CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox collegiate summer team announced today (March 25) the hirings of former major leaguer Randy Tomlin, Georgia/Kent State head coach Scott Stricklin, Virginia Cavalier Kenny Towns, and current Mary Washington assistant Adam Dofflemyer as the team’s 2024 coaching staff. This announcement gives the Tom Sox one of the most experienced and high-level coaching staffs in all of collegiate summer baseball. Tomlin will serve as Head Coach, while Stricklin, Towns, and Dofflemyer will all serve as assistants.
HEAD COACH RANDY TOMLIN
Randy Tomlin joins the Tom Sox while serving as Head Coach at Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, VA, a position he has held since 2012. Under his leadership, Liberty Christian has been one of the most successful teams in the state of Virginia, winning two state titles (2017 & 2022) and numerous regional championships. The program has also produced three pro players – Wes Clarke, Zack Hess, and Tomlin’s son Quade – alongside a number of current and former collegiate players.
“I’m very happy to be able to coach the Sox this summer,” said Tomlin. “I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for myself to grow as a coach and with the staff that I have, to be able to learn more about the game and also to help the young men that are coming. It’s a tremendous responsibility that you’re given with the schools and players that I don’t take lightly, but also the opportunity to go out and compete for a championship which is the goal. I’m excited to be able to have an opportunity to do that at such a high level in the summer.”
Prior to joining the Bulldogs, Tomlin spent five seasons as a pitching coach in the Washington Nationals organization. During his time with the Single-A Potomac Nationals and Double-A Harrisburg Senators, Tomlin coached players including Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Drew Storen, and Ross Detwiler.
Tomlin enjoyed a five-year MLB career for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1990-1994, becoming the third Liberty player to appear in a major league game. Over 106 total appearances (94 starts), Tomlin had a 3.43 ERA, 297 strikeouts, and tossed eight complete games, including one in his MLB debut. He appeared in three NLCS games across the 1991 and 1992 seasons. He played his collegiate ball at Liberty, where he still ranks among the top ten in innings, complete games, shutouts, and strikeouts. He was inducted into the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.
“He’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, obviously a big leaguer so he played at a high level, but just really well-respected and as nice a person as you’ll find,” said Stricklin.
ASSISTANT COACH SCOTT STRICKLIN
Scott Stricklin joins the Tom Sox as an Assistant Coach for the 2024 season. Most recently, Stricklin served ten seasons as the head coach at the University of Georgia, where he led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Regional appearances and a 299-236-1 record from 2014-23.
“This is the first time in 30 years that I haven’t been on a baseball field, so getting back on the field means a lot to me,” said Stricklin, who is also a longtime friend of Tomlin’s. “I’m excited to go out and try to help kids develop and become better baseball players, but also help the organization win a championship. So I’m excited personally to get back on the field and coach again.
Throughout his ten seasons at Georgia, Stricklin revitalized the program, leading the Bulldogs back to the SEC Tournament for the first time in two years and winning a top-10 series for the first time in three. Georgia captured top-10 national rankings in 2020 and 2021, alongside hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time in a decade in 2018 and following that up with a second-straight host in 2019. During the 2019 season, Georgia won 42 games – the fourth-most in school history – while placing two players on all major All-America lists. Additionally, Stricklin led the $12 million renovation effort of Foley Field, capturing the support of Hall of Fame alumni such as John Smoltz, Phil Niekro, and Chipper Jones. 38 total Bulldogs were drafted across Stricklin’s ten seasons, including a pair of first rounders in Emerson Hancock (2020) and Robert Tyler (2016).
Prior to his time at Georgia, Stricklin spent nine seasons as the Head Coach at his alma mater, Kent State. Stricklin led the Golden Flashes to five NCAA regionals, five MAC Tournament championships, and four MAC regular season titles. In 2012, he took Kent State to their first College World Series in program history, defeating 1-seed Florida before falling to eventual finalist South Carolina. 30 KSU players were selected in the MLB draft during his nine seasons and the team registered a perfect 1,000 score in the NCAA’s APR report from 2010-12, one of only 16 schools in the nation with such accomplishment.
