Baseball
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- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- gquinn@liberty.edu
Garrett Quinn enters his eighth year as an assistant coach on head coach Jim Toman’s Liberty staff, serving as the Flames' pitching coach. Besides his work with the Liberty pitching staff, he is also in charge of scheduling and assists in recruiting.
During his tenure at Liberty, he has seen 16 members of his pitching staffs drafted or signed by Major League teams. He has also coached three All-Americans, 2 Big South Pitchers of the Year, one Big South Freshman of the Year, 10 all-conference pitchers, five Big South All-Tournament team pitchers and one All-Region team selection.
Last season, the Flames led the Big South and finished in the Top 25 in the nation in shutouts. Liberty also led the conference in opponent batting average and complete games.
For the second consecutive season, Quinn saw one of his charges named Big South Pitcher of the Year in 2015. Senior left-hander Jared Lyons claimed the honor, posting career highs with an 8-2 mark and a 1.99 ERA over 99 2/3 innings of work in 2015. Lyons struck out 100 batters, while walking 22, finishing with the second most strikeouts in a single season in program history and 20th in the country in WHIP (walks-hits per innings pitched).
The left-hander went on to become the first pitcher selected to a postseason NCAA Division I All-America team in program history when he was named to the 2015 Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-America squad.
In June, Quinn saw Lyons selected in the ninth round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. Fellow Flames pitcher Ashton Perritt, who returned to Liberty after being drafted in 2014, was selected in the 24th round. Later, senior left-hander Shawn Clowers signed a minor league free agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
Perritt finished his career second on the all-time Liberty saves list with 22, while Clowers was among the top five in the nation in wins for most of his senior season, before finishing 18th.
In 2014, Quinn saw his pitching staff set a new school record with a 2.62 ERA, leading the Big South and finishing 14th nationally. It is the second time during his tenure that his pitching staff set a new program standard for ERA (2012).
Liberty also topped the Big South with nine shutouts. In addition, the relief corps enjoyed a strong year, recording 16 saves, tying for the second most in program history with Quinn’s mound staff in 2010.
The Liberty pitching staff played a key role in helping the Flames capture the Big South regular season title with a 23-3 record and garner the program’s first-ever at-large selection to a NCAA Regional. The Flames finished the year at 41-18, their third 40-plus win season during Quinn’s six years at Liberty.
The 2014 Flames ranked among one of the four major baseball polls during the regular season for the first time in program history, reaching as high as No. 21 in the Baseball America weekly poll on March 21. Liberty’s 23 Big South victories were also the most in school history. The Flames won 20 consecutive conference games during the season.
At year’s end, Liberty became the first team in Big South history to sweep the major conference awards. Quinn saw senior right-hander Trey Lambert selected the Big South Pitcher of the Year, becoming the first Liberty pitcher ever to garner the award and freshman right-hander Parker Bean voted the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Lambert and Bean were also selected to the All-Big South first team, while reliever Perritt was named to the conference’s second team.
Nationally, Bean was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and also was selected VaSID All-State Rookie of the Year. Lambert, along with first baseman Alex Close, became one of the first two players to be named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America team in program history.
Lambert led the Big South with 11 wins, posting a 2.23 ERA over 109 innings. The senior finished his career with a school record 2.79 ERA and eighth all-time in career wins with 21.
In June, Quinn saw two pitchers taken in the 2014 Major League Draft. The Atlanta Braves selected Perritt in the 17th round, while the Texas Rangers choose Adam Parks in the 37th round.
In 2013, Quinn helped guide the Flames to their first NCAA Regional final appearance in program history and their first Big South Championship since 2000. Liberty captured the 2013 Big South Championship and gained a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Columbia, S.C., Regional, the highest seed for a Liberty team in school history.
Liberty’s pitching staff threw the most innings of any staff in program history, 567 1/3 innings during the year. Two pitchers from that staff, Josh Richardson and Danny Grauer, were later selected in the 2013 Major Baseball Draft. Richardson was selected in the 26th round by the San Diego Padres, while Grauer was chosen in the 38th round by the Cincinnati Reds. Richardson finished his career at Liberty third on the school’s all-time ERA list with a 3.05 career ERA.
Under Quinn’s guidance, Flames pitchers set school records for team ERA and shutouts in helping drive Liberty to its second 40-plus win season in three years in 2012. Liberty pitchers recorded a 3.04 team ERA, finishing the year ranked 15th nationally. In addition, the Flames led the country with 11 shutouts, setting Big South Conference and school records.
