Three Former C-USA Stars to Appear in MLB's Futures Game

John Maine

Major League Baseball has announced the rosters for this year's RadioShack All-Star Futures Game, to be played July 13 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago and the list includes three former Conference USA stars on the 25-man United States roster. Former Charlotte RHP John Maine, Cincinnati IF Kevin Youkilis and East Carolina IF Chad Tracy are the former C-USA standouts that will play for the U.S. against 25 international stars currently in minor league baseball.

Maine, the 2001 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, is currently pitching in the Baltimore Orioles organization for the Delmarva Shorebirds of the South Atlantic League (A). He has a 7-3 record and a league best 1.53 ERA with a league-high 108 strikeouts this season. Maine has only allowed 43 hits and 18 walks in 76 innings and he was the starting pitcher for the Northern Division team in the South Atlantic League All-Star game on Tuesday.

A 2002 sixth-round selection of the Orioles, Maine finished his three-year career at Charlotte with 20 wins and 297 strikeouts, which are both fourth-best in the program's history.

Youkilis was a first team All-Conference USA selection during his junior and senior seasons, leading the Bearcats to within one run of an NCAA appearance in his junior year in 2000. He is Cincinnati’s all-time leader in home runs (53), runs scored (279), walks (206), slugging percentage (.627) and on-base percentage (.499).

This season, Youkilis is batting .304 with 15 doubles, 24 RBI and a team-high 44 runs scored for the Portland Sea Dogs, double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. He has an Eastern League-best .471 on-base percentage, thanks in part to registering 54 walks in 63 games.

Tracy was a part of three of East Carolina’s most successful teams, including the 2001 squad that advanced to the NCAA Super Regional. He is ranked among the Pirates all-time leaders in at-bats, runs scored, hits, batting average, doubles and RBI.

In just his third season in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, Tracy has reached AAA, playing for the Tucson Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League. He leads the squad in batting (.336) and doubles (18) and has added three triples, five home runs and 42 RBI.

Now in its fifth year, the Futures Game features the top U.S. and international minor league prospects in a seven-inning game. It is the highlight of RadioShack All-Star Sunday, the first of three days of All-Star events at U.S. Cellular Field, which culminates with the 74th All-Star Game that Tuesday.

The Futures Game, scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. ET and to be televised live by ESPN2, has become a good predictor of fast-track stardom. Francisco Rodriguez was a Triple-A player on the World team last July, and three months later he was playing a key role in the Angels' World Series championship. Jose Reyes was the game's MVP last year, and today he is the Mets' regular shortstop. There have been 76 Futures alumni who have reached The Show, and six who have made it to the Mid-summer Classic: Lance Berkman, Mark Buehrle, Adam Dunn, Ben Sheets, Alphonso Soriano and Barry Zito.