier Nady (1998, 1999, 2000)
Mike Tonis (1999)
Conor Jackson (2002)
Tyson Ross (2007)
Blake Smith (2008)
Daulton Jefferies (2015)
Andrew Vaughn (2017, 2018)
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2021 U.S. Collegiate National Team Schedule:
--Friday, July 2; Stars vs. Stripes; Danville, Virginia; 7 p.m.
--Saturday, July 3; Stars vs. Stripes; Burlington, North Carolina; TBD
--Sunday, July 4; Stars vs. Stripes; Cary, North Carolina; 1:30 p.m.
--Tuesday, July 6; Stars vs. Stripes; Greeneville, Tennessee; 7 p.m.
--Wednesday, July 7; Stars vs. Stripes; Johnson City, Tennessee; 7 p.m.
--Thursday, July 8; Stars vs. Stripes; Bristol, Virginia; 7 p.m.
--Friday, July 9; Stars vs. Stripes; Elizabethton, Virginia; 7 p.m.
--Saturday, July 10; Stars vs. Stripes; Kingsport, Tennessee; TBD
--Tuesday, July 13; Stars vs. Stripes; Pulaski, Virginia; 7 p.m.
--Wednesday, July 14; Stars vs. Stripes; Princeton, West Virginia; 7 p.m.
--Thursday, July 15; Stars vs. Stripes; Bluefield, West Virginia; 6:30 p.m.
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Cover photos of Josh White and Dylan Beavers by KLC Fotos
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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