Matt Parrington begins his 26th season in 2025 as head baseball coach at Macalester College. In 2018, he recorded his 300th victory at Macalester while leading the Scots to back-to-back MIAC Playoff appearances for the first time in the program’s history. Parrington has 384 career victories at Macalester and is the program’s winningest coach.
Parrington’s squad went 21-17 overall in 2018 and tied for fifth in the MIAC with a record of 11-9. The finish put the Scots in the MIAC Playoffs for the second straight season.
In 2017, Parrington led the Scots to the MIAC Playoff championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, both program firsts. After taking fourth in the MIAC standings with a 12-8 record to qualify for the program’s third MIAC Playoffs, the Scots won three straight games to win the title. Parrington’s squad hit five homers and scored 25 runs in beating Bethel twice and St. Thomas once to give Macalester its first trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Scots finished 2017 with a 26-17 record to tie the 2011 team for the most wins in a season. Parrington was named MIAC Coach of the Year and five of his players were included on the All-MIAC team.
Parrington was the 2011 MIAC Coach of the Year after leading Macalester to a 26-14 record and its first MIAC championship in 61 years. He also led the Scots to the MIAC Playoffs in 2000.
The 2012 season included the first Macalester player ever taken in the Major League Baseball draft. Second baseman Mitch Glasser was drafted in the 39th round by the Chicago White Sox. During Parrington’s tenure as head coach, he has coached 40 different first-team all-conference players, 18 all-region performers, the program’s first-ever All-American, and an Academic All-American. In 2019, Graham Low became the first Scot to be chosen the MIAC Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. He also made two All-American teams in 2019.
In addition to all the administrative duties involved in running a D-III baseball program, Parrington’s main on-field duty is that of hitting instructor. Numerous offensive records have been set during his tenure.
Parrington is a 1991 graduate of Minnesota State University – Mankato, an NCAA Division II college in southern Minnesota, where he earned an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications and a Master’s degree in Sport Administration from MSU in 1993. He enjoyed a career as both an outfielder and pitcher and was a member of three North Central Conference championship teams while playing under ABCA Hall of Fame head coach Dean Bowyer. The graduate assistant duties included serving as pitching coach.
Parrington came to Macalester College from the Milwaukee Brewers front office in the fall of 1996, where he served as a sales manager in the season ticket and group sales office. His first three years on staff at Macalester he was associate head coach under his predecessor, Steve Hauser, and he served as recruiting coordinator.
During the summer of 2012, Parrington was inducted into the Class A Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame for his on field play with the Minnetonka Millers. Matt and his wife Karen reside in Golden Valley, Minn.
| Career Record |
| School |
Season |
W |
L |
T |
Pct. |
| Macalester |
2000 |
19 |
19 |
0 |
.500 |
| Macalester |
2001 |
15 |
23 |
0 |
.395 |
| Macalester |
2002 |
22 |
14 |
0 |
.611 |
| Macalester |
2003 |
6 |
29 |
0 |
.171 |
| Macalester |
2004 |
13 |
23 |
0 |
.361 |
| Macalester |
2005 |
12 |
24 |
0 |
.333 |
| Macalester |
2006 |
15 |
18 |
1 |
.456 |
| Macalester |
2007 |
14 |
23 |
0 |
.378 |
| Macalester |
2008 |
14 |
23 |
0 |
.378 |
| Macalester |
2009 |
19 |
19 |
0 |
.500 |
| Macalester |
2010 |
22 |
17 |
1 |
.563 |
| Macalester |
2011 |
26 |
14 |
0 |
.650 |
| Macalester |
2012 |
19 |
20 |
0 |
.487 |
| Macalester |
2013 |
11 |
28 |
0 |
.282 |
| Macalester |
2014 |
14 |
24 |
0 |
.368 |
| Macalester |
2015 |
14 |
22 |
0 |
.389 |
| Macalester |
2016 |
17 |
18 |
0 |
.486 |
| Macalester |
2017 |
26 |
17 |
0 |
.605 |
| Macalester |
2018 |
21 |
17 |
0 |
.553 |
| Macalester |
2019 |
19 |
20 |
0 |
.487 |
| Macalester |
2020 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
.333 |
| Macalester |
2021 |
8 |
18 |
0 |
.308 |
| Macalester |
2022 |
12 |
21 |
0 |
.364 |
| Macalester |
2023 |
17 |
17 |
0 |
.500 |
| Macalester |
2024 |
9 |
29 |
0 |
.237 |
| Totals |
25 Seasons |
384 |
498 |
2 |
.436 |
