Ottumwa, IA – Former Indian Hills Baseball ace Wyatt Wendell has signed a free agent contract with Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks, announced on Thursday.
Wendell will join the Diamondbacks camp in Scottsdale, AZ after most recently pitching in the MLB Draft League for the West Virginia Black Bears where he appeared in nine games on the mound.
Wendell was a member of the Indian Hills program from 2019 to 2021, missing the 2020 season due to COVID-19. During his career, Wendell won 15 games, tied for the most in school history. Wendell posted a 7-4 record during the 2019 campaign and went 8-3 in 65 innings in 2021, leading the program to the JUCO World Series for the first time since 2004.
"Wyatt helped us set a culture in our program when he arrived as a freshman," Indian Hills head coach Matthew Torrez stated. He played a big role in helping us return to the JUCO World Series in 2021. It was such a pleasure having him at Indian Hills - he added so much to our program while he was here. We'd like to wish him the best of luck as he moves on to another step in his baseball career."
Following his career at Indian Hills, Wendell moved on to Purdue University where he went 5-3 in 14 appearances for the Boilermakers in 2022.
"Indian Hills is a place unlike any other as far as atmosphere around the game of baseball goes," Wendell stated, reflecting on his time in Centerville. "I got to be around teammates from all over the world which was not only a great experience, but very eye-opening. Being around many different cultures helped me prepare for the next step of my baseball career. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Indian Hills and have nothing but respect for coach Torrez and all the other staff and faculty."
Wendell joins a long list of former Indian Hills Baseball players to sign professional contracts. That list includes five alums who played in the professional ranks this past season – Jacob Rhinesmith, Olivier Basabe, Joel Booker, Nick Green, and Zac Fascia. Fascia also competed at Purdue following his time at Indian Hills.