Horwitz makes U.S. baseball women's national team

CARY, N.C. - Lindsay Horwitz has realized a dream come true.

USA Baseball announced its women's national team Thursday evening, and the Gurnee resident made the 20-player roster.

"It's absolutely amazing that I'll be representing the United States in the World Cup. It's pretty sweet," Horwitz said. "It still hasn't completely sunk in yet, but it's getting there."

The team will compete in the upcoming 2010 International Baseball Federation World Cup. Nine players from the 2008 bronze medal-winning squad have been selected to represent the U.S. in Venezuela, Aug. 12-22.

Horwitz graduated from Warren Township High School this year. She played freshman baseball before switching to softball her junior year.

An all-conference second baseman in softball, the right-hander is a pitcher in baseball.

Horwitz was one of 10 pitchers selected to the team and said that she had two great outings during the tryout process over the last week.

"Being a first-time coach in the women's program, I was a bit apprehensive of what the overall talent level would be when I came to Cary, " USA head coach Don Freeman said. "I knew we would have very good players and I was extremely pleased with the depth we had. And because of that depth, it made it difficult to choose the national team because there were so many who were in contention.

"All the girls worked extremely hard and were very competitive, working through tiring circumstances such as heat and injuries. Their determination was incredible. Due to the fact that they were so competitive, I have high expectations that this team will put forth a very good effort the remainder of the practices here and then in Venezuela."

The roster was assembled following a four-day trials period that included three intrasquad games and practices at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. The U.S. is scheduled to face Australia's "A" and "B" teams in a series of games at the NTC before traveling to Venezuela on Tuesday.