Former Pflugerville High baseball player Dominic Ramos’ baseball journey has taken him to the other side of the world. After spending two years in the Boston Red Sox organization, Ramos has played the last five seasons in the Can-American Baseball League with the Worchester Tornadoes and Broxton Rox. This fall he has taken his skills to Melbourne, Australia were he is playing in the Australian Professional Baseball League for the Melbourne Aces. Recently, the 2001 graduate of Pflugerville High, was selected to play in the Australian League’s all-star game that will be televised on the MLB Network on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

“My stay down under has been great,” said Ramos in a recent telephone interview. “The people are friendly and there are some very talented ball players in the league. I look forward to playing in the all-star game because it is a great honor and it gives my friends and family a chance to see me play.”

Ramos will be playing for Team World which will consist of players from United States, Canada, Taiwan Japan, Korea and India.

Taylor earns all-state nod

Pflugerville High volleyball player I’Tiana Taylor was recently chosen to the Texas Girls Coaches Association’s All-State volleyball team for Division 5A. Taylor led the Panthers to a 33-12 record although they failed to qualify for the playoffs. Also a star for the Pflugerville basketball team, Taylor recently announced she will play basketball next year at The University of North Texas.

Express holding holiday camp

The Round Rock Express baseball club will hold a baseball camp for players ages 6 and up from Dec. 26-28 at the Dell Diamond. Participants in the camp will receive instruction in hitting, defense, pitching, catching, base running and baseball strategy. Players will receive instruction from Express players Matt Kata and Kevin Cash, former New York Yankee Brian Gordon and Cedar Ridge baseball coach Jeremy Trojacek. The camp for players age 6-11 runs from 9 a.m. to noon. The camp for players age 12 and older runs from 1-4 p.m. Each camp costs $150. For more information contact Chris Almendarez at chris@rrexpress.com or 238-2214.

Former Hawk Okiomah honored

High Point University senior forward Karo Okiomah (Hendrickson High) was named to the 2011 Division I All-South Atlantic third-team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) on Friday. It is the third-straight year that Okiomah has been named to the All-Region squad.

“It is a very good accomplishment for Karo to have been named to the All-South Atlantic third team,” head coach Dustin Fonder said. “We are so proud of him and all that he has been able to achieve over his four years at HPU. We wish him all the best as he now pursues his professional ambitions.”

Okiomah played in 20 matches with 19 starts in 2011 and finished the season second on HPU with 17 points on seven goals and three assists. He tied for the team lead with two game-winning goals. Okiomah finishes his HPU career second in the High Point Div. I career record books with 68 points on 29 goals and 10 assists. He is also second in team history in goals scored and his 0.43 goals per game is an HPU Div. I record.

Okiomah was previously named to the All-South Atlantic third team as a sophomore and was both a member of the All-South Atlantic first team and a third-team All-American as a junior.

It was the second big honor for Okiomah in the past week. Major League Soccer announced recently that he has been invited to participate in the 2012 adidas MLS Player Combine. Okiomah, the only invitee from the Big South, is among 52 collegiate seniors from 31 Division I schools who have been invited to participate.

The annual MLS player combine will be held in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Jan. 6-10 and is closed to the public. The Combine will separate all players into four teams and feature two games per day. The event provides MLS coaches an opportunity to evaluate the participants ahead of the MLS SuperDraft.