COACH COLEMAN COACH

BY AL PICKETT

His father David is the former head baseball coach at Midland College. His uncle Steve is the head baseball coach at Hardin-Simmons University. His cousins Chad and Brad are assistant baseball coaches at Abilene Cooper High School and McMurry University, respectively.

A four-year letterman and an all-state shortstop in high school at Midland Lee, where he was the District 2-6A MVP, hitting .440 with four home runs, 14 doubles and five triples as a senior in 2018, Coleman followed his older brother Hunter to Texas A&M. He played three seasons with the Aggies, although the 2020 season, of course, was limited to just 10 games before the season was halted because of the COVID pandemic.

He played well, making 31 starts in his second sophomore season, batting .246 with 25 runs, two doubles, four home runs, nine walks and 20 run batted-in. He hit .250 in the abbreviated 2020 campaign after appearing in 56 games as a freshman at Texas A&M in 2019, batting .241 with 28 runs, four doubles, five home runs, 14 walks and 33 RBI.

With two years of eligibility remaining, Coleman decided to transfer from Texas A&M to Texas Tech for what he only describes as “mostly personal reasons.”

Coleman played in 55 of the Red Raiders’ 61 games last season, making 53 starts at designated hitter and one start at first base. He responded with his best season as a collegian, batting .318 for the year with 14 doubles, eight home runs and 59 RBIs.

So why was there such a dramatic improvement in his batting average? He credits being a designated hitter only following his shoulder surgery.

“Not playing in the field, I was focused on just one thing,” Coleman claimed. “My mindset was hitting first.”

The numbers point out just how impressive Coleman was at the plate last season.

He ranked second in the Big 12 in RBI per game (1.07). He was third in the conference as the toughest to strike out, averaging only one strikeout per 8.6 plate appearances. His 59 RBI ranked seventh in the Big 12.

Coleman was third on the team with 20 multiple-hit games. He owned the longest hitting streak by a Red Raider in 2022, a 13-game streak from Feb. 22 - March 22. He also owned the team’s second-longest on-base streak a year ago, reaching safely in 20 consecutive games from April 10 - May 25. He posted career highs with four hits and five RBIs in a game March 29 against Stephen F. Austin when he went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and three runs scored.

In addition to his four-hit performance against SFA, he also had five three-hit games last season.

His remarkable season didn’t go unnoticed, either, as Coleman comes back for his fifth season of college baseball, taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted to all NCAA athletes because of COVID.

Coleman joined sophomore catcher Hudson White and sophomore pitcher Mason Molina on the All-Big 12 preseason team. He was also named a preseason All-American last month.

“That is pretty cool,” Coleman said. “It came as a surprise. It is a very humbling experience getting that honor. But it really doesn’t mean anything. I would rather have postseason honors than preseason honors.”

Although Coleman found success as a designated hitter last season, he hopes to be able get back on the field this spring now that his shoulder has healed.

“I hope I can play some second base or third base,” he noted.

Coleman, happy to join what he describes as Texas Tech’s “rich tradition of winning” last season, is looking forward to the upcoming season.

“We finished up short last year,” he said. “We want to get back (to Omaha) this year.”

And what about his future after this season? Coleman said he hopes to go into sales or possibly coaching. If it is baseball coaching that he chooses, he already has the title of “Coach Coleman.”