Kendall Shines In CNT Trials

LOS ANGELES—Jeren Kendall laid down a sacrifice bunt in his first plate appearance for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team on Tuesday, earning some playful admonishment from manager George Horton when he returned to the dugout.

“I teased him a little bit,” said Horton, whose day job is Oregon’s head coach. “Told him ‘Hey, we didn’t bring you here to bunt.’”

Apparently, the Vanderbilt center fielder took Horton’s message to heart.

Kendall launched a long two-run homer and added an RBI single to pace a seven-run third inning, leading the Collegiate National Team to a 10-6 victory over the Santa Barbara Foresters of the California Collegiate League at Dodger Stadium.

Kendall’s blast in his first plate appearance after the sac bunt came on a first-pitch fastball from Texas righthander Connor Mayes, and landed seven rows back in the right-field pavilion.

“My philosophy is I’m trying to get out of the box in two pitches, so I’m going to go right away,” said Kendall, who was 2-for-2 with three RBIs. “First-pitch fastball, if it’s a strike, I’m going to swing at it.”

The home run easily cleared the 375-foot mark on the wall in right-center and was another reminder that Kendall’s slight 6-foot, 190-pound frame is not necessarily representative of his power.

Kendall was second on the Commodores with nine home runs and a .568 slugging percentage this spring, which followed up an eight home run campaign as a freshman.

“I’d call him sneaky strong,” Horton said. “He’s got those fast-twitch levers for running speed, he throws extremely well (and) he has power. That’s why the scouts are up there salivating. He’s a five-tool guy and a great young man on top of that.

“He’s an awfully gifted guy, we knew that,” Horton added. “When you start building a team like this and you look around the country, he’s a name that comes up on the board very early.”

With Kendall leading the way, the CNT led 8-0 by the end of the third inning. Louisville’s Brendan McKay followed Kendall’s homer with an RBI single three batters later in the third and Oregon State’s K.J. Harrison followed with a two-run single. Team USA batted around to get Kendall another at-bat in the frame, and he ripped an RBI single into right to cap the scoring.

“I think I’ve understood my swing enough to where I think I can do both (homer and put it on the ground),” Kendall said. “It’s rather that than just being a guy who puts the ball on the ground and bunts as the only part of their game.”

McKay was 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored, Harrison went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Kentucky’s Evan White went 4-for-6 with two RBIs out of the leadoff spot to pace a 17-hit attack for the Collegiate National Team.

“We hit good,” Horton said. “I wouldn’t necessarily categorize that as a total team effort, but we did enough offensively.”

While Kendall led the offense, his Vanderbilt teammate Kyle Wright had the strongest showing of the five pitchers who took the mound for Team USA.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound righthander drew the start and pitched three scoreless innings with two hits allowed, a walk and two strikeouts to earn the win.

Wright mostly sat 92-93 mph with his fastball, touching 95, with a 76-78 mph curveball as his main secondary offering.

“As I kind of started to throw and get loose in the bullpen, I was thinking, ‘Wow I’m pitching in Dodger Stadium, it doesn’t get much better than that,’” said Wright, who said he had never previously pitched in a major league stadium. “I felt good, my arm felt really good. It was my first time throwing in a game in a while so I was a little shaky at first with my command, but I started to feel better as the game went on.”

Oregon shortstop Travis Moniot and Texas State outfielder Dylan Paul each went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored to lead the Foresters. UC Irvine center fielder Evan Cassaloto also provided a highlight for the Foresters when he threw Jake Burger out at home with a strong one-hopper to the plate.

The Collegiate National Team plays the Foresters again on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern at UC Santa Barbara.

The CNT closes out trials on July 2 at which point it’ll cut down to 26 players for a series in Taiwan July 5-9. From there, it’ll cut down to 24 for a five-game series in Japan on July 12-17.