A pair of former Catamount standouts,
Keith Carter and
Jim Farrell, have been named assistant baseball coaches at the University of Vermont. Head coach Bill Currier made the announcement today.
"We feel very fortunate to have two coaches who are very familiar with our program join our staff," said Currier. "Their experience at all levels of baseball and athletics will really help a relatively young team develop this coming season. Both will be important in carrying our program's past success and tradition into the future."
Carter joins the staff after several summers as an amateur baseball coach throughout the state including one year as the head coach of the Franklin County American Legion team. Last season he was on the coaching staff of the South Burlington American Legion team that won the Vermont state title and advanced to the Northeast Regionals at Centennial Field. He also worked on Currier's UVM staff as a volunteer coach in the 2000 preseason.
A three-year standout for the Catamounts from 1996-98, Carter finished with a .334 batting average, eighth-best when he left the program, while ranking in the top 10 in career hits, doubles, home runs and RBI. His best season was in 1998 when he earned first team America East All-Conference and All-New England honors after leading the conference with a .409 batting average and compiling a UVM single-season record 69 hits.
A native of Jericho, Vt., Carter will assist Currier with the Vermont hitters and infielders while serving as the team's dugout coach. He is the son of former UVM assistant coach, Jim Carter, who was on the Catamounts staff for six seasons from 2001 to 2006.
"Keith knows the hard work and effort that it takes to be a successful Division I athlete here at UVM," said Currier. "He was one of the best middle-of-the-order hitters and third basemen in the region during the late 1990s on some very successful teams. When he played at UVM, he was competing against some of the best players in conference history including major league stars Carlos Pena (Northeastern '98) and Kevin Mench (Delaware '99)."
A 1981 graduate of UVM and a former teammate of Currier with the Catamounts, Farrell assisted the staff during the team's fall workouts. Although this will be his initial season on a collegiate staff, he has a vast background in coaching youth and amateur sports including baseball at the American Legion level. He will work with the Catamount outfielders and will serve as the team's first base coach.
A native of Windsor, Vt., Farrell was a standout outfielder as an undergrad at Vermont for former coach Jack Leggett, now the head coach at Clemson. He had a .314 career batting average ranking in the school's all-time leaders at the time of his graduation. As a senior he hit .349 rapping out a then-single-season record 45 hits as the Catamounts went 22-15 and finished as the runner-up at the 1981 ECAC New England Regionals. Twice the winner of the Ralph R. Lapointe Award for leadership, dedication and loyalty to the UVM baseball program, Farrell was inducted into the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.
"During my time here as a student-athlete, I cannot remember a teammate who was a better student of the game than Jim Farrell," said Currier, who played for the Catamounts from 1979 to 1981. "His induction to the Hall of Fame certainly proved his talent on the field but we are most excited about having Jim's overall knowledge of the game and his ability to teach. He is very down to earth and has an analytical approach to baseball."
Vermont opens preseason workouts this week in preparation of its 2008 season opener Feb. 29 at New Orleans.
