Olympic Team Invites 5 From Valley

Invitations to try out for the U.S. Olympic team are out and five area players are in.

Catcher Robert Fick and shortstop Adam Kennedy of Cal State Northridge, left-handed pitchers Randy Wolf of Pepperdine and Jim Parque of UCLA, and right-handed pitcher Jeff Weaver of Fresno State are among 45 players invited to report May 29 to Millington, Tenn., for a one-week tryout.

Parque, who played at Crescenta Valley High, and Weaver, from Simi Valley, gained invitations this week along with Fick and Kennedy. Wolf, who played on Team USA last summer, was invited a month ago.

“USA Baseball originally planned to invite 40 players to spring camp,” said Michael Fiore, the team’s general manager. “However, due to the abundance of talent at the collegiate level and to fulfill our preparation needs, we increased the training camp roster to 45.

“We believe this move will maximize our training and better prepare us for the Olympic Games.”

Wolf, Parque and Weaver are among 19 pitchers who will try out. Wolf and Parque are sophomores and Weaver is the only freshman among the invitees.

Catchers besides Fick, a junior, include Cal State Fullerton’s Brian Loyd, Stanford’s A.J. Hinch, Clemson’s Matt LeCroy and USC’s Chad Moeller.

Kennedy, who can play shortstop or second base, is one of nine middle infielders who will try out.

Kennedy, a sophomore, believes the success of Northridge (42-14) this season contributed to the Matador invitations.

“It took them this long to give us a look,” he said. “If our team wasn’t having this kind of year, we wouldn’t have had this opportunity--or deserved it.”

Team USA will be cut to a roster of 25 and play 32 games in preparation for the Olympics. The eight-team baseball tournament begins July 20.