The Baseball Factory would like to congratulate the United States Olympic Baseball Team on their bronze medal performance in Beijing. The United States after making it through to the medal round lost in their semifinal matchup against defending gold medalist Cuba. The United States then rebounded in the bronze medal game to beat Japan 8-4. Five former Baseball Factory and Team One participants were members of Team USA  in the Beijing Olympics.

Brian Barden, who participated in Team One West in 1998, is currently an infielder in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ organization. In the Olympics, he has accumulated a .265 batting average, nine hits, three doubles, a homerun, five RBI’s and scored 8 runs. Mike Hessman, who participated in Team One National in 1995, is an infielder in the Detroit Tigers’ organization. He scored two runs, hit a homerun and had one RBI in 22 at-bats Olympics. Kevin Jepsen participated in Team One West in 2000 and Team One National in 2001. He is right-handed pitcher in the Los Angeles Angels’ organization, who had one save, with a 0.00 ERA and five strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched in the Olympic games. Matt LaPorta, who participated in Team One Midwest in 2001, is an outfielder and first baseman in the minor leagues for the Cleveland Indians. In the Olympics, he had a .158 batting average, with three runs, three hits, two homeruns, and four RBIs in 19 at-bats. Jeff Stevens participated in Team One West in 2001. Jeff is a right-handed pitcher in the Indians organization and he had a 1-2 record two strikeouts for Team USA.

Congratulations to all of the Team USA Baseball players on their bronze medal and to all of the athletes representing the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.