TIGERS 2010 SCAC Baseball CHAMPS!

The Tigers dog-pile after recording the final out on Championship Sunday!

The Tigers baseball team travelled to Memphis, Tennessee, this past weekend to take part in the 2010 SCAC baseball tournament. Much was at stake in the weekend play as the winner of the tournament would win an automatic big into the NCAA Regionals.

The Tigers started the tournament by beating an Oglethorpe team 11-7 in first round action. In the second round, Trinity out-slugged a tough Austin College team 18-12 to advance to the winner brackets winning 2-0 match-up to face DePauw University. In game three, starting pitcher Ben Klimesh threw a complete game shutout pushing the Tigers into Championship Sunday with an 8-0 victory.

DePauw University rallied from the loser’s bracket beating a good Rhodes program to face Trinity on Championship Sunday. The Tigers trailed 1-0 for much of the game until freshman second baseman John Hall hit a game-tying home run to left field. In the 8th inning Trinity got to DePauw’s bullpen scoring two more runs to take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th. Trinity’s starting pitcher threw an awesome game going 8-plus strong innings giving up 1 run on 9 hits, while striking out 7, to improve to 5-1 on the year. Ben Klimesh closed the game out in the 9th to secure Trinity’s SCAC-baseball Championship and its NCAA Regional Bid!

The Tigers are now waiting for a regional destination to be selected and are excited to go play anywhere the NCAA sends them!

Opportunities Within A Program

Video footage of historical WahConah Park, Home of the Pittsfield American Defenders of the New England Collegiate Baseball League which hosted myself and 24 other players from around the country for the summer of 2009.

The Trinity Baseball program has long been at top team in western region and all of Division 3 baseball. What helps separate Trinity from other programs is not only their talent level but player development as well. The coaching staff at Trinity places just as much significance on player development as they do on wins and losses. This all stems from the coaching staffs attempt to run a major college program, resemblance of top Division 1 programs more so than Division 3 athletics.

The best example is the coaching staff’s ability to place players in top collegiate baseball summer leagues. Summer leagues are essential for player development. Instead of taking the summer off from baseball, summer leagues present players the opportunity to play against the nation’s top collegiate talent, extend their season to up to 50 games, and expose players to greater scouting opportunities. In my two years at Trinity, Trinity has sent over 15 players to summer collegiate leagues to play against the nation’s top talent, including players to the New York Collegiate League, Cape Cod, Coastal Plains League, New England Collegiate League, Northwood’s League, among others.

In comparison, I played first two years of collegiate baseball at a Division 1 program within the Big Ten Conference. However, although this program carries the Division 1 title, it pares in comparison to the level of commitment Trinity coaches have illustrated over their years in San Antonio. In result, Trinity players are proud to play with the TU on their uniforms and look to continue and pass on the programs tradition to future players within the program.

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Tigers Start 2010 Season Hot

Junior Dylan Early homers to deep left-center in Tigers 15-3 win over conference rival Austin College

The Trinity Tigers baseball team started the 2010 baseball season off on a good note with a weekend series win over ASC foe Schreiner University. The Tigers took two wins from the weekend with reigning SCAC Pitcher of the Year, Noah Solomon, winning game one and junior Mike Panozzo winning game three. After losing the second game of the Saturday doubleheader it was great to see the Tigers bounce back and take the final game and weekend series from Schreiner. Mike Panozzo was awarded SCAC Pitcher of the Week honors for his dominant start. Highlighting the Trinity offense was junior Kyle Felix who was 4-5 at the plate who sparked the offense to 26 runs over the course of the series.

On Tuesday, the Tigers carried momentum from the weekend series on their road trip to Mary-Hardin Baylor with a 7-0 win. With a young team, early wins are crucial for building confidence and a win over UMHB proved to show the Tigers were up to the challenge. Young sophomore Ben Klimesh was handed the ball for his first start of the season and turned in a dominant performance. Klimesh scattered 6 hits over 9 innings including 9 strikeouts and 4 walks earning his first win of the season. Senior Evan Jones put together a great offensive game for the Tigers going 3-4 with 2 RBI and solid defensive play at first-base.

