By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the 12th consecutive year under the watch of head coach Matt Bragga, the Tennessee Tech baseball team played host to several Major League Baseball teams with its annual Pro Scout Night Wednesday evening. The purple and gold hosted scouts from the highest level of professional baseball at nearby Cookeville High School due to construction at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
"We were very excited to be able to continue this great tradition in Cookeville again this season," Bragga expressed. "We are truly appreciative of Cookeville High School for allowing us to use their facilities this fall as we go through the installation of turf at our home stadium. This is such an important opportunity for our guys to showcase their talents to scouts from the highest of professional ranks."
Major League Baseball was represented by over two-thirds of its membership on the night, including the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins, Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, and Oakland Athletics, among others.
"Even with a venue change, we had more than two-thirds of Major League teams represented this year, which is awesome to see," Bragga added. "Our young men work so hard at the ballpark and in the classroom, so this opportunity is always a special treat as we inch towards the end of our fall sessions. We are incredibly grateful to each of the scouts and their respective organizations for taking the time to come out and take a look at our guys."
A total of 47 Golden Eagles have signed with MLB in program history, including 27 alone from the 2008-18 period. Five of those 27 signees from 2008-18 played at the Major League level.
"We have had great success over the years getting guys signed by Major League Baseball clubs," Bragga said. "I know from 2009-2018, my last 10 years in Cookeville in my first go around here, we had 27 guys in those 10 years sign with an MLB team, and five of those 27 (18.5%) made it to the Big Leagues. That's a lot of MLB signees with a really high percentage of them making it to The Show. Pro scouts know we are always going to have high-quality talent and high-character young men here at Tennessee Tech."
Tech has put together a busy fall, playing exhibition contests at former Ohio Valley Conference rival Belmont last week and hosting Johnson University for some exhibition ball this weekend at Cookeville High School. The Golden Eagles defeated the Bruins, 6-5, in a 14-inning contest that saw Tech outhit its former OVC foe 13-9. The purple and gold delivered 21 strikeouts to just seven walks in the contest while making only one error.
Photo by TTU Baseball