Stricklin will be joined in Charlottesville by his son Cale, a sophomore catcher at Auburn who will be a member of the Tom Sox roster this summer.
ASSISTANT COACH KENNY TOWNS
Kenny Towns joins the Tom Sox as an Assistant Coach for the 2024 season. Towns joins the ‘Sox to begin his coaching career after an outstanding career as a third baseman at the University of Virginia.
“I’m excited to work with those kids,” Towns said. “I did the summer ball thing, so I know it’s as fun of a time as it gets. You get to go out there and play some highly competitive baseball without the pressures of the season wearing down on you, and you can go out there, have some fun, and play some loose and aggressive baseball. I’m excited to work with these highly skilled players so I can share my experience with them, and I want to be able to help them any way I can.”
Towns spent four seasons as an infielder for Brian O’Connor at the University of Virginia, manning the third base spot during Virginia’s back-to-back CWS Finals runs. He was a regular throughout his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons, starting 169 of the 179 games he played during that span, and appeared in a then-team record 33 NCAA Tournament games. He may be best known for his incredible diving play in the winner-take-all game three of the 2015 College World Series Finals, one that eventually propelled UVA to their first CWS title in school history. He was named to the All-Regional team in all three of his final years and still ranks among UVA’s top 10 in games, RBI, doubles, and HBP.
Towns was drafted in the 20th round of the 2015 MLB Draft and spent two seasons in the Angels organization before playing three seasons in the independent Frontier League. Since the end of his playing career, he has remained in the Charlottesville area and works in IT sales.
PITCHING COACH ADAM DOFFLEMYER
Adam Dofflemyer joins the Tom Sox as the Pitching Coach for the 2024 season. Dofflemyer joins the Tom Sox while serving as an assistant for Division III Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, a position he has held since the fall of 2023.
“I’m from the Harrisonburg area so I know the Valley pretty well. I’ve seen the Tom Sox be one of the top teams in the Valley, so I’m really excited to be part of something greater than myself and to be in win mode again this summer,” said Dofflemyer.
Dofflemyer is in his first season as an assistant coach at Mary Washington. The Eagles are coming off of their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 13 years last season and are currently 17-4 as of the time of writing. Mary Washington’s staff currently ranks among the best in D-III in ERA (11th), WHIP (22nd), and shutouts (6th) under Dofflemyer’s direction.
Dofflemyer pitched four seasons at the University of Lynchburg, playing for a program which has been revitalized over the past seven years by Head Coach Lucas Jones. The Hornets had a winning record in three of Dofflemyer’s four seasons on the roster and set program strikeout records in his final two seasons on the staff. The 2021 and 2022 teams set program win records before being broken by last year’s National Championship team. Over his career, Dofflemyer had a 4.28 ERA in 61 innings, striking out 56 batters. He spent his freshman season at D-II King University in Bristol, Tenn.
Between his playing career and current stint at Mary Washington, Dofflemyer spent the 2023 season as an assistant at his alma mater Spotswood High School and served as Head Coach of the 2026 Valley Elite showcase team.
ABOUT THE CHARLOTTESVILLE TOM SOX
The Charlottesville Tom Sox, a member of the Valley Baseball League collegiate summer league, have been one of the most successful collegiate baseball teams since their founding in 2014. The Tom Sox have won three Valley Baseball League championships in eight seasons, tied for the most in the league over that span, and have appeared in all but one championship series since 2017, the most in the league. The ‘Sox reached the pinnacle of summer baseball in 2017 when they were named the No. 1 summer team in the nation by Perfect Game in just their third year on the field.
Additionally, the Tom Sox have an extensive record of success at the higher level. Five Tom Sox players have appeared on Major League rosters, including 2023 fourth overall pick Wyatt Langford and Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. Numerous Tom Sox interns have gone on to work in professional sports for teams such as the Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins, Washington Commanders and companies including ESPN and the MLB Network.
