Former N.C. A&T Baseball Players Strive Professionally

GREENSBORO, North Carolina – There is some good news out about two North Carolina A&T baseball alumni. Luke Tendler (N.C. A&T ‘14) is having a great season for the High Desert Mavericks, an Advance Single A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, the team that drafted Tendler in the 2014 MLB Draft.

Another former Aggies slugger, C.J. Beatty, is also doing well in his professional baseball career. Beatty has been hired as a scout and hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals organization, the same organization that drafted Beatty in 2009.



Tendler’s power numbers led the Mavericks to the first-half (of the season) championship in the California League South standings, and they are in competition for the best overall record in the California League with the season coming to an end on Sept. 5. Tendler leads the league in RBI (90), he is tied for third in home runs (22) and he is fourth in the league in doubles (35). Tendler is also second in total bases (245) and only two other players have walked more than Tendler.

High Desert is three games back in the second-half standings. As first-half champions they will play in the best-of-5 divisional finals in the playoffs. Tendler has played in 314 minor league games in his career and is a career .283 hitter with 48 home runs, 220 RBI, 83 doubles and a .492 slugging percentage. He has also played for the Spokane Indians (Short Season-A) and the Hickory Crawdads (Full Season-A).

Before becoming the 876th overall selection in the 29th round of the 2014 MLB amateur draft, Tendler was a superstar power man for the Aggies.



Tendler led the Aggies in batting in three out of the seasons he played (2011-14), while starting 199 out of the 200 games he played at A&T. His career highlights include being named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, a Louisville Slugger third-team All-American as a junior and he was named MEAC Preseason Player of the Year in 2013.

He was a career .349 hitter with 24 home runs and 179 RBI. He also finished with 66 doubles, 15 triples and a .561 slugging percentage. As a junior, he was fourth in the nation in doubles per game.

Beatty will be the hitting instructor for the State College Spikes, a Short Season-A team in Pennsylvania. Beatty has had a productive minor league career and has worked as a motivational speaker since leaving N.C. A&T in 2009.



In 2009, he was 789th overall pick in the 26th round by the Cardinals. He played three seasons (2009-11) in their organization before playing four seasons for various independent baseball teams (2011-14). There was also a two-year stint in Australia for the Brisbane Bandits in winter baseball. Beatty spent the final two years of his career in the Chicago White Sox organization (2014-15).

Beatty is one of the highest-ranked recruits to ever sign with N.C. A&T out of high school. Beatty spent three seasons at N.C. A&T where he was a career .339 hitter with 31 home runs, 47 doubles and 135 RBI. He also had a .590 slugging percentage. Tendler and Beatty are two of the 18 Aggies ever selected in the MLB draft.

NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION