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.