MORGANTOWN — The next step in the progression of Gavin Kelly’s baseball journey will see the utility man representing Team USA in the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship, July 11-15, in Taichung City, Taiwan.
Kelly, who wrapped up his sophomore season batting .382 with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs, was named as part of the 28-man roster that begins play at 12:30 a.m. Saturday against Korea.
Kelly is the second WVU player to represent Team USA on the collegiate national team, along with J.J. Wetherholt in 2023.
All games will be played inside Taichung City Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. Team USA is coached by Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb.
The team is also scheduled to play Chinese Taipei, at 6:30 a.m. Sunday and Japan at 12:30 a.m. Monday.
The semifinals will be played July 14 and the finals, which will consist of gold- and bronze-medal games, will be held July 15.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our Collegiate National Team to return to the international tournament stage by competing at the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball’s Executive Director/CEO. “Our goal working with the other international federations to create this event was to provide the highest level of competition for our respective teams while striving for a gold medal, which is what this tournament will do. We anticipate this being a marquee event on the international baseball schedule for years to come, and we look forward to not only representing the United States this year in Taiwan, but also hosting the event at the national training complex in 2027.”
Team USA was selected after 11 days of workouts and scrimmages. In eight games at the team’s training camp, Kelly hit .250 with two doubles, four RBIs and scored two runs. 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.
This past season at WVU, Kelly helped lead the Mountaineers to the national semifinals of the College World Series. He scored 70 runs at WVU and finished with a 1.202 OPS. His 96 hits are tied for third-most in a season in program history.
Kelly earned consensus All-America status after the season, as he was named to the first team by D1 Baseball 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.
He is projected by Baseball America as the top pick for the 2027 MLB Amateur Draft.
Kelly is part of a team that includes some heavy hitters in Arizona State’s Landon Hairston (.400, 28 HR, 81 RBIs) and Georgia’s Kolby Branch (.291, 20 HR, 60 RBIs).
Florida righty Aidan King (8-2, 3.21 ERA), who is projected as the No. 8 pick in the 2027 draft, highlights Team USA’s pitchers.
