I'll admit right off the top-- I'm not a soccer buff in any means. I may have played it in the second grade, but that doesn't mean I know anything about it-- outside of how to screw up a scissor kick and how to pull grass while playing goalie. If you're looking for more competent soccer analysis, SBNation World Cup has you covered. 

But, with the United States in the middle of the World Cup, it's a hard event to ignore right now in America. Add in that an Oregon State Alumnus Robbie Findley is competing on the U.S. team, and it gets even more exciting. 

Findley played from 2002-05 for Oregon State before going pro. He started his career for the LA Galaxy before moving to Real Salt Lake where last year he beat his former team in the Galaxy for the MLS Cup.

"To be certain, we couldn't be prouder of Robbie making the 2010 United States World Cup squad," Oregon State men's soccer head coach Steve Simmons said after Findley made the roster. "Only a small percentage of elite players around the world get this chance and Robbie has put himself into that stratum. He's another shining example of the level that has come out of Oregon State soccer. We wish him and the US team our best as they continue World Cup preparations."

On Saturday, Findley received a yellow card in the 74th minute after a hard foul on England's Steven Gerrard. 

In this morning's contest, the call was a bit more questionable, as Findley was called for handling the ball in Slovenia's box during the 38th minute. Replays showed that the ball caromed into Findley's face--and if it did make contact with his hands, the contact was completely inadvertent and unavoidable. 

The two yellow cards mean that Findley must sit for next week's game against Algeria. 

The call on Findley was far from the only questionable call in the game, however, as official Koman Coulibaly disallowed what would have been the game-winning goal for the United States. It seemed that the Slovenia players were initiating most of the contact, yet Maurice Edu found a way to get the ball into the net. 

In the end, the U.S. settled for ties in both games, and still has a reasonable chance to advance into the Final 16. 

The U.S. will play Algeria next Wednesday. SBNation.com has the scenarios for what needs to happen in order for the US to advance. 

--Jake | (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)

The Los Angeles Lightning jumped out to a 22-7 lead Tuesday night and never looked back on the way to claiming their first IBL championship at Cal Lutheran. Lamond Murray scored 22 points and Fred Vinson notched 14 of his 20 in the second half of a 111 to 94 victory over the Oregon Waves. The Lightning (18-5) won the series 2-1 by outshooting Oregon 50 to 40 percent and outrebounding them 59-45.

"It feels good to win the title," said Murray, a 12-year National Basketball Assosciation veteran. "They got us on Sunday on the back-to-back. We got a day of rest, you know we're old heads, so a good day of rest is important. "We never lost our poise, even when we got down a couple of points. We all knew it's a long game. We have been there and we know we'll outsmart the younger players down the stretch."

Trayvon Lathan, a 6-7 guard who made his first start of the finals on Tuesday, collected 18 points and eight rebounds while Toby Bailey had 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on a night when all five Los Angeles starters reached double-figure scoring. Center Adam Parada added fifteen points and nine boards for the Lightning.

Point guard Darrick Martin, one of six former NBA players on the Lightning roster, contributed 10 points, six rebounds and eight assists. David Lucas paced the Waves with 30 points and nine rebounds. Robert Day, who scored a game high 32 points on 8-14 long-range shooting in Oregon's 108-107 Game 2 win, managed just four points and went 0-11 on 3-pointers. Murray scored eight points in the first 8 minutes as L.A. built a 22-7 lead.

The Lightning led 54-40 at halftime and 82-64 after three quarters. "The guys came out tonight and took care of business," said coach Ron Quarterman of Los Angeles. "They had a different focus before the game started. I knew if we played the way I know we can play, we would win the game. "This is a great start. Not bad for a second year franchise, not bad at all."

The Lightning used a 13-4 run late in the 2nd quarter and stretched the lead to 51-37 on a trey by Vinson. "This was the final game, we wanted to win it so bad," said Vinson, who shot 5-13 on 3-pointers. "We made some adjustments on defense and everybody came with a focus. We played a very smart game." The Waves cut a 23 point deficit to 13 in the final quarter when J.S. Nash (15 points) scored five straight.

The Lightning regained control, however, with an 11-2 run, capped by a three from Vinson that made it 100-78 with 6:15 to play. Lathan made the play of the game by opening the 4th quarter with a coast-to-coast slam that made it 84-64. Tony Strickland, a California State Senator from Thousand Oaks who played all season with the Lightning, capped the win with a layup in the final seconds.