Big South All-Conference first team pitcher John Niggli paced Quinn’s staff, leading the conference with 103 2/3 innings pitched, while ranking second with nine wins and fourth with a 2.17 ERA. Niggli finished his Liberty career with a 2.86 ERA, then the lowest in Liberty history of pitchers with 100 or more innings pitched. The right-hander was selected in the ninth round of the 2012 Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers. Another member of the staff, Blake Forslund, was taken in the 15th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In 2011, three of Quinn's pitchers, Garrett Baker, Steven Evans and Keegan Linza, not only earned all-conference honors, but were among the Liberty program and conference-record seven players selected in the 2011 draft. Baker was the first Liberty player taken in the 2011 Draft, when the left-hander was selected in the 11th round by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He became the highest Liberty pitcher to be taken in the entry draft since Jason Jones was chosen in the fourth round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees.
During the year, Linza tied a Liberty record for wins in a season with an 11-3 record, topping the Big South Conference and ranking sixth in the nation in victories. He also finished second in the Big South with 108 innings pitched and a 2.08 ERA. The two marks rank among the program's single-season leaders.
Meanwhile, Evans completed his four-year career at Liberty by placing his name on several of the school's career lists. The left-hander posted a 26-10 record during his Flames career, finishing second on the program's all-time victory list. He also concluded his Liberty career second on Liberty's innings pitched and strikeout ledgers.
In 2010, Liberty pitchers recorded a 4.38 ERA, which ranked 34th nationally. The Flames held opponents to a .276 batting average and recorded a 2-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio, playing a key role in Liberty setting a new school record with 43 victories.
The Liberty relief corps enjoyed its strongest season under Quinn, recording 16 saves, the second most in program history. Only the 2000 Flames team had more, posting 18 saves. Liberty led the conference in the category.
Quinn also saw two-time Big South All-Conference pitcher Shawn Teufel become the second pitcher from one of his Liberty mound staffs taken in the MLB Draft, as the left-hander was selected by the Detroit Tigers. Teufel posted career highs under Quinn in 2010, recording a 10-4 mark with a Big South Conference-leading 2.44 ERA and striking out 92 over 103 1/3 innings.
Before joining the Liberty coaching staff in 2009, Quinn spent four years at Stetson, where he was the Hatters' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.
During his time at Stetson, Quinn coached three All-Americans (two preseason and one postseason) and six Atlantic Sun (A-Sun) all-conference performers. In addition, five Stetson pitchers inked professional contracts - Ryan Dixon (St. Louis Cardinals) in 2005, Nathan Nery (Baltimore Orioles) in 2006, Corey Kluber (San Diego Padres) and Chris Ingoglia (Florida Marlins) in 2007, and Nick Pugliese (Anaheim Angels) in 2008. Kluber went on to win the 2014 American League Cy Young Award as a member of the Cleveland Indians.
The Hatters made three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances during Quinn's first three years at the school. Stetson captured back-to-back A-Sun Championships in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, Quinn's mound staff helped Stetson post a 42-21 mark and receive an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament field.
Quinn served as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Young Harris in Georgia in 2004. The Mountain Lions posted a 52-8 overall record and won the GJCAA Conference championship. He also was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for two years at St. Thomas (Fla.) from 2002-03.
From 1998 through 2001, Quinn served as a volunteer assistant coach at Florida. He assisted with the team's pitching staff and with recruiting. The Gators made two NCAA Regional appearances during his time in Gainesville.
Quinn also has coached in various summer wood bat leagues. From 2001-03, he served on the coaching staff of the Cotuit Kettleers of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL), serving as the team's head coach in 2002 and 2003. In 2002, he led the Kettleers to the Western Division Cape Championship.
He has also coached for the Edenton Steamers of the Coastal Plain Collegiate League and the Athens Trojans of the Georgia Peach Connie Mack Baseball League.
A four-year letterwinner for Maine, Quinn earned first team All-America East and America East Conference Pitcher of the Year honors in 1997. When his Black Bears career ended, Quinn held the school records for most appearances in a season (26) and in a career (77). He was also second on the all-time list for career saves with 17.
Quinn graduated from Maine in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He also received a Master of Education degree from Florida in 2001.
A native of Skowhegan, Maine, Quinn is married to the former Katie Sydes. They have two children, Jackson (11) and Ellie (9), and live in Lynchburg.
