Bruno Earns National Team Spot
CARY, N.C. - Ryan Bruno, who recently completed his sophomore season with the Cardinal, has earned a spot on the 26-man USA Baseball Collegiate National Team following a five-game intrasquad series that served as a tryout during a national team training camp.
The Collegiate National Team, led by Mike Bianco, will represent Team USA at Honkbalweek Haarlem from July 8-15 at Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, Netherlands. Bianco, who capped his 24th season leading Ole Miss by winning its first-ever College World Series title, is joined on staff by Xan Barksdale, Drew Bianco (LSU), Scott Brown (Vanderbilt), Cliff Godwin (ECU), and Josh Holliday (Oklahoma State).
"A week ago, as I sat with the fifty-one players that we invited to Cary, I told them what a tremendous honor this is because you are fifty-one of the best amateur baseball players in the United States of America," said Bianco. "To narrow it down nearly in half is quite a task. We shared with all of them, as honestly and candidly as we could, that there are players that will go home that will play in the big leagues and be All-Americans next year. I commend these coaches and the USA Baseball committee on the selections we have made. We can't wait to get to work today and on the road to winning the championship at Honkbalweek."
Bruno made two appearances during the National Team camp, striking out three and allowing just one hit and a walk over two innings of work. The left-hander made a team-best 30 appearances for the Cardinal this year, compiling a 6-1 record with a 2.72 ERA over 39 2/3 innings. Bruno locked up one save and struck out 71 batters (16.11 strikeouts per nine innings) while limiting opponents to a .150 average against.
Seventeen different schools are represented on the 2022 Collegiate National Team roster, with Bruno serving as the only representative from the Pac-12.
The roster features four returning members from last summer's Collegiate National Team: Dylan Crews (LSU), Jacob Gonzalez (Ole Miss), Paul Skenes, and Kyle Teel (Virginia).
Team USA will travel to the Netherlands on Wednesday and begin Honkbalweek Haarlem on Saturday, July 9. The stars and stripes open against Japan at 8 a.m. ET and follow with games against Italy, Cuba, the Netherlands, and Curacao to complete group play. All games will be streamed online via HonkbalSoftbal.tv.
The U.S. has competed at Honkbalweek Haarlem five times since 2000 and has earned four gold medals in that time, including winning the championship in its most recent appearance at the event in 2014. Team USA also won gold in the event's 2000, 2002, and 2008 editions and earned a bronze medal in 2012.
Stanford's Braden Montgomery also attended the training camp, but the two-way standout was not selected for the national team's trip to the Netherlands.