The Trinity baseball team continued their hot streak into their weekend series with conference rival Austin College. The Tigers swept the weekend series winning the three games 15-3, 12-9, 12-2. Without question, the Tigers bats started hot and have remained hot through the early extent of the season. The Tigers have opened Conference play strong with holding a 3-0 record and they look to continue their early success in the middle part of their season in the coming weeks. In upcoming action the Tigers host Brandeis University from the Boston-area in a three game series starting Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, followed by next weekend’s conference action at Hendrix in Conway, Arkansas.

BigCat Individual Challenge Concludes After Two Weeks of Strong Competition



Over the past 2 weeks the Trinity baseball program has concluded the Individual Big Cat Challenge. A total of 6 events determined the winner of this year’s contest. The events began with an agility course testing the athlete’s quick-twitch muscle movements as well as endurance. The second event tested both strength and speed as competitors had to carry up to five separate weighted objects up to 120 pounds 30 yards and back. The third competition was one of pure speed in which the athletes carried an 80 pound sandbag, 100 yards, up the hill cutting between the Bell Center and the football field. The towel hold, and fourth competition, favored the smaller athletes who were able to hold their body weight up the longest on the pull-up bar. The fifth competition consisted of 20 pound squat throws over a line posted 10 feet on the wall. This event was believed to favor the taller competitors but the quicker and more explosive athletes walked away with the highest scores. The final competition gave the players a chance to determine their own fate in the final standings.

Players competed based on their position on the leaderboard. The top five athletes were all within striking distance at the start of the sixth and final competition. The final competition was a workout WOD, similar but more demanding than many of the offseason baseball workouts. The WOD consisted of three rounds of 5 hang-cleans at 135 lbs, 7 burpees, and 9 kettlebell swings at 60 lbs. At the conclusion of the event, junior infielder Dom Robusto claimed the 2010 Big Cat Challenge Individual Championship with a dominating performance in the final round.

The effort exhibited by every competitor throughout this competition was awesome and hopefully helped build momentum heading into the start of the spring season. The top 6 finishers were awarded the opportunity to be captains for the Team Big Cat Challenge which will consist of six team events. Our following posts will cover these events and the makings of the 2010 Trinity Baseball Season.

Trinity Baseball Commences Spring Practice and Big Cat Challenge

The Trinity Tigers baseball program is back on campus and has begun Spring practice in preparation for their upcoming season. Players have been flying around the field, playing with energy as the team is excited to open the season February 6th at home against Schreiner University. This blog looks forward to following the Tigers through the season and deliver the latest updates to Tiger fans.

The Tigers are led by head coach, Tim Scannell, who is heading into his 12 season as the Trinity Tiger coach. Within his tenure at Trinity, Coach Scannell has earned the No. 15 best winning percentage among active NCAA Division III coaches including SCAC Coach of the Year Award four times, four SCAC Championships and four NCAA playoff appearances. Under his command Trinity has excelled both on and off the field, however, Coach Scannell has also brought the Big Cat Challenge to his program. The Big Cat Challenge is an athletic competition in which the players compete in both individual and team events ranging from agility courses to strongman competitions to campus-wide relay races. These competitions are determined to develop athleticism but also advance the programs mental strength to face and overcome adversity.

Unlike previous seasons, this years inaugural Big Cat Challenge was moved from the fall to early spring. In result, the Challenge is not only for player development but also as a tool to tighten team chemistry helping preparing the athletes for the upcoming season. This years Challenge will include 12 events, each following the conclusion of practice.

The first six competitions will be individual events. After each competition, players will receive a point total based on their performance rank. For example, the first competitions winner will receive one point, second place finisher two points, and so on. The competitor with the fewest points at the end of the six competitions will be crowned the 2010 Big Cat Individual Champion.

Event 1 - Agility Course
After the first day of competition, two pitchers sit atop the leader board with Sophomore Ben Klimesh posting the top time of 50.76 seconds and Senior Eric Binder the runner-up posting a time of 51.28 seconds. The next competition will include both agility and strength allowing competitors to climb the ranking and the current leaders an opportunity to separate themselves from the pack. With five individual competitions to go, its too early to claim a favor to win, its still anyone’s game.