North Carolina A&T pitcher makes team USA baseball roster

Courtesy of North Carolina A&T Athletics

EAST GREENSBORO — North Carolina A&T right-handed pitcher Xavier Meachem will represent the Stars and Stripes for team USA this summer. In what could be a summer to remember for the hard-throwing righty, he was named to the team on Thursday.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Meachem. “It’s very exciting to play for your country. It’s very exciting to represent African-American baseball players and HBCU players. It’s an all-around great opportunity.”

North Carolina A&T Xavier Meachem Team USA

USA Baseball announced the 31-man Collegiate National Team roster that will represent Team USA in a pair of five-game series with Chinese Taipei and Japan from June 30-July 12 at various venues across the Carolinas. The final squad was named after the completion of the 2023 Collegiate National Team Training Camp, a four-game intrasquad series played at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

This year’s Collegiate National Team is led by Manager Larry Lee, who is making his Team USA managerial debut in 2023. Lee is joined on staff by Brady Austin (East Carolina), Reggie Christiansen (Sacramento State), Thomas Eager (Stanford), Andy Stankiewicz (USC), and JosÃ© VÃ¡zquez (Alabama State).

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“After the most talented and competitive Training Camp, the staff completed a grueling selection process to get to the final roster today,” said Lee in a release by USA Baseball out of Cary. “Our roster is full of extremely talented and capable baseball players, and we are focused on representing the United States well in international competition. We are looking forward to getting our series against Chinese Taipei started tomorrow night here in Cary.”
Twenty-four different schools are represented on the 2023 Collegiate National Team roster, with six boasting a pair of athletes: Florida, Kansas State, Stanford, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wake Forest.

Meachem is one of three players from an HBCU on the team, including Southern’s Nicholas Wilson and Alabama State’s Omar Melendez. Xavier Meachem is the first North Carolina A&T Aggie to represent his country for USA Baseball.

The 20^th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series is set for June 30-July 4, with games at the National Training Complex, the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, and Segra Stadium in Fayetteville. The National Training Complex will host the opening three games of the 44^th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Championship Series July 7-9, while games four and five of the series will be played at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Ballpark in Charleston, South Carolina, on July 11 and 12.

Team USA leads the series with Chinese Taipei 15-0-4 (Overall: 80-13-2). Against Japan, the stars and stripes lead the series 24-19 (Overall: 133-107-2), including a 21-1 (Overall: 87-33-2) series record in the United States. All time, the Collegiate National Team boasts a record of 135-32-2 in North Carolina dating back to 1987, including a 38-14-1 mark at the National Training Complex in Cary.

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Xavier Meachem will join teammate Camden Jackson in Seattle to participate in the inaugural HBCU Swingman Classic presented by T-Mobile and powered by MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation. The game is at 10:35 p.m., eastern standard time (EST), on Friday, July 7, at T-Mobile Park. MLB Network will air the HBCU Swingman Classic game beginning at 10:30 p.m. EST with the broadcast team of MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds, Mariners broadcaster Dave Sims, and HBCU sports journalist Symone Stanley.

Hall of Famer and MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation Ambassador Ken Griffey Jr. will join the broadcast from each dugout throughout the game. Meachem is also preparing for the July 9-11 MLB Draft after recently showcasing his talents at the MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix.

The full 2023 Collegiate National Team roster is as follows:

2023 Collegiate National Team Roster
(Name; Position; Hometown; School)