Southern Miss Pitcher Grayden Harris Named to 2026 USA Baseball Collegiate Team
Grayden Harris, a left-handed pitcher at the University of Southern Mississippi, has been named to the 28-man roster of the 2026 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. The team will compete at the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship in Taichung City, Taiwan, from July 11-15, according to USA Baseball.
Harris impressed during 11 days of workouts, practices, and scrimmages in North Carolina and Virginia. In two starts before the team’s departure, he allowed no runs or walks, with four hits and eight strikeouts over five innings, USA Baseball said.
“After nearly two weeks of an extremely competitive training camp, we are excited to finalize the roster that will represent the United States,” said Eric Campbell, USA Baseball’s general manager of professional and collegiate national teams. “The talent at training camp was incredible and made this decision difficult, but we are confident these 28 players will represent the U.S. well in our quest for gold.”
The roster features players from 21 schools and five conferences. Florida leads with three players, while Auburn, Mississippi State, Oregon, UCLA, and Vanderbilt each have two representatives. The Southeastern Conference has 16 players, the most among all conferences, followed by the Big Ten and Big 12 with six each.
The tournament format includes five days of play, with pool games beginning July 11. The U.S. will face Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Japan in pool play, with semifinals and medal games scheduled for July 14 and 15, respectively. The team is managed by Dan Hartleb, with coaches Matt Hobbs, Jonathan Hernandez, Tracy Smith, and Tom Walter.
This marks Harris’s second national team appearance; he is the fourth player from Southern Miss to earn a USA Baseball spot, joining Tony Phillips (1991), Matt Wallner (2018), and Tanner Hall (2022). Harris’s teammates Camden Clark and Camden Sunstrom also participated in national team trials.
USA Baseball, based in Cary, North Carolina, is the national governing body for baseball in the United States. Since 1978, it has supported the growth of the sport and earned 72 international medals, including two Olympic golds and a World Baseball Classic title.
Source: Original Article
