Jason Savacool will not be present at Baker High School for the start of his senior – but he’s got a very good reason for it.
The Baldwinsville pitching star is on his way to South Korea, joining 19 other top prospects from across the United States on the 18-and-under team that will compete from Aug. 30 to Sept. 8 in the 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation U-18 Baseball World Cup.
National trials were held in Southern California last week by USA Baseball, capped by a game Friday at Dodger Stadium where Savacool, pitching for the “Stars” team against the “Stripes” team, threw two innings, allowing a pair of runs but striking out four.
From there, the 20 best players were chosen to go to the World Cup, a biennial event the United States has won the last four times it was held, dating back to 2011.
It caps a memorable and busy summer for Savacool, who after his junior campaign for Baldwinsville went to Bradenton, Florida in June to take part in USA Baseball’s Prospect Development Pipeline League.
With a successful run there, Savacool then pitched an inning in the High School All-Star Game held July 6 at Progressive Field in Cleveland during Major League Baseball All-Star festivities.
More tournaments and summer showcases followed until the USA Baseball tryouts. Savacool, who is committed to attend the University of Maryland next fall, is one of nine pitchers on Team USA, and the only representative from New York State.
Now he will stay in Fullerton next week to train with Team USA before they travel to Taiwan where, from Aug. 24 to 27, it will play three warm-up games against teams from Chinese Taipei.
Then the 29th edition of the World Cup in Gijang, South Korea starts, with Team USA’s opener set for Aug. 30 against South Africa. It will also face Chinese Taipei, Japan, Panama and Spain in pool play, followed by three days of “super round” play and the gold-medal game on Sept. 8.
