Columbia native and decorated University of Kansas starting pitcher Dominic Voegele enjoyed success with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team earlier this summer.  

Voegele, a 6-foot-2 righty, pitched five shutout innings and earned a win in two appearances for Team USA. A 2023 Columbia High School grad, Voegele was invited to training camp in early June before being named to the Summer League Tour roster following training camp.

“It was an awesome experience being able to play on the Collegiate National Team and getting to compete with some of the best college baseball players in the country,” Voegele said in an article published on kuathletics.com. “Having the opportunity to represent our country and KU was such an honor and something I would recommend to everyone that has the opportunity. I had a great time playing with Team USA and being around all the other guys. It is definitely something I look forward to next year and I hope I get another opportunity to represent our country.”

Voegele’s first appearance came June 26 in an intrasquad game when the Big 12 Freshman of the Year tossed a 1-2-3 inning by inducing three ground balls in seven pitches.

His second and final appearance was June 30 against the Coastal Plain League Select Team. Voegele earned the win in Team USA’s 2-1 victory as he threw four shutout innings and faced one batter over the minimum. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out four in his outing. He retired the final eight batters he faced.

Voegele played at baseball parks throughout North Carolina as part of this experience. 

Voegele was only the third Kansas player to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. He was one of 55 primarily non-draft-eligible players from across all of college baseball selected for training camp in June.

This followed Voegele having one of the best seasons by a freshman in Kansas baseball history. He went 7-2 with a 3.89 ERA in 81 innings pitched across 15 starts. He recorded 80 strikeouts compared to just 29 walks in his rookie campaign. 

As a result, Voegele earned freshman All-American status from D1Baseball (first team), NCBWA (first team), Baseball America (first team) and Perfect Game (second team).

“I’ve always been pretty calm and relaxed out there. I don’t show too much emotion. I kind of just keep it mellow and keep it all to myself,” Voegele said of his approach to college sports.

Voegele opted to play at Kansas after being selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks  in the 20th round pick of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft.

Things are looking promising that he’ll hear his name called again in a future MLB draft.