"I feel great," said Mark Harwell, the Lightning owner and General Manager. "This is 2 years in the making. We have been through a lot of struggles but the good outweighs the bad - it always does. "The guys really hadn't put 4 good quarters together this year. Tonight, we really put it on them and our talent showed." What will the title mean for the future of the Lightning? "This means a lot for the community and building towards the future," Harwell concluded.

Monday, Darwin Barney learned that he had been selected for the AA Southern League All Star game to be played at Regions Park in Birmingham, Ala., on July 13.

Tuesday, he learned he is moving up to Triple-A Iowa.

The Beaverton, Ore. native who played his high school ball at Southridge High School hit .317 in Double-A and has hardly hit under .300 in the minor leagues. Even dating back to his three years at Oregon State, Darwin's lowest batting average with any given teams was the .273 he hit with the Peiroa Chiefs in 44 games in his rookie year in the Chicago organization.

He hit .317 in 74 games with Double-A Tennessee, going 80-for-252 from the plate. He had 12 doubles and three home runs.

The Iowa Cubs will be the fourth team that Darwin has played for in his minor league career, but he's kept moving in the right direction--up. After his performance in AA, his former manager, Ryne Sandberg, thinks that Darwin will stick in Triple-A:

"Yeah, it's long-term," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "He proved himself here. He was an all-star and hit over .300 the whole time."

Sandburg has also ascended through the Cubs organizaion in recent years. He coached Darwin last year at Single-A Peoria.

"I've had him for two years. He'll fit right in [with Iowa]."

Darwin now becomes the eighth infielder on Iowa's roster, but only the second listed as a true shortstop. Anderson Machado out of Caracas, Venezuela is the other player listed as a shortstop, and he is only hitting .175 in the minors.

The current shorstop on the big-league club is Ryan Theriot. Al Yellon of Bleed Cubbie Blue had this to say on Theriot:

Theriot will be the Cub SS for a couple more years, unless new ownership comes in and sweeps out the baseball department. Theriot really is a better 2B; he doesn't really have the arm for SS, but Lou likes him. He's hitting better this year than last.

He's not really "young", either. He'll be 30 in December. If you want to start a firestorm on the Cubs website, go there and say you like Theriot's "scrappiness".

Theriot is in his ninth year in the Cubs organization. Like Darwin, Theriot also won a College World Series ring... he was on the LSU team that won it all in 2000.

[UPDATE] This from Josh Timmers, Bleed Cubbie Blue's minor league expert:

His chances of making it to the majors seem pretty good now. He's probably third on the Cubs list of minor league shortstops after Starlin Castro and Hak-ju Lee, but Barney is likely to be ready to make the majors a lot sooner than either of those two are. The issue is how much the Cubs want to stick with Theriot at SS next season. Theriot really could get moved over to second base and Barney could be there next season--there is no way that either Castro or Lee are ready for next year, but Barney could be.

I've gotten some reports from our readers that he was making a lot of stupid errors in TN--that doesn't jive with the stuff I've been getting from "official" sources that say the Cubs are really happy with Barney's defense. He's hit really well in TN, so he got promoted to IA because with Andres Blanco in Chicago, the Iowa Cubs needed an everyday shortstop. This is interesting because the Cubs had been trying to keep Barney together with FSU second baseman Tony Thomas, trying to build a chemistry between the two of them. Either the Cubs figured the chemistry was already there or that their hand was forced by Blanco going to Chicago or they've given up on Thomas keeping up with Barney.

The Cubs clearly consider Starlin Castro to be the shortstop of the future--he's a 19 year old who is hitting over .300 in High-A Daytona. But three things could happen to Barney. One, is that he gets to play SS in Chicago next season and Theriot is moved over to 2B and the Cubs worry about Castro later when he's ready. The next is he could get traded to another team that is willing to start him. The third is that Castro gets moved and Barney has a long time in Chicago.

I've often compared Barney to Pittsburgh SS Jack Wilson--not likely to be an all-star, but a strong glove and a bat that won't hurt you. He's not quite the defensive wizard that Wilson is, but he'll likely hit a little more.

So now, the question: How long will Darwin stay in Triple-A?

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)

The Dust Devils defeated Vancouver on Thursday night by a final score of 8-3. Former Beavers Ryan Ortiz and Joey Wong played in the game. Ryan went 2 for 4 with a Single, Double, RBI, and Two Strikeouts. Joey had a rough game, going 0 for 3 with a Strikeout, Sacrifice, and Fly Out.

