Baseball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- jtoman@liberty.edu
After a solid campaign in his first year as Liberty’s head coach, Jim Toman enters his second season at the helm of the program.
Last season, the Flames fashioned a 13-3-1 record in the month of May to finish the season with a 35-26-1 mark, making Toman the winningest first-year coach in the program’s 35-year history. Toman guided the Flames to their third straight Big South Championship title game appearance, claiming the conference’s runner-up position in 2008. Liberty’s May record was the best ever by Flames team, as Liberty won 30 or more games in a season for the fourth consecutive year for the first time in program history.
In addition, the Liberty pitching staff set a new season strikeout record, fanning 508 opposing batters during the year. The Flames’ strikeout total led the Big South Conference and their 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings ranked 22nd nationally at season’s end. Two pitchers from the staff, Ryan Page and David Stokes, went on to be drafted and play in the professional ranks this past summer. Page was taken in the 20th round of the MLB draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, while Stokes was picked in the 28th round by the Detroit Tigers.
Liberty also eclipsed the school’s single-season doubles mark, ripping 155 two-base hits. The total ranked the Flames fifth in the country in the category.
Liberty finished its season with a 14-7 record in conference play. The mark allowed the Flames to claim the No. 2 seed for the Big South Championship, their highest seed for the Big South Baseball Championship since a No. 1 seed in 2000. Liberty would go on to post four consecutive double-digit victories during six games in the Big South Championship to set a championship record with 55 runs scored.
Toman was named the sixth head coach in the 34-year history of the Liberty Baseball program in June 2007, after 11 seasons as the senior member of Ray Tanner’s coaching staff at South Carolina. Toman worked a total of 18 years alongside Tanner, dating back to the 1990 season at N.C. State.
During his time at South Carolina, Toman served as recruiting coordinator and worked with the team’s catchers. Known as one of the top recruiters in college baseball, the 19-year college coaching veteran was named the 2002 Baseball America/American Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year. Before joining the Gamecock staff in 1996, Toman served under Tanner for seven years at N.C. State.
Toman has recruited 15 top 25 classes, including all 11 of his seasons at South Carolina. From 2003-2006, three of the four Gamecock recruiting classes were ranked first in the nation by Collegiate Baseball. Toman’s 2003, 2005 and 2006 classes were named the top recruiting classes by the publication.
The 2004 South Carolina recruiting class was ranked ninth in the nation by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, while his 2002 class was selected eighth. The 2001 Gamecock class was ranked 10th and the 2000 class eighth best by Collegiate Baseball. The 1997 South Carolina class was ranked 17th and the 1998 and 1999 classes were both ranked 11th.
During his time on the staff in Columbia, S.C., Toman and the Gamecocks made nine NCAA Regional appearances, including eight straight between 2000 and 2007, and three consecutive trips to the College World Series (2002-04). Add in his seven seasons at N.C. State, and Toman has helped lead 14 teams to NCAA Regional appearances.
In addition, South Carolina posted eight straight seasons of 40 or more wins with Toman on the Gamecock coaching staff, including 2007. During Toman’s 11 seasons at South Carolina, he helped the Gamecocks to a combined 500-220 record (.694).
Six catchers coached at South Carolina by Toman went on to sign professional baseball contracts. The most recent were Trent Kline, who inked a contract with the San Francisco Giants in the summer of 2007, and Ian Paxton, who signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006. Landon Powell, an All-American in 2004, was a first-round draft pick by the Oakland A’s, and a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, an honor given to year’s top collegiate catcher. Toman also developed Tim Whittaker, a third team All-America choice in 2001, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and Brandon Pack, who signed with the Texas Rangers in 2000. Other Toman-coached catchers who have signed professional contracts are Ryan Bordenick in 1998 by the Milwaukee Brewers, and Rob Streicher in 1997 with the Montreal Expos.
Toman earned four baseball letters at N.C. State, 1981-84, and was captain of the Wolfpack his junior and senior seasons. The highlight of his career as a player came in the 1984 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, when he set tournament records for home runs (4), doubles (4) and total bases (25) and was named to the all-tournament team.
Toman earned a bachelor of science degree in vocational industrial education from N.C. State in 1985 and graduated as the top student in the vocational industrial education curriculum. He received a master of science degree in sport management from N.C. State in 1995 with a 4.0 grade-point average.
Upon graduation, Toman entered the coaching profession as an assistant at Richmond County High School in Rockingham, N. C. While working with one of the top high school baseball programs in North Carolina for two years, he also served as head wrestling coach and as an assistant football coach. He then moved to Atlantic Community High School in Del Ray Beach, Fla., where he spent a year as an assistant for baseball and football.
Toman moved into the collegiate coaching ranks in 1989 as an assistant at Florida International for one year. At Florida International, he was responsible for the weight program, worked with the squad’s catchers and coached first base. Toman joined the N.C. State staff before the 1990 season.
Toman also spent three summers as an assistant coach with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League.
A native of Monroeville, Pa., Toman is married to the former Ashley McLaughlin of Florence, S. C., a former volleyball player at Charleston Southern. They have three children - Caroline (11), Charlie Mac (8), and Tucker (5).
