CARY, N.C. — Santa Clara University baseball head coach Rusty Filter will bring his nationally respected pitching expertise to USA Baseball this summer, serving as the Collegiate National Team's pitching coach at training camp and in the 45th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Championship Series.
 
Filter will be the pitching coach for the "Stars" team from June 29 to July 3 during the Stars vs. Stripes series, a five-game intrasquad series that serves as the Collegiate National Team training camp. Once the final Collegiate National Team roster is announced, he'll travel with the team to Japan for the 45th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Championship Series in various locations across the country on July 8-13.
 
Filter won't be the only Bronco in North Carolina this summer. Right-handed pitcher Max Bayles earned a spot at the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp and will be aiming for a spot on the Collegiate All-Star Championship Series squad going to Japan in July.
 
This won't be Filter's first excursion with USA Baseball. He was also an assistant coach on the 2017 18U National Team staff in the 2017 Tournament of Stars. also worked with USA Baseball in 2015 and 2016.
 
Filter's pitching coach prowess runs deep. His coaching career and playing experience spans more than four decades. He's spent the past eight years as head coach of the Broncos, where he's had four pitchers taken in the MLB Draft, three in the top-15 rounds. Bronco pitchers have earned a total of 13 all-West Coast Conference honors under Filter's guidance.
 
He spent eight years as the pitching coach under legendary coach Mark Marquess at Stanford before coming to the Mission Campus, and 21 years before that as an assistant at his alma mater, San Diego State, which included coaching alongside Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Filter had 22 pitchers drafted during his tenure at Stanford, and another 58 arms were taken by MLB teams during his two decades at San Diego State.
 
Filter is the only collegiate coach in history to have two of his pitchers selected No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft. Mark Appel (Stanford) was the first pick in the 2013 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros and Stephen Strasburg (San Diego State) was the No. 1 selection in the 2009 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals. Strasburg led the nation in strikeouts and ERA, and earned every major collegiate honor in 2008, including the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.
 
The first game of the "Stars vs. Stripes" training camp series will be held on June 29 at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, N.C. The next three games will be played at USA Baseball's National Training Complex in Cary from June 30 to July 2. The series finale will be hosted on July 3 at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville.