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Trinity Alumni Making Names for Themselves in Professional Baseball
San Antonio - A number of former Trinity baseball players have made names for themselves in the ranks of professional baseball teams around the country.
The Tiger Baseball program has a motto, one that the current players look to in the heat of battle and celebrate in victory. “The Tradition Continues…” is a staple of the programs team-first approach and commitment to the good of the whole, the belief that each player contributes to the proud tradition of Trinity Baseball every time they step on the field.
While the program has accomplished a great deal under the 12-year tenure of Head Coach Tim Scannell, the individual opportunities that a special group of players have earned should not go without mentioning. Since 1999, Coach Scannell has sent 13 players to professional baseball. Recently, Evan Bronson (LHP, Washington Nationals), Chuck Huggins (LHP, Toronto Blue Jays), and Ryan Cavan (INF, San Francisco Giants) have been holding their own on the diamonds of Minor League Baseball.
In his first season of Minor League Baseball, Bronson was selected to the NYP Mid-Season All-Star Game and finished the season going 3-0, with a 0.55 ERA and only 3 walks in 49.1 innings. For his stellar work, Evan was promoted to High-A Potomac to start the 2010 season and awarded a spot in the starting rotation.
Chuck Huggins has also enjoyed his share of success on the mound. Through 2 full seasons, Chuck posted ERA’s of 2.15 and 2.82, respectively, in both Lansing and Dunedin. In 2010, Chuck began the year in Dunedin, where he went 5-1 and was called up to AA-New Hampshire earlier this month.
Ryan Cavan, high school and college teammate of Huggins, is currently in Augusta, GA playing in Class-A with the Giants. In his rookie season, he hit .277 with 9 HR’s and a .399 OBP in Salem-Keiser before being moved up to Augusta.
While these 3 are keeping their dreams of the MLB alive, two former Tigers reflect on their time in the professional ranks. Jason Armstrong (2004) and Nick Vera (2007) both enjoyed professional experience before injuries forced them to cut their careers short.
Armstrong was a Minor League All-Star in the Blue Jays organization, and reflects fondly on the experience that playing at Trinity gave him. To Armstrong, Trinity was a tremendous opportunity that helped to define him as a professional-quality baseball player: “I learned the importance of staying humble, and to never think that one person is bigger than the game.”
In regards to his 2005 Lansing MVP selection, Armstrong notes, “Coming out of a small school like Trinity, it served as a defining moment in my career because it proved to me and the organization that I belonged in the minor leagues and could compete with the best young players in the world.”
Another former Tiger, Nick Vera has a duly noteworthy story. It’s a story that really speaks to the strength of Trinity’s program. Despite the odds, the 2007 senior was recently selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 32nd round of the amateur entry draft.
Nick put together an impressive rookie season for the Johnson City Cardinals. It was an effort that resulted in a .286 batting average and four homeruns. Nick’s season saw him transition from a college outfielder to a quality minor league third baseman and potentially to a solid backstop. Vera’s biggest takeaway from Trinity University Baseball was “how to play the game; there’s no point in playing the game if you’re not playing it with passion and having fun while you’re out there.”
Both players credit making the decision to choose Trinity University over larger Division I schools as a key for making their dreams of playing professional baseball come true.
“For me, I had opportunities at several Division I schools around the country to play college baseball. But Coach Scannell and his staff expressed that I would have the opportunity to play right away as a freshman. And that they would not try to mold me into a slap type hitter but rather help me learn to drive the baseball. I really feel playing at Trinity opened the door for me to play with the Blue Jays.” Armstrong continued, “I feel that some of the teams I played on at Trinity were equivalent to many Division I schools around the country.”
As for Vera, “I believed Coach Scannell when he said that if I came Trinity he could place me a competitive collegiate summer league and he did. It was in those summer leagues that I saw I could play with the very best college players from around the country. My confidence as a baseball player just went through the roof and eventually led me to the St. Louis Cardinals organization.”
Below is a list of the players under Head Coach Tim Scannell that have played professionally.
JC
Bunch
Texas Rangers
Steve
Edsall
Colorado Rockies
Kenneth
Sharp
Montpelier Barracudas
Jason
Armstrong
Toronto Blue Jays
Joe
Brown Lincoln
Saltdawgs
Adam
Frey
Alexandria Aces
Chuck
Huggins
Arizona Diamondbacks
Nick
Vera
St. Louis Cardinals
Ryan
Cavan
San Francisco Giants
Brian
Oates
Seattle Mariners
Evan
Bronson Washington
Nationals
Stosh
Hoover
Montpelier Barracudas
Jordan
Pennington
Montpelier Barracudas
