Tom Carty enters his fifth season as the Bobcats' skipper, already owning one of the top seasons in the illustrious history of Georgia College baseball.

The 2010 Bobcat squad came a few runs away from the National Championship game, winning both the Peach Belt Conference and NCAA Southeast Tournament Championship along the way. Carty guided the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season, but advanced them to the World Series round for the first time since 1995. The Bobcats finished 42-17, winning the school's third PBC title since 2006.

The Bobcat baseball team went 35-17 in 2011, a season that saw them hold down the No. 1 spot in the country for two weeks. The Bobcats finished second in the PBC West thanks to a 15-9 league mark. GC had four All-PBC selections, bringing the total for Carty's tenure to 16.

In his five seasons, Carty has put together a 147-77 (.656) mark. While he has been with the program as a head coach and assistant, the Bobcats own an amazing 244-105 (.699) mark, the first three Peach Belt Championships in school history and a region title among four trips to the NCAA Regional Tournament.

Along with his 16 selections to the All-PBC Teams in his tenure as head coach, 12 student-athletes have earned All-Region status and six All-Americans have graced the field for GC.

Carty returned the historic Bobcat program to excellence in 2009 with its third trip to the NCAA Tournament in four seasons, compiling a 37-19 overall record and a 16-11 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) ledger, good for third.

The youthful Bobcats went 33-24 with Carty at the helm in 2008, kicking it into high gear for the final few weeks to claw into the fifth spot in the Peach Belt playoffs.

Carty previously served primarily as pitching coach, helping produce a pair of All-America honors from Michael Antonini. He joined fellow pitcher Andy Reichard as Major League Baseball draftees in 2007, Reichard in the 13th round to the San Francisco Giants, and Antonini to the New York Mets in round 18. Alex Burkard was the latest Bobcat hurler to get drafted, getting chosen in 2010 by the Los Angeles Angels. Chrisitan Castorri advanced to Double-A ball before joining the collegiate coaching ranks, making a total of five pitchers that have worked with Carty at Georgia College having spent time in major league farm systems.

Catcher Richard Pirkle was the most recent draftee for GC, picked by the Colorado Rockies in the 35th round. He finished the season with the Tri-City Dust Devils Single-A squad.

Outfielder Brandon Anderson, catcher Pete Paris, pitcher Martin Dewald, outfielder Sean Harrell and pitcher Brandon Malkowski are also active playing professional baseball for Independent League teams.

As recruiting coordinator, Carty helped bring in solid classes in each of his two years, including multiple players who were drafted before committing to Georgia College.

The Bobcat pitching staff was at an all-time high in 2006, compiling a school-best 2.82 ERA with 437 strikeouts, the third-best total by GCSU hurlers. Add to that a 3.53 ERA, 408 strikeouts and four shutouts in 2007, and one can see the strong impact Carty has had on the Bobcat arms.

In the summer of 2006, he served as head coach of the USA Athletes International Team that won a gold medal in Oldenzaal, the Netherlands.

Prior to Georgia College, Carty spent four seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for Division I Marshall University, then a member of the Mid-American Conference. While there he helped the Thundering Herd pitching staff break many school single season records.

Carty also spent one year at North Carolina State University where he was the director of baseball operations and served the summer of 2001 as the pitching coach for the Delaware Valley Gulls of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. Carty spent two years as an assistant coach at West Chester University in Pennsylvania in 1999 and 2000 and also held coaching assignments at Delaware Valley College and Montgomery County Community College prior to that.

Originally from Norristown, Pa., Carty graduated with a degree in History from Gwynedd-Mercy College in Pennsylvania in 1996. He and wife Terry have two children, Tommy and Claire. The Cartys live in Milledgeville.