In the second inning Austin Rauch doubled to Center Field and scored Matthew Sanders to give the Dust Devils a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, Tri City brought three runners across the plate on three hits to make the score, 4-0. The fourth inning for Tri City started out with a Single from Jeremiah Sammy followed by a Joey Wong Sacrifice Bunt to move Jeremiah over to second. Tri City brought three runs across the plate in the fourth to break the game open.

In the fifth inning Vancouver brought in two runs on three hits to make the score, 7-2. With two outs in the sixth inning, Ryan Ortiz doubled in another run to make the score, 7-3. Tri City added an insurance run in the eighth inning to make the final score, 8-3.

The Winning Pitcher was Eric Federico who improved to 2-0 on the season. Ricardo Penalba was credited with the loss, falling to 1-1 on the year.

The Dust Devils improved to 6-1, as the Canadians fell to 3-4. Both teams will meet again tonight at 7:15 PM to cap off the long five game series between the clubs.

Former Oregon State second baseman and shortstop Joey Wong, a 24th round selection of the Colorado Rockies, has started his career on Pasco, Washington with the Tri City Dust Devils, a Single-A affiliate of the Rockies. The Dust Devils play in the Northwest League that includes teams such as the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, the Everett Aquasox, and the Eugene Emeralds. 

Wong started his career with a 2-for-4 performance against the Boise Hawks, and ended up scoring the go-ahead run in the ninth inning. He went 2-for-3 in his second professional game against Boise, putting his batting average through two games at .517. In his next two games, however, Wong is a combined 0-for-6, giving him a .308 average in the professional ranks. 

Wong recently completed his junior year with Oregon State, playing in 56 games, starting 55. He batted .255 with eight doubles, three triples, a home run and 30 runs batted in. Wong was 5-for-7 in stolen base attempts.The 56 games gives Wong 175 in his three years career at Oregon State, including 162 starts. Through the three years, Wong batted .262 with 20 doubles, five triples and six home runs. He was walked 80 times and collected 80 RBI. More on Joey's performance at Oregon State can be found here. 

Now, please welcome in Joey Wong. 

Jake, Building the Dam: First of all:  It must feel great to finally be a professional baseball player. 

Joey Wong: Yeah, it's great. And the organization has been great. The guys on the team are real fun to play with so it's going well. 

Building the Dam: After you made your decision to go pro, a lot of people were saying that you should stick around to work on your offense. But, after two games in the minor leagues, you were 4-for-7 and hitting .517. It must have been a good for you to sort of initially disprove those rumors and get off to a good start. 

Joey Wong: Yeah, it's been nice. I'm still working in the cages trying to work on hitting the ball more consistantly. I need to keep grinding and we have great coaching here so I'm sure I'll be able to start hitting better this summer. 

Building the Dam: Would you say that your offense is the biggest thing you need to improve on?

Joey Wong: Oh, definitely, yeah. Obviously, I had my ups and downs at Oregon State. That's what I need to improve on and it should be fun to start being able to do that. 

Building the Dam: How has the transition been so far? I know that you've played in the Cape Cod League with wood bats in past summers, so that must have helped to ease the transition. 

Joey Wong: Yeah, It's just been kind of like a regular summer. After college ball finishes we go off and play in summer with wood bats. It hasn't been too tough of a transition so far, and I think it will be better for me now that I don't have to transition back and forth between metal and wood-- I just stay with wood and try to continue to get better. 

Building the Dam: Has it helped that your dad played five years in the minor leagues?

Joey Wong: Oh yeah definitely. He told me coming in that it would be a lot different-- taking long bus rides and stuff like that. He's always been a great help for me and he's given some great advice. It makes it a lot easier for me to just come and play. 

Building the Dam: I want to talk a little bit about Oregon State and what you leave behind. John Tommasini returns at second base, Carter Bell should be in the mix as well. What do you see happening next year in the middle infield at OSU?

Joey Wong: Carter came in late in the season and showed that he can play in the middle infield, and obviously John is a great defender and he'll be back. I'm sure that they're going to try to find the best bats to put up the middle but it's always been about playing great defense and having good pitching. I think Carter will be able to step in nicely and he'll get better in the offseason, and John is already a great defender so they should be right back on track as far as the way that Oregon State plays. With the pitching they have back it should be a real great year for them and hopefully they can get to Omaha. 

Building the Dam: What's the process the coaches take with you at Oregon State when you are playing great defense but aren't coming through offensively? [MORE AFTER THE JUMP]

Continue reading this post »

Today we are talking a general look at how former OSU baseball players are doing in the minor leagues. We'll start by taking a look at players who are either in Triple-A or the Major Leagues, then move on to Double-A and Single-A. 

