Behind the plate for the 2008 All Ping! Team is Florida State catcher Buster Posey. As if batting .382 with 21 doubles and 65 RBI in his first year as a catcher wasn’t enough to earn first team honors, the former shortstop who threw out over 40% of baserunners last season is planning on taking to the mound in relief more for the Seminoles this season after making one appearance last year.

Dustin Ackley hit .402 in his first season playing first base for the North Carolina Tar Heels with 33 extra base hits and 10 stolen bases to earn first team honors at the most highly contested position on the diamond.

At second base few could argue that Texas A&M’s Blake Stouffer is one of the most impressive athletes in the game. A speedy switch hitter who can play multiple positions, Stouffer led college baseball in RBI in ’07 with 85 and finished the season at .398 with 40 extra base hits and 22 stolen bases.

The All Ping! third baseman is Pedro Alvarez of Vanderbilt is frequently mentioned as a possible top draft pick at the 2008 MLB draft for hardball skills. Alvarez batted .386 with 18 homeruns and was the only college player not eligible for last year’s amateur draft who was a Golden Spikes Award finalist.

Alvarez’s Commodore and Team USA teammate Ryan Flaherty is the shortstop selection. A junior who is just as gifted with the glove as the bat, Flaherty batted .381 and ended the season with just eight errors and a 35 game hitting streak. While Robin Ventura’s record isn’t quite in jeopardy yet, if any batsman can do it, the Maine native and his smooth swing could be the man to eclipse the Okalahoma State great’s mark.

Around the outfield, Ping! has selected Kyle Russell of Texas, a third Vanderbilt Commodore, Dominic de la Osa, and Coastal Carolina’s David Sappelt. Russell launched an NCAA-leading and University of Texas record breaking 28 home runs last season while batting .336 with 71 RBI, 68 runs scored, 11 doubles, five triples and ten stolen bases. He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in fourth round of last year’s draft, but chose to return to Austin rather than sign with the Redbirds. De la Osa also turned down an opportunity to play professional ball and return to campus. He was selected in the 10th round of last year’s draft (the second time he has been picked by the Tigers, 49th round in 2004) after batting .378 with 20 homeruns and 20 stolen bases. Sappelt was the Big South’s Player of the Year, batting .359 with 17 doubles, 7 triples, 10 homeruns and a stellar all out defensive effort.

Brett Wallace of Arizona State is the All Ping! designated hitter. Wallace hit .426 last season with 16 homeruns and 12 stolen bases. A first baseman last season, Wallace is slated to move across the diamond for the Sun Devils to the hot corner where he played in high school.

A pair of players were added to the All Ping! first team as utility selections. San Diego’s Josh Romanski excelled both at the plate and on the mound last season for the breakout Toreros. In the outfield Romanski batted .348 with 13 homeruns and 10 stolen bases. As a pitcher he posted a 9-1 record with an ERA of 3.05 and 92 strikeouts. After playing second base as a freshman and shortstop as a sophomore, Delaware’s Alex Buchholz is slated to play third base in ’08. Last year Buchholz batted .387 with 27 doubles, 6 triples, and 11 homeruns for the Fightin’ Blue Hens.

On the mound Ryan Berry and Scott Gorgen finished off years in which their team made it to the College World Series by playing for the USA Baseball Team. Berry won 11 games for the Rice Owls as a freshman and Gorgen tallied a dozen victories (including six complete games and three shutouts) for the UCI Anteaters. Another pitcher who came through in a big way his debut season was Vanderbilt’s Mike Minor. Minor won nine games for the ‘Dores with a 3.09 ERA allowed only 19 walks while striking out 88 batters. Another big season from Minor could have folks in Nashville forgetting about last year’s top draft pick David Price.

Two pitchers from the Grand Canyon State, Arizona’s Preston Guilmet and Arizona State’s Josh Satow both could pitch their teams to Omaha. Guilmet went 12-2 with a 1.87 ERA and 146 strikeouts in 135 innings pitched. Satow went 13-3 with a 2.76 ERA in 133.2 innings pitched and 115 Ks. The two teams don’t meet until the last series of the regular season (May 22-24) in Tucson with a possible Pac-10 title on the line.

Louisiana Lafayette’s Danny Farquhar recorded 115 strikeouts in 87.2 innings of work to rank ninth in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings. He had a 2.80 ERA and pitched both in relief and as a starter for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Old Dominion’s Anthony Shawler also fanned players at an impressive rate, sitting down 130 in only 114.2 innings. The Monarch won 11 games and had a tiny 2.20 ERA for the season. Another pitcher who took that bat out of opponents’ hands all season was San Diego’s Brian Matusz. The Torero ace finished his sophomore season with an overall record of 10-3 and a 2.85 ERA, and struck out 163 batters in just 123 innings pitched.

All Ping! relievers include a trio any team would hate to face in the bottom of the ninth. Baylor’s Nick Cassavechia compiled a 6-2 record, 11 saves and 72 K’s in just 52 innings for the Bears. Had he not been roughed up by TCU in the last game of the season, his ERA would have been 2.12. Cole St. Clair missed the first two months of the season with a shoulder injury, but returned to put up the kind of numbers Rice fans were accustomed to, saving nine games with a 1.91 ERA. Pat Venditte’s 1.88 ERA ranked him 12th nationally. His uncanny ability to throw effectively with either arm allowed him to made 38 appearances last season for the Creighton Bluejays.