Pitcher Dillon Maples will be competing this week for one of 20 spots on the 18-and-under national team that will represent the United States at the 2010 International Baseball Federation (IBF) World Junior Championships.

Twelve countries in all will be represented at the 10-day tournament to be held in Thunder Bay, Ontario, from July 23 through Aug. 1.

The rising Pinecrest senior is one of 36 players, and the only one from North Carolina, invited to the team trials to be held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex (NTC) in Cary. The selections were made following the 2010 Tournament of Stars presented by Major League Baseball that took place at the NTC last week.

A busy month for Maples included being named a third-team All-American by Baseball America. Of the 50 players making up the three teams, 30 were selected in the recent Major League Baseball amateur draft.

He also participated in the Perfect Game National Showcase at Tropicana Park in Tampa, where his 93-95 mile per hour fastball and sweeping curve ball continued to draw attention.

The son of Tim and Tracy Maples of West End compiled an 8-2 record for Pinecrest this spring, sharing conference Player of the Year honors with teammate James Baldwin III. The right-hander struck out 117 batters in 59 innings while posting an ERA of 0.95.

Last fall, he verbally committed to continue his baseball career at UNC.

Maples’ first win of the high school season came at the NTC against Providence in early March.

He was a member of the Dixie team that went 1-3 in the Tournament of Stars that was made up of eight teams and 128 players.

He took the loss in the first game of the tournament and pitched two hitless and scoreless innings in his other appearance. He also played third base in two of the contests.

If Maples makes the national team, his summer schedule will be completely filled up. Following the trials and a training period in Cary, the team will travel to the New York City area for a week of games against the Greater N.Y. Alliance All-Stars. From there, they go to Minnesota for nine exhibition games against area all-star teams and international opponents.

Canada, Cuba, Venezuela, Panama, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, France, Czech Republic, Korea and Taiwan are the other countries competing for the world title in Thunder Bay.

Korea won the last two tournaments in 2006 and 2008, with the U.S. finishing second both times.

Contact Charlie Bergmann by e-mail at cbergmann@nc.rr.com