Tom Carcione completed his second season as the head coach at Metro State in 2011. He carries a 50-40 record in two seasons in Denver, including 43-26 in RMAC games.
The Roadrunners finished second in the Mountain Division in 2011 with a record of 29-17 overall, including 25-14 in the RMAC. However, the team was snubbed out of the NCAA Tournament, dropping out top six in the region when tournament field was selected. Carcione's squad was strong offensively, ranking in the top-10 in Division II in slugging percentage (.503) and scoring (8.30). David Fox was named RMAC Player of the Year, the first Metro State player to win the award. Fox also was named third team All-America and was signed by Joliet (Ill.) of the independent Frontier League after the completion of the season. He finished his two-year career under Carcione second all-time at Metro State in batting average and slugging percentage.
Carcione's squad was also strong in the classroom as six players were named academic all-conference. David Kaplan was named RMAC Academic Player of the Year.
In his first season in 2010, Carcione guided the Roadrunners to a 21-23 record, including 18-12 in the RMAC for the conference's fourth-best record.
A lack of pitching depth was overcome in the conference season by all-conference pitchers Jake Draeger and Ted Jamison, and a turnaround by Bradshaw Perry, who had an ERA of 11.52 through his first six starts, but rebounded with a 2.92 ERA in his final six starts. The offense was dominant throughout the year as the Roadrunners led the RMAC in home runs and finished in the top three in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
Metro State set numerous single game records in a 34-12 victory over Colorado Christian on March 5, including most runs in a game.
Junior outfielder David Fox earned all-region honors and finished the year with a .431 batting average and had a 19-game hitting streak at one point during the season. Junior first baseman Jordan Stouffer broke Metro State's single season home run record with 17 bombs and ranked 10th in the nation in home runs per game.
Carcione joined Metro State from the Ottawa Rapidz of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball independent league. He took over as interim manager for Rapidz in mid season 2008 and was named full-time manager in spring 2009, but the team disbanded in April.
Prior to his time in Ottawa, Carcione worked as the hitting instructor at NCAA Division I Northern Illinois University for two years. While at NIU, the Huskies had their two highest conference win totals in school history, going 16-11 in 2007 and 16-10 in 2008. Additionally, NIU tied the school record for the most wins in a season with a 34-24 record in 2007. His team batted .292 with 42 home runs in 2007 and .286 with 48 home runs in 2008. Four players signed professional contracts following their collegiate careers.
He also spent two years as the pitching coach for the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association independent baseball league. With the Explorers, he helped the team to a 10-game improvement and second-place finish in the North Division during the second half of the 2007 season. Under his coaching, his pitchers consistently ranked among the league’s best. In each of his two years, he had a pitcher lead the league in complete games and had a pitcher rank among the top two in innings pitched. Closer Matt Wilkinson led the American Association in saves in 2007. Carcione also served one year as the bench and bullpen coach of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, helping the team to a Northern League division championship in 1999.
Other coaching experience includes four years as an assistant coach at the University of South Dakota and a year as the head coach in 2005 at Si Tanka University, an NAIA school in Huron, S.D. While at Si Tanka, he coached the team to a school record 22 wins and its best finish ever in the Dakota Athletic Conference, along with its first-ever regional tournament appearance. The school closed following the 2005 season.
Carcione started his collegiate playing career at Connor State Junior College in Warner, Okla., where he led his team to two regional tournament berths, including a championship his freshman year. He then went on to play two years at Texas A&M University as the starting catcher for the Aggies, leading the squad to a 52-15 record in 1988 and a runner-up finish to Cal State Fullerton at the NCAA South Region Tournament that year. Following his time at Texas A&M, Carcione was drafted in the 10th round by the Oakland Athletics and spent five years in their organization, reaching as high as Double A. He then played five more seasons of minor league baseball with Sioux City of the Northern League and Grand Forks of the Prairie League.
He received his bachelor’s degree in recreation from the University of South Dakota in 2001.
Carcione's Collegiate Head Coaching Record
| Year |
School |
Overall |
Conference |
Postseason/Championships |
| 2005 |
Si Tanka (S.D.) |
22-21 |
17-9 |
NAIA Regional Tournament |
| 2010 |
Metro State |
21-23 |
18-12 |
|
| 2011 |
Metro State |
29-17 |
25-14 |
|
| 2 Years |
Metro State |
50-40 |
43-26 |
|
| 3 Years |
Overall |
72-61 |
60-35 |
|
