Tim Scannell will be in his 27th year as the Trinity Tigers head baseball coach when the 2025 season gets underway.
Coach Scannell was appointed head coach in 1999, after serving two seasons as an assistant coach. The Tigers have amassed a record of 768-293 (.723) over 25 seasons with Coach Scannell at the helm. He is ranked in the top 10 among active NCAA Division III coaches by winning percentage.
During the 2024 season, Scannell and the Tigers posted a 32-15 (16-5 SCAC) overall record. The squad earned at At-Large bid to the NCAA regional where they faced off against La Verne in a best of five series. Trinity put 14 players on the all conference list and had three all-region players. Jackson Teer was named ABCA and D3baseball.com First Team All-American as well as Regional and National Pitcher of the Year. Scanell also won SCAC Coach of the Year.
The Tigers wrapped up the 2023 season with a 31-16 record (16-5 SCAC) and won the SCAC Championship. Trinity earned an automatic bid berth to the NCAA III playoffs. Trinity fought hard but ultimately fell short to East Texas Baptist in the NCAA Regional.
Jackson Teer landed as a D3Baseball.com All-American under the direction of Coach Scannell. The Tigers also saw one of their own, Harrison Durow, sign an MLB contract.
Trinity finished the 2022 season with a record of (38-13, 19-2 SCAC) and made a Southern Collegiate Athletics Conference championship appearance. Despite falling to Centenary College, the Tigers earned an At-Large berth to the NCAA III Playoffs. Trinity bested UT-Dallas in a best-of-five game series and went on to play Birmingham-Southern College in a best-of-three series that Trinity eventually won to back to the Division III College World Series. The Tigers fell in three games at the World Series but Harrison Durrow was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team.
Six players earned ABCA and D3Baseball.com All-Region honors. Tyler Pettit earned All-American status from D3Baseball.com. Coach Scannell was named SCAC and ABCA Region 10 Coach of the Year.
The Tigers completed the 2021 season with an overall record of 28-9 (12-2 SCAC). Trinity was crowned the regular season SCAC Champion but fell to Texas Lutheran University in the SCAC Championship. The Tigers received an automatic bid and went to the St. Paul regional as the number one seed. Trinity was ultimately eliminated by Aurora University. Before entering the regional, the Tigers baseball team held a national ranking of no. 7 in Division III. Under coach Scannell, the Tigers carried the 23rd-best batting average in the country at .336 and tallied 40 home runs and 85 doubles as a team.
His overall record includes an 11-2 mark in the abbreviated 2020 campaign. In the course of the season, which started with an eight-game win streak, Coach Scannell earned his 700th career victory. The Tigers earned a ranking as high as #2 in the nation by D3baseball.com.
The 2016 season was the most successful in Trinity’s DIII baseball era. The Tigers emerged as the NCAA Division III World Series champions, going 5-0 at Grand Chute, Wisconsin. Trinity defeated Keystone (PA) College 2-0 in the best-of-three finals series to capture the crown and completed the campaign with a 44-7 record. The 44 wins set a school record for victories in a season.
Coach Scannell was elected the 2016 National Coach of the Year by four organizations. He was selected as the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year. Additionally, Coach Scannell was honored by D3baseball.com and HERO Sports, as well as receiving accolades from the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.
The latter honor was the Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year award. Coach Scannell was among the finalists in all NCAA Divisions, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Trinity earned its first trip to the World Series in 2015. The Tigers came within one game of advancing to the best-of-three finals series. Trinity completed the season with a 40-14 mark. Coach Scannell was honored as the 2015 ABCA/Diamond NCAA Division III West Region Coach of the Year.
Coach Scannell’s teams have qualified for the NCAA Playoffs 14 times, including the 2022 campaign. Trinity posted a string of seven NCAA Tournaments in a row from 2010-2016. The Tigers advanced to the Regional finals seven times in 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2022.
Coach Scannell also has led the Tigers to 11 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championships - including the 2019 season - and has been elected SCAC Coach of the Year 11 times in his coaching career.
A total of 16 players have earned All-America honors during Coach Scannell’s tenure, including Scott Walters in 2017. First baseman Evan Jones was a two-time All-American in 2008 and 2010, and pitcher Ryan Lucero earned the accolade in 2012-2013.
Two-time All-American Bo Edwards (1998 and 2000) will be inducted into the Trinity University Athletic Hall of Fame on October 5, 2019. The ceremony will be held at halftime of the Tigers football game with Austin (TX) College.
Sixteen Tigers have been elected either SCAC Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, or Freshman of the Year. Jackson Teer was the latest award winner, winning SCAC Pitcher of the Year.
Twenty-nine players mentored by Coach Scannell have signed pro baseball contracts, and eight have been drafted by Major League teams. Among the pro players was outfielder Jeremy Wolf who was drafted in the 31st round in 2016 by the New York Mets. Pitcher Brendan Meyer signed a contract in 2018 with the Cleveland Indians organization.
Coach Scannell served as an assistant with the University of Massachusetts, and his alma mater, Northeastern (MA) University. He graduated from Northeastern in 1992. Coach Scannell spent the summer of 1999 as the hitting coach for the Cape Cod League champion Cotuit Kettleers. He coached MLB All-Stars Chase Utley (Philadelphia Phillies) and Garrett Atkins (Pittsburgh Pirates).
As a player, the Xaverian Brothers High School (MA) graduate was a four-year standout at Northeastern. He captained the baseball team his junior and senior years. Coach Scannell spent two seasons in the Cape Cod League with the Harwich Mariners and the Cotuit Kettleers.
Coach Scannell is married to the former Christa Potter, a 1990 Trinity graduate. They are the parents of three sons, Matthew, TJ, and James.
