Mariner’s Santana Selected To U16 Trials
Alex Santana of Cape Coral is one of 36 players invited to the 2009 USA Baseball 16U National Team Trials, Aug. 1-7, at Cal-State Fullerton University.
Santana, who will be a junior at Mariner High, will participate in daily practices, drills and four ten-inning intrasquad games during the trials. The final 18-player roster will be announced on Aug. 7 and that team will compete in the IBAF ‘AA’ World Youth Championships, Aug. 15-23, in Taichung, Taiwan.
Alex Santana is the son of former Major League Baseball player, Rafael Santana. He recently took part in the 16U-Championships – East Tournament in Palm Beach County. Half of the players were selected from that site and the other 18 players were selected from the 16U Championships – West Tournament. Over 2,800 players competed in the two tournaments.
The 6-foot-3 Santana played third base for Mariner during his sophomore year. He finished with a .351 batting average and 34 RBI, helping the Tritons to a 24-5 record and District 5A-15 championship.