Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s Gavin Kelly has been named to the 28-man Collegiate National Team that will represent Team USA and compete in the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship at Taichung City Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung City, Taiwan, from July 11-15.
After 11 days of workouts, practices, and intrasquad scrimmages across North Carolina and Virginia, the roster was set on Sunday.
Kelly becomes just the second Mountaineer to represent the United States on the Collegiate National Team, joining former WVU standout and current St. Louis Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt..
In eight games at the team’s training camp, Kelly hit .250 with two doubles, four RBI and two runs scored. He played multiple positions, including catcher, second base, and right field in a series of intrasquad scrimmages as well as games against Appalachian League opponents.
With WVU this past season, the sophomore hit .382 with 19 home runs, tying a single-season program record. He recorded a 1.202 OPS while collecting 63 RBI and scoring 70 runs, both of which led the team. His 96 hits were the most by a Mountaineer since Wetherholt’s 101 in 2023 and is tied for third most in WVU history.
Kelly earned consensus All-America status after the season as he was named to the first team by D1Baseball and the College Baseball Foundation and second team by Perfect Game and NCBWA as a second baseman while earning a spot on the second team by Baseball America as a catcher.
The World Collegiate Baseball Championship format will feature five days of games, with three days of pool play followed by the semifinals and medal games. The U.S. will open its pool play slate on July 11 against Korea at 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local, face Chinese Taipei on July 12 at 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local, and then play Japan on July 13 at 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local. The semifinals will be played July 14 and the finals, which will consist of gold- and bronze-medal games, will be held July 15.
Photo Credit: Shanna Rose
