Cougar Baseball
Head Coach Tony Barbone



He is organized, disciplined and knowledgeable - all the foundation characteristics of a great teacher. Therefore, is it any wonder that Tony Barbone is Azusa Pacific's all-time winningest coach and ranks among the NAIA's best over the past decade? By nature, he is a competitive perfectionist; meticulous to the smallest detail, and the numbers succinctly reflect his ability to instruct and inspire.
In 11 seasons at Azusa Pacific, Barbone has guided the Cougars to nine 30-win seasons and 10 consecutive NAIA post-season berths. He is the Golden State Athletic Conference's all-time winningest coach (137 conference victories) and is 14th among active NAIA coaches in career winning percentage (.661). It took him just 10 years to obtain career win No. 300 and last year he established himself as the winningest coach in Azusa Pacific history with a career record of 350-179.
Cougar teams under Barbone's guidance have won 7 Golden State Athletic Conference crowns (1987-90-91-92-93-95-96) and advanced to the NAIA regional playoffs 5 times (1988-91-92-95-96). Five times Barbone's peers have selected him as NAIA district coach of the year (1986-87-90-92-93) and the past 2 seasons he has been honored as GSAC Coach of the Year. In 1995, he guided the Cougars to a GSAC record 20 wins in 24 games and last year brought them right back to the championship circle with an 18-6 mark.
Barbone began his coaching career at Azusa High, where in his third season, he guided the Aztecs to the 1983 CIF title, the school's first championship in 27 years. Barbone was named CIF 1A Coach of the Year as a result. The following year, he joined the highly successful Citrus College program as an assistant to Skip Claprood. After 2 years there, Barbone returned to his alma mater, Azusa Pacific, in 1985 as the fifth coach in the program's history.
His initial Cougar team of 1986 won just 18 of its 46 games. But the following season, Barbone had his plan and style fully implemented and the Cougars responded with a 32-21 record and its first-ever GSAC championship.
Over the past 6 seasons, Barbone has led Azusa Pacific to an impressive 196-84 (.700) record, including 89-33 (.730) mark in GSAC play. The Cougars have been nationally-ranked in the NAIA poll the past 4 seasons. In addition to their winning ways, Barbone's teams have been known as heavy hitters, registering a team batting average of .300-or-better the past 11 years, including a school-record .355 in 1988 when they also hit a record 91 home runs in 53 games.
Predominately a lifetime native of Southern California, Barbone was raised in the San Gabriel Valley and attended Royal Oak High in Covina. However, he lived a year in Spain with his family and later graduated from Cherry Creek High in Englewood, Colo., where his family lived for another year. His collegiate playing career began at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., where he lettered for 2 seasons. He transferred to Azusa Pacific in the fall of 1974 and was the Cougars' starting first baseman for longtime Cougar coach Tom Nelson during the 1975 and 1976 seasons. As a Cougar, he had a 2-year batting average of .314 with 9 home runs and 47 RBIs while helping Azusa Pacific compile a 60-37 record. His Cougar teammates included eventual major league players Paul Moskau (Cincinnati Reds) and John Littlefield (San Diego Padres). Barbone graduated from Azusa Pacific in 1977 with a bachelor's in English. He later earned a master's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 1984.
One of the more popular professors in Azusa Pacific's physical education department, Barbone has enjoyed classroom success and is a respected educator in the university's graduate and undergraduate programs.
Former Azusa Pacific director of athletics and department chair, Dr. Cliff Hamlow, once said of Barbone, "He was perhaps the brightest student I ever had in all my years of teaching on the graduate level."
In 1994, Barbone was named assistant director of athletics at Azusa Pacific, with his primary focus being athletic eligibility.
In the summer of 1992, Barbone coached the Texas Rangers' Class A team in Butte, Mont. In 1987, he assisted a U.S. team that toured Europe, and also instructed the French and Danish national teams. He has coached 3 summers at the Mark Cresse School of Baseball, and in 1990, he coached the Chatham A's of the prestigious Cape Cod collegiate league. He has also coached in Italy with the U.S. Baseball Federation.
Tony, 43, and his wife, Beth, live in Glendora with their daughters Jennifer (17), one of the top prep basket-ball players in Southern California who will play at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next year, and Ashley (11).


Barbone's Collegiate Coaching Record

YEAR SCHOOL OVERALL GSAC NAIA FINAL
WinLoseWin LoseFinishPOSTSEASON NAIA RANKING
1986Azusa Pacific18 28 0-2
1987Azusa Pacific32 21146 First1-2
1988Azusa Pacific39 14177 Second3-28th
1989Azusa Pacific30 20159 Fourth2-2
1990Azusa Pacific34 12173 First2-219th
1991Azusa Pacific33 13146 First4-216th
1992Azusa Pacific35 13144 First5-223rd
1993Azusa Pacific35 9164 First2-25th
1994Azusa Pacific27 231010 Fourth0-2
1995Azusa Pacific35 12204 First1-214th
1996Azusa Pacific32 14186 First3-223rd
CAREER (11 Seasons) 350 17915559 23-22
(.661) (.724)


WINNINGEST ACTIVE NAIA BASEBALL COACHES


Coach, Institution SeasonsRecord Pct.
1Ed Cheff, Lewis-Clark State 231004-265-1 .791
2Mike Metheny, SE Oklahoma 16648-253 .719
3Charlie Migl, St. Mary's (TX) 10367-146 .715
3Paul Sanagorski, Kansas Newman 19613-244-3 .715
5Mike Robins, Brewton-Parker (GA) 9407-167 .709
6Woody Hunt, Cumberland 13543-234-3 .689
7Mike Evans, Bellevue (NE) 8341-148-1 .697
8Terry Bocian, Aquinas (MI) 25880-394-12 .689
9Paul Page, Ohio Dominican 9334-152-1 .687
10Brian Gillogly, Marian (WI) 9272-129-1 .678
11Hank Burbridge, Spring Arbor (MI) 32766-365 .677
12Brian Shoop, Birmingham-Southern 7271-130 .676
13Robert Tereshinski, Mt. Marty (SD) 10253-128 .664
14Tony Barbone, Azusa Pacific 11350-179 .661

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Copyright(c) Joon Cho 1997,

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