Ex-NDSU Shortstop Nicole Rivera Selected to USA Women's Baseball Pan Am Games Roster
5/29/2015 3:45:00 PM | Softball
U.S. Women's Pan Am Games Roster Announced
DURHAM, N.C.--USA Baseball announced the 18 players named to the 2015 U.S. Women's Baseball National Team following the completion of three days of on-field trials in North Carolina and former North Dakota State shortstop Nicole Rivera part of the group that will represent Team USA, July 20 to 26, when women's baseball makes its multi-sport event debut at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.
The 2015 U.S. Women's Pan American Baseball Team is made up of 18 athletes from eight different states. California led the way with six selections, followed by four from Texas, three from Florida and single representatives from Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Washington.
Rivera, who started 225 career games for the Bison from 2008-11, was a two-time all-Summit League performer for North Dakota State including first team honors in 2010. She was a valuable member of three Summit League tournament championship teams including the 2009 unit that went on to win the NCAA Norman Regional and advance to the NCAA Tempe Super Regional.
Rivera, who is from Lakeside, Calif., finished her career with a .313 batting average, three home runs and 55 runs batted in. She ranks third all-time in stolen bases (95) and stolen base attempts (107); fifth in fielding assists (383) and double plays turned (31); eighth in at bats (726) and runs scored (147), and ninth in hits (147).
Twelve of the 18 players represented Team USA, including Rivera, in the first-ever Pan American Games Women's Baseball Qualifier in La Vega, Dominican Republic, where the U.S. went a perfect 5-0, winning gold and qualifying to compete in the Pan American Games for the first time. Thirteen of the selected athletes have previously competed with the Women's National Team in World Cup events, most notably Malaika Underwood and Tamara Holmes who have competed in five and four World Cups, respectively.
The roster also includes the reigning USA Baseball Sportswoman of the Year, Sarah Hudek, as well as Holmes and Jenna Marston who earned the sportswoman of the year honor in 2012 and 2010.
The U.S. Women's National Team will reconvene on July 8 to prepare for the Pan American Games with 10 days of training both domestically and in Canada. Team USA will meet Venezuela on July 20 at President's Choice Ajax Pan Am Ballpark in Ajax, Ontario, in the historic first-ever women's baseball game in the Pan American Games. It will also be the first women's baseball game contested at a multi-sport, multi-nation event.
Team USA's pool play schedule includes Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Canada. Pan American Games semifinals are scheduled on July 25 with the medal round games on July 26.
The Women's National Team will be led by Jonathan Pollard, who returns as manager after guiding the 2014 USA Baseball Women's National Team to a silver medal at the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup in Miyazaki, Japan, last September. Pollard will be joined on the staff by pitching coach, Matt Weagle, and assistant coaches, Kerry Kincaid and Mike Morgan. Cameron Harris will serve as press officer for the U.S. delegation during the Toronto Pan American Games.
The 18-woman U.S. Women's Baseball Pan American Games roster is as follows:
Name, Position, Hometown
Veronica Alvarez, C, Miami, Fla.
Ryleigh Buck, IF/RHP, Wellington, Kan.
Samantha Cobb, OF/RHP, Garland, Texas
Veronica Gajownik, IF/RHP, Chuluota, Fla.
Brittany Gomez, OF, New Braunfels, Texas
Jade Gortarez, IF/RHP, Riverside, Calif.
Tara Harbert, OF, Boulder, Colo.
Tamara Holmes, OF, Albany, Calif.
Sarah Hudek, LHP/OF, Sugar Land, Texas
Anna Kimbrell, C/RHP, Fort Mill, S.C.
Jenna Marston, RHP/IF, St. Louis, Mo.
Stacy Piagno, RHP, St. Augustine, Fla.
Nicole Rivera, IF/RHP, Lakeside, Calif.
Cydnee Sanders, IF/RHP, Magnolia, Texas
Marti Sementelli, RHP, Sherman Oak, Calif.
Michelle Snyder, IF/RHP, Wenatchee, Wash.
Malaika Underwood, IF, San Diego, Calif.
Kelsie Whitmore, OF/RHP, Temecula, Calif.
For more information on the Women's National Team program, please visit USABaseball.com or follow @USABaseballWNT on Twitter.
