Wacha excited to be selected to Team USA

COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M announced on Monday that sophomore right-handed pitcher Michael Wacha has been added to the Team USA baseball roster for the summer of 2011. He will represent A&M and his country during a 19-day domestic trip that will feature action against other top international teams.

"I was really excited whenever Coach [Childress] called me [in his office] and told me the news," Wacha said. "It's a great honor and I'm really excited for the summer."

The Pleasant Grove (Texarkana) High School product becomes the 13th player in Texas A&M history to suit up for Team USA and the first since 1999, when slugger Daylon Holt donned the red, white and blue following his sophomore season.

Wacha hopes to represent Aggieland proudly this summer.

"It's great. I love A&M and I'm happy to represent them. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody else on our team (Tyler Naquin is the only other Aggie with a realistic shot) got selected. Then we could both go and represent A&M."

"It's a great tribute and a great opportunity for somebody that is more than deserving," Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress added. "Michael has been a big part of our staff for the [last] two years, and this is going to be a great experience for him to represent Texas A&M and our baseball program, playing for Team USA. It's well-deserved and well-earned, and I'm excited that he's representing our university and our baseball program this summer."

Wacha heard the news last week, but had known since last fall that he was on the Team USA radar.

"Coach Clement (A&M's volunteer assistant) talked to me about it a little in the fall, saying that Team USA was thinking about me," Wacha said. "I actually forgot that they even talked to me about [playing for Team USA]. He told me about it in the fall and I let it slip my mind. And then whenever Coach [Childress] told me the news about a week ago, it caught me by surprise."

Wacha is in the middle of a spectacular sophomore campaign. He is 4-2 with a 1.81 ERA and a .234 opponents' batting average. He hopes that the Team USA experience will help make him an even better pitcher entering his junior season in Aggieland.

"Hopefully I'll just go out there and compete and get better over the summer. I'll still work out and get stronger, and get ready for next season, as well."

Both Wacha and Childress agree that his inclusion on the national team could pay major dividends for Texas A&M on the recruiting trail.

"Hopefully this will [help A&M] get some of the best arms in the country," Wacha said. "Coach Childress is a great pitching coach as well as a [great] head coach. He just does phenomenal work with all of our guys here."

"It will help us in recruiting," Childress added. "Here is a kid that was un-drafted out of high school … a small-town kid that has come in here and worked hard. Not only has he been a Freshman All-American, he's getting an opportunity to pitch for Team USA and is going to be a top pick in next year's draft."

*Note: Team USA is selected from a pool of top non-draft-eligible players across the country. In other words, John Stilson could not be be selected because he is a junior and eligible for the Major League Draft this coming June. Typically, the team consists of freshmen and sophomores.