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.
