Atrium Health Ballpark to host Team USA Baseball for second consecutive year

Published 12:00 am Sunday, May 19, 2024

KANNAPOLIS — The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and Atrium Health Ballpark have announced the return of a fan-favorite matchup in 2024. Team USA’s Collegiate National Team will make the trip to Kannapolis to play Chinese Taipei in the 21st USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series on Wednesday, July 3, at 6:35 p.m.

After a 14-year hiatus of playing in Kannapolis, Team USA played its first game at Atrium Health Ballpark on July 2, 2023, against Chinese Taipei, winning, 10-0.

Team USA is composed of the top non-draft-eligible players from across the nation at the collegiate level. It has featured nearly all of the game’s top talent in recent memory, with the 2023 iteration of the team having five of the top 10 2024 MLB Draft prospects (per MLB Pipeline) including names such as Georgia’s Charlie Condon, Arkansas’ Hagen Smith and West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt.

This year’s Team USA international series roster will be managed by Alabama State’s José Vázquez, who is in his eighth season at the helm of Alabama State. Vazquez is a three-time Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Coach of the Year, and led Alabama State to an NCAA Regional in 2022.

Kannapolis hosts the fifth and final game of the International Friendship Series with Chinese Taipei. The first game of the series is on June 29 at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, followed by a pair of games at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary on June 30 and July 1. The two teams make the short trip to Greensboro for the penultimate game on July 2 at First National Bank Field before arriving in Kannapolis for the series finale on July 3.

Connections to Team USA and the Cannon Ballers include LHP Lucas Gordon, who is an alumnus of two different Team USA teams (2017 15U and 2019 18U), and manager Patrick Leyland, who is the son of Team USA’s 2017 World Baseball Classic-winning manager Jim Leyland.

Tickets are now on sale for the Team USA vs. Chinese Taipei matchup on Wednesday, July 3, at Atrium Health Ballpark, with home plate premium seats set at $15 and infield box seats at $12. Fans can purchase tickets online at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located along West Avenue outside gate one at Atrium Health Ballpark. Cannon Ballers season ticket holders will also receive details via email on an exclusive opportunity to secure seats for this event.