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- Position:
- Pitching Coach
Bio
Tom Thornton completed his second season as the Pitching Coach for the ‘Cats. He was named as a coach for the Atlantic Conference in the 2025 Frontier League All-Star Game at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. He has had three separate stints as a member of Tagert’s staff. The former New York-Penn League and Frontier League left-hander was instrumental in the 14 selections from the 2024-25 Frontier League Drafts. Significant ValleyCats pitchers from the draft during Thornton's teure have included Easton Klein, Rolando Heredia-Bustos, Gino Sabatine, and Brayhans Barreto. Under Thornton in 2025, Stephen Still won a Frontier League-best 13 games, three pitchers tossed more than 100 innings (Still - 108.2, Klein - 104.1, Mikell Manzano - 101.0), and a 4.11 ERA team, third best in the Frontier League.
Tom Thornton is part of Tagert's coaching staff for the third time in his career. The University of Notre Dame product was the pitching coach for Tagert in the American Association of Professional Baseball last year with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, and with the Gary Southshore RailCats from 2020-21. Thornton and Tagert have known each other for quite some time; Thornton was a player for Tagert’s RailCats from 2009-10 back when they were in the Northern League.
Thornton was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 21st round of the 2006 MLB Draft. The connections run even deeper as his lone season of minor league ball, also in 2006, came with the Oneonta Tigers in the New York-Penn League. Thornton was a left-handed pitcher for several independent teams such as the Traverse City Beach Bums and Evansville Otters in the Frontier League, the Nashua Pride in the Can-Am League, and the Schaumburg Flyers in the Northern League. Overall, Thornton earned 14 wins and tossed 342.2 innings across five professional seasons.