Coach Talarico Bio
Matt Talarico joined the Raider baseball coaching staff in August, 2015. In Talarico’s first season with the Raiders they increased their regular season base stealing total by 24. This raised their success rate from 72% to 78%, all without increasing the number of pickoffs. The Raiders had the top 2 base stealers in the conference, with 26. Both runners stole with an 88% success rate and were among the nation’s top 50. These runners more than doubled their previous year’s total.
While at Dayton during the 2011-15 seasons, Talarico oversaw hitting, offensive production and baserunning. Under his guidance, the Flyers improved its base stealing game, setting many school marks and ranking among the nation’s best. The Flyers led the entire nation in stolen bases stealing 164 bases at an 82% success rate in their 2012 championship season. In Talarico’s five year stint the Flyers averaged 102 stolen bases at a 75% success rate (100 or more typically gets your team in the top 15 nationally).
After the 2012 season, Talarico was chosen as a speaker at the Chicago ABCA convention. His presentation, “Beyond Stolen Bases”, discussed how to generate runs through the pressure of base stealing. He was also a speaker at the 2015 Indiana High School Coaches Association clinic and the 2016 Ohio High School Coaches Association clinic, where he spoke on developing roles for both fast and slow base stealers.
Talarico, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, also spe
nt one year as Toledo’s assistant coach overseeing the outfielders as well as assisting with base running. The rockets stole over 80 bases for the first time in a decade.
He went to Toledo in 2009 after two highly successful seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Division III Heidelberg in nearby Tiffin, Ohio. During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, the Student Princes posted a combined 78-19 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each season, winning both the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular season and tournament titles.
