(Story coutesy of Trinity University)
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Trinity Tigers head Coach Tim Scannell has been elected the 2015 American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond NCAA Division III West Region Coach of the Year.
The ABCA will announce the National Coach of the Year on Thursday, July 9. The regional and national coaches of the year are selected for all NCAA Divisions, the NAIA, junior colleges, and high school and youth programs.
Coach Scannell has completed 17 seasons at the Tigers helm. He earlier was named the D3baseball.com West Region Coach of the Year.
Last May, Coach Scannell guided Trinity to its first trip to the NCAA Division III Championship, held at Appleton, Wisconsin. Trinity came within one game of advancing to the best-of-three finals series. The Tigers began the double-elimination tournament with a loss to Emory (GA) University, but bounced back to defeat Salisbury (MD) University. Trinity captured the next two games, beating Emory and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. In the national semifinals, Wisconsin-La Crosse prevailed, as the Tigers completed the campaign with a 40-14 record. The 40 victories tied a Trinity record for wins in a single season.
Prior to the national championship event, the Tigers qualified for the NCAA regional tournament for the 10th time, and sixth in a row. The West Region Championship was held at Tyler, Texas, and Trinity chalked up a perfect 4-0 record. A victory over longtime nemesis Linfield (OR) College propelled the Tigers to the DIII World Series.
Coach Scannell led Trinity to a ninth Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship, in dramatic fashion at Shreveport, Louisiana. The Tigers edged Texas Lutheran University in the opening game, but fell to host Centenary College in the second matchup. With the one loss looming in the double-elimination tournament, Trinity proceeded to beat Southwestern University, and took out Centenary twice to bring home the championship trophy for the third straight time.
Following the season, Coach Scannell’s overall record was increased to 558-222. His winning percentage of .715 places him in the top-10 among active NCAA Division III coaches.