FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame baseball team will hold its annual Blue-Gold intrasquad series this week at Eck Stadium, with the seven-inning games to be played on Tuesday, Oct. 13 (4:00 p.m.), Wednesday, Oct. 14 (4:00) and Thursday, Oct. 15 (4:00). Each game is open to the public and free-of-charge.
"We have had a terrific and competitive fall practice schedule," said fourth-year head coach Dave Schrage. "The Blue-Gold series is a great way for the players to wrap up all their hard work with three competitive battles against one another."
Members of the coaching staff will square off as bench managers of their respective teams. Associate head coach Scott Lawler will coach the Gold team while volunteer assistant Graham Sikes will be the Blue team’s skipper. Notre Dame head coach Dave Schrage and pitching coach Dave Dangler will join the fans in the stands while serving as "general managers" for the teams (each also will take part in the live-audio internet broadcasts of the game, available for free and to be linked via und.com).
The starting pitching rotations for the Blue and Gold squads are set. The Gold will use sophomore LHP Steve Sabatino (Lockport, Ill.), junior RHP Brian Dupra (Rochester, N.Y.) and sophomore LHP Joe Spano (Verona, N.J.). The Blue will counter with junior RHP Todd Miller(Franklin, Tenn.), junior RHP Cole Johnson (Hudson, Ohio) and senior RHP Steven Mazur (Round Rock, Texas).
The Gold team is headlined by returning position starters in senior OF and 2008 first-team all-BIG EAST selection David Mills (Battle Creek, Mich.), senior OFBrayden Ashdown (Tucson, Ariz.) and junior C Cameron McConnell(Bannockburn, Ill.). Sophomore LHP Ryan Richter (South Bend, Ind.) and Mills will anchor their bullpen. Senior 1B Casey Martin (Chesteron, Ind.) will serve as the Gold team’s captain.
The rest of the Gold team includes: freshman INF Adam Norton (Highland, Ind.), sophomore OF Alex Robinson (Dallas, Texas), sophomore INF Tommy Chase(Cohasset, Mass.), senior INF Herman Petzold (Saint Clair Shores, Mich.), senior OF/RHP Billy Boockford (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), senior INF Ryne Intlekofer (Moorpark, Calif.), senior INF Will Harford (Chicago, Ill.), junior OF/1B Ty Adams(Indianapolis, Ind.), junior 1B/LHP David Casey (Whitefish Bay, Wisc.), freshman C Richard Palmer (Orland Park, Ill.), freshman OF Christopher Dennis (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and junior INF Jack Peterson (La Jolla, Calif.).
Junior INF Greg Sherry (Mendham, N.J.), junior INF Mick Doyle (LaGrange Park, Ill.) and junior C/DH Matt Scioscia (Westlake Village, Calif.) will lead the Blue team. Sophomore RHP Will Hudgins (Richmond, Va.) will anchor the bullpen. Senior 1B/DH Ryan Connolly (Binghampton, N.Y.) will serve as the Blue team’s captain.
The rest of the Blue team includes: freshman C/INF Joe Hudson (Odessa, Fla.), sophomore LHP Dustin Ispas (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), senior OF Matt Grosso (Marlborough, Conn.), freshman OF Charlie Markson (Whitefish Bay, Wisc.), freshman RHP Patrick Veerkamp (Fort Wayne, Ind.), senior RHP Andrew Scheid (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), junior RHP Ryan Sharpley (Marshall, Mich.), freshman INF Frank Desico (Cleveland, Ohio), senior OF Bill Warrender (Collegeville, Pa.), junior LHP Joe Spizzirri (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and sophomore RHP J.P. McCabe (Flanders, N.J.).
Notre Dame’s two players who are current members of the Irish football team – senior RHP Eric Maust (Alpharetta, Ga.) and junior CFGolden Tate (Hendersonville, Tenn.) – will not play in the Blue-Gold Series due to their football commitments.
The most noteworthy Blue-Gold series of the current decade took place in the fall of 2001, featuring a first look at the nation’s top-ranked freshman class (a group that included the likes of Chris Niesel, Matt Macri, Grant Johnson and John Axford). The young Gold team won the first (7-4) and third (3-2) games in the 2001 series while the Blue dominated game-2 (19-8). Second baseman Steve Sollmann paced the Blue by hitting 8-for-13 (HR, 3B, 3 2B) while Niesel (R, 3H, 5 Ks) and Axford (5 H, BB, 5 Ks) picked up wins for the Gold in their max. 5-inning stints. Macri batted 5-for-11 as the Gold’s starting shortstop, with a triple and linedrive home run in the decisive third game. Macri also closed the 7th inning to save that game, striking out Sollmann and inducing a groundout from Paul O’Toole for the dramatic ending.
