Angelina College baseball coach achieves 800 career wins

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - A Lufkin baseball coach has hit a major career milestone.

Angelina College head coach Jeff Livin recently collected his 800th win as a head coach, many of which were achieved coaching the Roadrunners.

Before stepping on the field at Angelina College, Livin served as head coach at Wayland Baptist University from 1991 to 1995, earning the Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award in 1995. An alumnus of Southwestern University, Livin was selected in the 15th round of the 1984 major-league baseball draft and spent four years with the Houston Astros organization.

He’s been named the Region XIV North Coach of the Year in 2005 and was inducted into the Clarina A’s Hall of Fame in 2008.

His impact as a head coach goes beyond the wins. In Livin’s tenure at Angelina College, he’s had more than 40 players selected in the MLB draft, with more than 20 of those reaching the professional ranks. In 2016, Livin watched two of his proteges, Clay Buchholz and Josh Tomlin, face one another on the mound in the American League Division Series: Buchholz with the Boston Red Sox and Tomlin with the Cleveland Indians.

For now, Livin’s Roadrunners just earned a key conference sweep against Navarro College on Saturday and will host Bossier Parish Community College on Wednesday.