Andy Baldwin is 5-4 in 14 starts this season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. This is now his second year in Triple-A, and he has yet to get the call to the major leagues like many of his teammates. His ERA is currently at 4.81, and he's struck out 49 batters in 82 innings. Two weeks ago, Baldwin got to start in PGE Park against the Beavers in front of family and friends... he allowed three runs, seven hits and one walk over seven innings for the win.

Brian Barden is back in the minor leagues after a short but somewhat fruitful stint with the St. Louis Cardinals. In the month of April with the Cards, Barden hit .385 in 21 games, with 19 of them coming at third base. For his efforts, he received National League Rookie of the Month honors. But when May rolled around, things changed for Brian. His batting average fell to .235 during the month, and when the Cardinals needed help in the bullpen to get ready for interlague play, Brian was the one sent down. Known for his defense, Brian seemed to be providing much more than the coaching staff was looking for with his stellar offense in April. Barden is currently  hitting .205 with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds in 39 at-bats.   Kenji Johjima

Jamie Burke is in the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners... for now. After a stint as back-up catcher to Kenji Johjima last season, Burke was again called up when Kenji broke his big toe earlier this month. However, Burke struggled offensively in eight starts while Johjima was gone, and currently carries a .122 batting average. Rob Johnson was also called up from Tacoma after Burke began to struggle, and has been playing the majority of innings in front of Burke. Johjima is expected to return to the Mariners today, which means Jaime is likely headed back to Tacoma. 

Jacoby Ellsbury continues to shine in Boston, although Terry Francona is still trying to find a role for the Madras, Ore. native. Ellsbury had been hitting in the leadoff spot before he recently dropped to No. 7 because he wasn't getting on base enough. But since the switch, Ellsbury's on base percentage is up near .500, and his average is above .300. In Tuesday's series opener against the Nationals, Ellsbury went 4-for-4 with a walk. Right now, it seems like the Red Sox are trying to not change Jacoby, and let him be what he is. If the number seven spot works best, they should be happy to leave him there.  

Cole Gillespie is well into his Triple-A career after making the jump from the Single-A Brevard County Manatees to the Nashville Sounds at the beginning of the season. After just 12 games with the Manatees, Cole was hitting .349. He is since hitting .223 in 56 games with Nashville, putting his combined batting average at .248. 

Eddie Kunz is still engaged in a lengthy audition to be the eighth inning set-up guy for the Mets, but he still has some kinks to work out. Kunz has struggled against lefties for some time-- righties are hitting .157 against him, while lefties are hitting .265. Scouts are worried that his "violent" delivery will damper his control, which means that he could be used only situationally in the big leagues against right handed hitters. He currently has a 4-2 record with the Buffalo Bisons, and has a 2.48 ERA. 

Aaron Matthews has methodically moved his way through the Blue Jays' minor league system, and is now playing with the Triple-A Las Vegas 51's of the Pacific Coast League. The John Day, Ore. native is currently batting .280 with the 51's in his fifth year as a professional baseball player. Matthews is a fan favorite in Las Vegas due to the effort he displays in the outfield and behind the plate. 

Mark McLemore is back with the Triple-A Round Rock Express after reconstructive elbow surgery kept him off of the mound for two years. He's 1-3 since his return on June 1 with a 4.21 ERA. 

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)

It was just two years ago that Joey Wong's defensive prowess was taking the nation by storm in the College World Series at Omaha. First, it was the highlight-reel double play turn in the opening game against Cal State Fullerton, then it was four more games of errorless defense to go along with a 7-for-19 (.368) performance at the plate. 

Now, two years later, Joey has begun his professional career in the Colorado Rockies organization. 

Wong, the Salem, Oregon native, batted .262 for his career at Oregon State over the course of three seasons. He batted .288 his freshman year, before his average fell to .244 in his sophomore year, then slightly recovered to .255 this past season. 

Wong was drafted in the 24th round (721st) of this month's MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Rockies. Coming out of Sprague High School, Wong was selected in the 46th round by the Houston Astros but elected to continue his baseball career at Oregon State--and won a National Championship in his first year at OSU. 

Wong was Oregon State's fourth selection in the 2009 draft. He followed Ryan Ortiz, who was selected in the sixth round, and Jorge Reyes and Kraig Sitton, both 17th round selections.

