LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The U.S. Olympic baseball team trimmed its roster to 24 players Monday by placing seven players on its reserve list, team coach Rod Dedeaux announced.
Placed on reserve and eligible for recall were pitchers Mike Loynd of Florida State, Kevin Renz of Sam Houston (Tex.)
State, Mike Christ of Jacksonville (Fla.) University, Norm Charlton of Rice (Tex.) University and Mel Stottlemyre of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
The other two players put on reserve were catchers Bill McGuire of Nebraska and B.J. Surhoff of North Carolina.
'This was an extremely difficult decision to make but these young men will make up a reserve squad that is available to us in case of injury,' said Dedeaux, the long-time coach at Southern California.
Loynd, Stottlemyre, McGuire and Surhoff were sophomores and not eligble for the June major-league draft. Charlton was a first-round choice of Montreal and the 28th player selected overall. Christ and Renz were second-round selections of the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox, respectively.
Surhoff has returned to UNC to complete summer school but will rejoin the team June 23. McGuire had been a late addition to the team, arriving just prior to the workouts here last week.
The U.S. team will tour the country this summer, beginning with an exhibition game in Pittsburgh Tuesday before the Pirates-Cubs National League game. Baseball is a demonstration sport at the Olympics.
The next round of cuts will be made by July 14, when the team will be reduced to 20 players.
