(Portions of this story courtesy of Trinity University)
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Senior Trinity University pitcher Matt Tindall has signed to play professionally with the Los Angeles Angels organization.
“Signing a professional contract was the most incredible feeling,” Tindall said. “It’s honestly impossible to put it into words what that feeling was like.”
Tindall’s career, now reaching the professional level, almost ended after high school. He was injured in high school missing much of the college recruiting period. He paid his deposit to attend the University of Arkansas, and had all but given up his dream to play college athletics when he heard from Trinity’s pitching coach Dave Smith. Tindall hadn’t considered attending Trinity before he heard from Smith, but chose to come to Trinity to continue his baseball career at the collegiate level.
Tindall made the most of his opportunity to play college baseball, especially in his senior season. He had a 2.51 ERA and .193 opponent batting average his final year, and sported a 6-1 overall record. For his career he finished with a 3.39 ERA, getting 103 strikeouts and allowing only 81 hits.
This season he also helped the Tigers reached the Division III College World Series for the first time in program history. He started in the World Series in an elimination game against Salisbury College pitching 7.2 innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks in the Tiger’s 9-1 win. The win made him the first-ever winning pitcher at the D-III College World Series for Trinity.
He was elected to the 2015 NCAA Baseball Championships All-Tournament team and was named 2015 All-SCAC Honorable Mention this season.
Even after he graduated, Tindall was not immediately drafted by a professional team.
“I was hoping that a team would pick me up in the draft, and when I didn’t get picked I was pretty disappointed,” Tindall said. “Then a couple days later Scannell texted me and told me to be ready for a phone call from the Angels scout, and then they ended up offering me a contract.”
Tindall is 1 of 4 former Tigers currently playing professionally. He joins Ben Klimesh (Cincinnati Reds Organization), Kyle Bogese (Philadelphia Phillies Organization), and Chris Bianchi (Los Angeles Dodgers Organization). He is also 1 of 11 Tiger pitchers to play professionally in the past few decades, the most recent being Klimesh and Bogese.
In his 17th season at the helm of the Trinity baseball program, head coach Tim Scannell led the Tigers to their first berth in the Division III College World Series in school history. Trinity finished the season with 40 wins, which tied a school record for wins in a season. This marks the second time in three seasons that they have reached the milestone.