Niesel later added an opening win for the Gold in the 2002 series (5 IP, R, 3 H, 7 Ks) while the pitching stars in 2003 included LHP Joe Thaman, a converted first baseman who won game-1 for the Blue (4 IP, 5 H, 3 Ks).
GOLD ROSTER 1 Adam Norton FR RHP/INF R/R 6-1 175 Highland, IN (Andrean) 2 Alex Robinson SO OF B/R 6-0 170 Dallas, TX (First Baptist Academy) 5 David Mills SR OF/LHP L/L 5-9 165 Battle Creek, MI (Lakeview) 6 Brian Dupra JR RHP R/R 6-3 200 Rochester, NY (Greece Athena) 11 Tommy Chase SO INF R/R 5-10 165 Cohasset, MA (Boston College HS) 12 Brayden Ashdown SR OF R/R 6-1 180 Tucson, AZ (Catalina Foothills) 13 Herman Petzold SR INF R/R 5-8 175 Saint Clair Shores, MI (De LaSalle) 17 Billy Boockford SR OF/RHP R/R 6-1 195 Glen Ellyn, IL (Glenbard West) 21 Joe Spano SO LHP L/L 5-11 165 Verona, NJ (Seton Hall Prep) 22 Evan Danieli JR RHP R/R 6-7 230 East Hanover, NJ (Seton Hall Prep) 23 Ryan Richter SO LHP L/L 6-3 205 South Bend, IN (St. Joseph's) 28 Cameron McConnell JR C R/R 6-1 205 Bannockburn, IL (Deerfield) 29 Ryne Intlekofer SR INF R/R 5-9 160 Moorpark, CA (Moorpark) 30 Will Harford SR INF/C R/R 6-0 180 Chicago, IL (Kent School [CT])ÂÂ 33 Ty Adams JR 1B/OF R/R 6-6 235 Indianapolis, IN (Brebeuf Jesuit) 38 Casey Martin SR 1B R/R 6-4 230 Chesterton, IN (Chesterton) 44 David Casey JR 1B/LHP L/L 6-4 235 Whitefish Bay, WI (Whitefish Bay) 52 Steve Sabatino SO LHP/1B L/L 6-2 200 Lockport, IL (Lockport Township) 60 Richard Palmer FR C R/R 6-0 185 Orland Park, IL (Brother Rice) 61 Christopher Dennis FR OF R/R 6-2 200 Ft. Lauderdale, FL (St. Thomas Aquinas) 62 Jack Peterson JR INF L/R 6-0 175 La Jolla, CA (La Jolla)BLUE ROSTER 4 Joe Hudson FR C/INF R/R 6-0 190 Odessa, FL (Tampa Jesuit) 7 Dustin Ispas SO LHP L/L 6-1 190 Rancho Cucamonga, CA (Los Osos) 8 Matt Grosso SR OF L/L 5-10 175 Marlborough, CT (RHAM/Maine/UConn) 10 Ryan Connolly SR OF/C R/R 5-11 190 Binghamton, NY (Binghamton) 14 Matt Scioscia JR C/1B R/R 6-1 225 Westlake Village, CA (Encino Crespi Carmelite) 15 Greg Sherry JR INF R/R 5-10 180 Mendham, NJ (Delbarton) 18 Steven Mazur SR RHP R/R 6-0 195 Round Rock, TX (Stony Point) 19 Todd Miller JR RHP R/R 6-3 195 Franklin, TN (Montgomery Bell Academy) 20 Charlie Markson FR OF L/R 6-2 180 Whitefish Bay, WI (Whitefish Bay) 24 Patrick Veerkamp FR RHP R/R 6-2 180 Fort Wayne, IN (Homestead) 26 Mick Doyle JR INF R/R 6-1 200 LaGrange Park, IL (Benet Academy) 31 Andrew Scheid SR RHP R/R 6-6 205 Highlands Ranch, CO (Regis Jesuit) 34 Ryan Sharpley JR RHP R/R 6-4 210 Marshall, MI (Marshall) 35 Frank Desico FR INF R/R 5-10 185 Cleveland, OH (St. Ignatius) 37 Cole Johnson JR RHP R/R 6-3 200 Hudson, OH (Hudson) 41 Bill Warrender SR OF R/R 6-1 190 Collegeville, PA (LaSalle Collegiate) 43 Joe Spizzirri JR LHP L/L 6-2 180 San Juan Capistrano, CA (JSerra Catholic) 45 Will Hudgins SO RHP R/R 6-3 180 Richmond, VA (Douglas Freeman) 57 J.P. McCabe SO RHP R/R 6-0 180 Flanders, NJ
