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Pasco's Brown passed over

Dominic Brown falls short of making the junior national team.

By IZZY GOULD
Published June 29, 2005

DADE CITY - Dominic Brown's quest for a roster spot on USA Baseball's junior national team ended Sunday in Joplin, Mo.

Brown was among 144 players invited to compete last week at the USA Baseball Tournament of Stars. Players were evaluated by USA Baseball coaches, and 32 were asked to stay an additional week for evaluation.

Brown was not one of them.

In a brief conversation Monday, Brown said he had returned home. He did not return additional calls Tuesday, but statistics shed some light on his experience.

Brown was a member of Dixie National, one of eight teams competing in the six-day tournament. Dixie reached the gold-medal game Sunday, but fell 4-2 to American Amateur Baseball Congress.

Brown started all five games in the outfield and batted .263 with one home run and two RBIs. In 19 at-bats, he had five hits, including a double. He also walked twice and struck out six times.

But the 6-foot-6, left-handed ace, who is capable of hurling his fastball up to 89 mph, did not pitch.

Pasco coach Ricky Giles said Brown was not in pitching shape after he turned attention to football following a 6-5 loss to Orlando Bishop Moore in the Class 3A region semifinal.

The senior-to-be was 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA, 97 strikeouts, 38 walks and one save.

"To tell you the truth, he wasn't in real good pitching shape," Giles said. "... One of the (Dixie) coaches asked me if he was in shape to pitch and I had to be truthful with him. I didn't think he was in good enough shape."

Giles said Brown was not injured, but clearly was not 100 percent.

Brown is being recruited heavily in both sports and is considered one of the bay area's best wide receivers. He has scholarship offers from various schools, including Florida, Florida State and Miami.

His decision to split time between two sports may have contributed to an average performance at the Perfect Game National Showcase in Atlanta June 17-19.

Brown worked out in front of roughly 250 scouts, who watched his fastball register 86 mph. More than 70 pitchers at the showcase hurdled fastballs with more velocity.

The highest mark - 95 mph - was from Halifax (Va.) right-hander Jeremy Jeffress. Two lefties clocked in 92 mph - Russell (Ala.) County's Kasey Kiker and Angleton's (Texas) Taylor Hammack.

"(Brown) wasn't in shape," Giles said. "He didn't condition himself to get on the mound like he should have. You don't have to tell him that now."

But Brown enjoyed a handful of offensive highlights in Joplin.

He helped Dixie to its first win, scoring the winning run in the 11th inning for a 3-2 victory against AABC.

Brown belted a two-run home run in the first inning of a 7-0 romp Friday against USA Stars and scored two runs Saturday in a 5-4 win against Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities.

Izzy Gould can be reached at 352 521-6517 or igould@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 29, 2005, 11:01:47]