Colton Plaia will represent the USA on the 2012 Collegiate National Team. (Photo courtesy of Goldpanners.com)
Colton Plaia, a former member of the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, was named to the Team USA Collegiate National Team’s 22-man roster and will represent the United States on the world stage as the team competes in international competition this summer.
The former Panner backstop will compete in a series of scrimmages and a brief tour of the Coastal Plains League — a collegiate summer league similar to the ABL — before embarking for international competition. The first stop will be a five-game goodwill series in Cuba, whose amateur teams are known as perennial baseball powers. This meeting two of the world’s top baseball nations will take place July 5th-9th in Havana’s Latin American Stadium.
The team will continue its international play July 14-22 in The Netherlands, will it will participate in the Honkbal-Haarlem Baseball Week tournament. Besides USA, the Netherlands and Cuba, the tournament will feature Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei (aka Taiwan).
Plaia will be splitting time behind the plate with Oregon senior Brett Hambright.
For more info on the USA Collegiate National Team, check out their official website.
Jesse Jack is a life-long Alaskan (except for a stint in Montana) who studies Civil Engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage from August through May, and lives at the ballpark during June and July. 
