Noah Lindt retired all three batters he faced and got the save as Germany beat Italy 4-1 on Saturday in Prague. (Christine Johannsen)

PRAGUE, Czechia — After reaching the Triple-A level in North America, pitcher Markus Solbach returned to his native Germany after playing in the Tigers’ farm system in 2022.

Part of his motivation was to assist in the development of younger pitchers growing up as baseball players in Germany.

One of those players is lefty pitcher Noah Lindt, a native of Bonn, Germany who aided the UT Tyler run to the Division II College Baseball World Series this spring.

“He is a very talented baseball player,” Solbach, 31, said of Lindt, who turned 21 in April. “He is always eager to get better. He comes one hour before everyone else before practice. He is very dedicated. I have known him since he was 13 or 14. He has matured a lot.”

Lindt has also adapted to his new surroundings — he played two years at Vernon College before transferring to UT Tyler.

“He now sounds more Texan than German,” said Solbach, with a grin.

The lefty struggled early in the season for UT Tyler but “got his stuff together” and pitched well in the post-season. Overall, Lindt had an ERA of 3.52 in 11 games with one save out of the bullpen, didn’t allow a run in seven straight outings at one point and went 3.1 innings in a win on May 23 against Angelo State in the Super Regional.

“It was an amazing year. I will never forget that year,” said Lindt, whose club was finally eliminated by eventual champ Tampa in Cary, North Carolina. “We had pretty high hopes at the beginning of the year. We did not know we would make it that far. We knocked out Angelo (in the Super Regionals) and that was special.”

ON TO EUROPE

A memorable year continues for the 5-foot-10 Lindt as he was teammates with Solbach in late June at the 44th annual Prague Baseball Week in Czechia, the top-ranked country for baseball in Europe.

On Saturday afternoon (June 28) at the Eagles’ Nest, the home field of the Prague club, Lindt came on in the ninth inning with no outs and his team up 4-1 after Solbach, after eight shutout innings, gave up a solo homer to Italy to start the ninth.

Lindt, after some wild warmup pitches, fixed the dirt on the mound for his ideal landing spot and retired all three Italy batters he faced, including two by strikeout, to preserve the victory.

“I was amped up — in a good way,” said Lindt, standing by the German dugout after the game. “If (Solbach) gave up a run, I am in.”

The radar gun kept by his teammates clocked the Lindt fastball in the low 90s against Italy.

“He came out and attacked,” said Team Italy manager Francisco Cervelli, 39, a former Major League catcher who played for the Yankees, Pirates, Braves and Marlins through 2022. “That is what a closer does. He threw the slider when he needed it.”

So the tandem of Solbach and Lindt — who have known each other for years — teamed up to limit Italy to one run.

“He speaks wisdom,” Lindt said of Solbach, who also played in the minors with Twins, D-backs and Dodgers. “He stresses preparation and having focus. He is not a crazy emotional guy.”

It was the second year in a row that Lindt was with the German national team in Prague — and he has been part of the national pool before he was a teenager.

“It is cool to play for a Europe crowd again,” Lindt said. “It is a way different ballgame than in the States, especially against hitters on the national team. I think the biggest difference is the velocity. Every pitcher in America throws 90 to 95. You have starters here in Europe who are going to sit at 80 and you are going to be successful with that in Europe.”

Lindt said he has been “all over Europe” with the German national team and has also played in Panama, Taiwan, and the Dominican Republic. Lindt estimates that baseball has taken him to “20 or 30 countries.”

AIMING FOR THE PROS

Lindt, like most youth in Europe, played soccer at an early age. But then he focused on baseball.

“I was lefty, and I had pretty strong arm at a pretty young age,” he said. “I kind of knew it could go somewhere. With soccer, there are so many guys playing.”

One of his best friends from Germany, Paul Schmitz, was a junior right-handed pitcher this past spring at the University of Houston. Another one of Lindt’s friends is Paul Hoff, a fellow German who is now in the Brewers’ farm system as a pitcher.

“I heard from the Phillies and Dodgers. But it was low money, so I decided to go to college,” Lindt said.

UT Tyler coaches saw Lindt when he was at Vernon. “They saw me pitch and then I came on a visit,” he said.

His 2025 at UT Tyler was a mixed bag.

“The plan was I was going to be a starter. But I had an awful fall and an awful beginning of the season,” he said. “At the end of the season I got my groove back and was one of the main relievers in the regionals and Super Regionals.”

He won’t forget the 2025 season and the trip to the Division II College World Series.

“Everything was amazing. The field was amazing. We really believed we were going to win that thing,” said Lindt, who saw the Rangers play in person this year.

Lindt is majoring in history and plans to return to UT Tyler in a few weeks. He hopes to get drafted and play pro ball, just like his mentor Solbach.

“Maybe I am going to be a professional here in Germany, or America,” he said. “I do not know yet. My goal is to get drafted next year. All my focus is on that.”

PRAGUE/TEXAS NOTES: Group A in Prague was made up of Germany, Austria, Italy and host Czechia, formerly called the Czech Republic. … Czech Martin Cervenka, 32, who played Triple-A with the Orioles and Mets as a catcher, hit four homers on Friday night against Italy. He hit a solo homer, a two-run shot, three-run shot and grand slam to end the game in the eighth inning via the mercy rule with a 15-2 win. That “home run cycle” has never been done in the Major Leagues, according to the Prague Baseball website. It happened in the Texas League in 1998 when Tyrone Horne, playing for Double-A Arkansas, had a home run cycle by going deep four times in a 13-4 win over San Antonio. “I hadn’t realized I’d homered for the cycle at first,” he told Lisa Winston of MLB.com in 2006. “I’d never even heard of homering for the cycle.” … North Carolina native Horne played 12 years in the minors but never made the majors … Group B in Prague consisted of Poland, Lithuania, Switzerland and Slovakia. The Polish national team had several Texas ties. The coach was John McLaren, who grew up in Houston, played in the minors for the Astros and managed in the majors with Seattle and Washington. Leander High grad Adam Alexis, who went to Western Texas College and has played at Northwestern State of Louisiana, was a pitcher for the Polish team and Tomas Romo, who went to Fort Bend Christian, was a DH. Romo has been coaching prep ball in the Boston area while studying law. The Polish coach last year was Dennis Cook, a Texas native who played for the Longhorns and in the majors for several teams as a lefty pitcher. Cook is coaching Chatham in the prestigious Cape Cod League this summer. One of his assistants is Brett Doe, the head coach at Tyler Junior College … Other Major League ties to Prague Baseball Week included Corey Lee, a native of North Carolina who pitched in The Show with the Rangers in 1999. He was one of the coaches for Lithuania … Cervelli replaced Hall of Famer Mike Piazza before this season for Team Italy.

Editor’s note: Virginia native David Driver has lived in Hungary and Poland and is the author of two books: “Hoop Dreams in Europe,” about American basketball players overseas; and “From Tidewater to the Shenandoah: Snapshots from Virginia’s Rich Baseball History.” He is the former sports editor of papers in Baltimore and Harrisonburg, Virginia and covered the Washington Nationals from 2013-22 for various publications. He can be reached at daytondavid.com.

THE NOAH LINDT FILE

Sport: Baseball

College in 2025: Texas-Tyler

High school: Berutskolleg Duisdorf in Germany

Height/weight: 5-10/185

Throws: Left

Did you know? Lindt pitched two years at Vernon College before transferring to UT Tyler. … He had an ERA of 3.52 in 11 games out of the bullpen with one save this spring. … He was born in Bonn, Germany in 2004.