We can assume that there were many factors influencing Joey's decision to turn professional, including his Oregon State coaches and his family members. His father David lettered four years in football and three in baseball at Willamette before being drafted by the Kansas City Royals. He played five minor league seasons, twice being named to all-star teams.

While Joey's father knows the ropes of minor league baseball and was likely impacting Joey's decision heavily, Pat Casey felt that Wong should stick around to improve physically-- and if he did, Casey felt Joey wouldn't be a late-round pick.

Joey's leadership on and off the field will be missed by the Oregon State program, as well as his silky smooth defense and timely hitting. Joey will likely be replaced by Carter Bell at shortstop, who will join John Tommasini in the double-play combination.

It's fair to argue that Wong could have improved offensively with another year at Oregon State, but he now hopes to do so in minor leagues, as that seems to be the one thing that could hold back his ascension through the ranks. Plus, Joey obviously got enough money to outweigh the risks involved with playing another year at Oregon State and taking his chances in next year's draft. 

Wong played in his first professional game on Monday night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored in the game. He scored the go-ahead run for his team, the Tri City Dust Devils, after hitting a leadoff single in the top of the ninth inning. Tri Cities would go on to defeat Boise 7-5 in the game. 

Do you have thoughts on Joey Wong's career at Oregon State? Chime in below. 

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)

Previous 2009 Baseball Performance Reviews: Ryan Ortiz

We'll continue our look at Oregon State baseball alumni by shifting from St. Louis' Brian Barden (who just hit his first MLB home run, if you missed it) to Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox. Jacoby has just started his second full season in the majors, having played in 33 games in 2007, and 45 games in 2008.

A native of Madras, Oregon, Ellsbury had a stellar three-year career with the Beavers. He played in 160 games, batting .365 with 37 doubles, eight triples, 16 home runs and 60 stolen bases. Ellsbury was named an All-American in 2005 and earned All-Pac-10 first-team honors in 2004 and 2005.

In eight games so far this season for the Red Sox, Jacoby is 6-for-31, adding up to a .194 average. He's reached base nine times and has four stolen bases. Ellsbury set a Red Sox record last year with 50 stolen bases on the season-- with him easing into an everyday role in center field, his at-bats will go up, as should his stolen bases. Look for him to top his own record this season. 

"Jacoby has been easing into the full-time center field role pretty well" said Allen Chase of the SBN Red Sox Blog, Over the Monster. "He's probably feeling good about the job being his, full-time, without any questions or people who might really push him for playing time, like Coco Crisp."

Crisp, who the Red Sox originally acquired to replace Johnny Damon once he went to the Yankees, was traded to the Kansas City Royals in November of 2008 for pitcher Ramon Ramirez. Coco is currently hitting .214 in Kansas City. 

If I'm Jacoby, I'm breathing a little easier without Coco breathing down my neck. The trade meant that the Red Sox are committed to Ellsbury as their center fielder, and hope to have him hit leadoff. 

"As Oregon State fans, you guys probably already know how well he tracks flyballs in the outfield and it's been more of the same this year," continued Chase. "I would imagine that with Jason Bay to his right rather than Manny has made it a little easier for him in terms of ground he has to cover, though we all know he could cover some ground for Bay if it was needed."

We mentioned earlier that Jacoby is just 6-of-31 in his first eight games. He hit .280 last year in his first full MLB season, so it's probably safe to say that he'll break out of his slump and turn in a comparable or even better season in 2009. 

More from Chase:

His hitting has been the question mark. One of the things that may be emphasized a lot more on the Major League level (and especially in a stat-friendly organization like ours) is patience at the plate, and that has been a work in progress thusfar. He's been more than satisfactory when he does get on base, but for a leadoff hitter we'd probably like to see him get on a little more consistently. His speed is an absolute joy to witness on stolen bases, trips from 1st to 3rd or 2nd to home on singles, etc. On the whole, he's got some work to do offensively, but it's early in the season and you kind of expect guys to press until they have a nice 3-4 day at the plate and start to feel a little more confidence.

It's great to see Jacoby fitting into an everyday role in the major leagues after watching him split time with Coco the past year. I could imagine taking playing time away from a guy like Coco wasn't the most enjoyable for Ellsbury, but now that Crisp is gone, I'm sure it was worth the wait. 

Thank you Allen, and let's hope for the best from Jacoby and the Red Sox this season!

View Jacoby's SB Nation Player Page.

Read more about Jacoby and the Boston Red Sox at Over the Monster.

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)