Derrick Pitts reflects on time with USA Baseball

Cincinnati Bearcats outfielder Derrick Pitts recently spent time with the USA Baseball Collegiate team and shared some of the memories and experiences he had. This past season, Pitts helped lead the Bearcats to a No. 2 seed in the No. 15 region at Starkville, MS, hosted by the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Bearcats would win their opening game against Louisiana before losing to Mississippi State and then Louisiana in an elimination game.

In the season, Pitts batted .329, had an OPS of .882, a slugging percentage of .459, and an on-base percentage of .423, and stole 17 bases in 58 games for the Bearcats last season. While being a solid batter, Pitts is a fantastic outfield defender, being the best among active college baseball players.

This impressive sophomore season earned him a spot on the Team USA 28-man roster when they competed in Taiwan this summer. He had a standout performance against Japan,he recorded 3 hits and an RBI in a 3-2 victory.

"For once in my life, I felt accomplished. Like everything I've had, I've had to work for, like always being the underdog. But that day putting the stars and stripes on, it was like, man, I feel like the standard for once, which was a special feeling," said Pitts.

Team USA later took on Japan again in the gold medal game, where Pitts would have a game-tying hit in the tenth inning before losing 6-3 in extra innings. Pitts was also the leadoff hitter for Team USA across these games in Taiwan, being the mood setter for the country.

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