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1140 W. Mission Rd.
San Marcos, CA 92069
(760) 744-1150 X 2460
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Athletic Director:
John Woods
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Baseball

Buck Taylor

Head Coach

8th year at Palomar, 3rd as head coach

A.A., MiraCosta College, 1992; B.S.,San Francisco State University, 1995, M.A., Azusa Pacific University, 2001

Buck Taylor, who enters his eighth season on the Palomar baseball staff and his third as head coach, guided the Comets to a 25-18 last season. He has a two-year record of 56-34 record with one Pacific Coast Conference championship in his two years at Palomar's helm.  Taylor became the first coach in the history of the Pacific Coast Conference to be named conference Coach of the Year in his initial season.

Taylor formerly was associate head coach on Bob Vetter's staff. During that time period, the Comets captured three PCC titles and, in 2005, won the conference title, the Southern California Super Regionals and advanced to the California Community College Final Four in Fresno, finishing as runners-up to Santa Rosa.

Taylor originally joined the Palomar staff as catching coach and also has served as pitching coach, was elevated to associate head coach and ran the offense on Vetter's staff.

Prior to coming to Palomar, Taylor was an assistant coach and later co-head coach at his alma mater, San Francisco State University, from 1995-2000.

Taylor played and managed  professionally in Vienna, Austria, for the Vienna Lions, guiding the Lions to a championship in 1996. He also was an assistant coach for the Austrian National Team. He played two seasons at San Francisco State as a catcher and middle infielder. Prior to that, he played on the community college level at Rancho Santiago (now Santa Ana College) and for the late John Seeley at MiraCosta College. He prepped at Carlsbad High School, helping the Lancers to a CIF-San Diego Section championship in 1989.

Taylor currently is an associate scout for the Baltimore Orioles and is an adjunct professor in the Department of Health and Physical Education at Palomar.

He received his M.A. degree in physical education and sports administration from Azusa Pacific University, his B.S. degree in kinesiology from San Francisco State iand his A. A.. degree from MiraCosta College.

Taylor and his wife, Natasha, have two daughters, Finley and Avery, and reside in Temecula. Taylor enjoys surfing and playing golf.

e-mail: ctaylor2@palomar.edu


Ben Adams

Hitting, Infield Coach, Third-base Coach

4th year at Palomar

 

A.A., Big Bend (Wash.) Community College; B.S., Eastern Oregon University, 1999; M.A., Western Michigan University

Ben Adams enters his fourth season as an assistant coach for Palomar baseball. He serves as hitting and infield coach. While under Adams, the Comets have led the Pacific Coast Conference in batting average (2005) and fielding percentage (2005-06-07) each year. This was highlighted by the 2007’ squad which led the state with a .980 percentage.

Prior to Palomar, Adams was Assistant Head Coach at NCAA Division I Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, from 2001-2004. Adams also coached in the Division III ranks at Kalamazoo College (1999-2000). Adams has worked numerous baseball camps at Stanford University, the University of Kansas, and Western Michigan University.

Adams began his collegiate playing career at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Washington. from 1994-1996. He moved on to Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande, Oregon where he played from 1997-1999.

He holds a B.S. degree in health / physical education from Eastern Oregon University and an M.A. degree in physical education from Western Michigan University.

Adams also serves as an adjunct physical education instructor at Palomar.


 Tyler Kincaid

Pitching Coach

3rd year at Palomar

A.A., Antelope Valley College; B.S., San Francisco State University, 2001; M.A., San Francisco State University

Tyler Kincaid was hired as Palomar's pitching coach in August 2005, coming to Palomar from San Francisco State University, where he was pitching coach for the Gators for three seasons.

Kincaid assisted in leading the Comets to the 2006 Pacific Coast Conference title and an overall record of 31-16. Under his guidance, the Comets’ pitching staff recorded a season ERA of 2.93 (5th best in the state) and conference ERA of 2.50 (2nd in PCC). He had one pitcher receive 1st team All-Conference, 1st team All-Southern California, and 2nd team All-State honors. And three other pitchers received All-Conference Honorable Mention. All nine of the Comets’ sophomore hurlers received athletic scholarships to 4-year institutions.

Kincaid guided the 2004 San Francisco State pitching staff to its first 30-win season since 1995, the lowest team ERA since 1991 at 4.99, and first back-to-back winning seasons since 1990-91. In his first two seasons, the Gator pitching staff improved in nearly every statistical category from the previous season.

Kincaid has spent the past two summers as the pitching coach for the Chatham A’s of the prestigious Cape Cod League. In the summer of 2006 he helped guide the A’s staff to the second lowest ERA in the league. The A’s won 30 games in 2005 advancing to the Cape League playoffs for the first time since 2001. Also in 2005, Kincaid had the pleasure of coaching current Detroit Tiger, Andrew Miller – who received the honors of Most Outstanding Pro Prospect and Most Outstanding Pitcher of the CCBL. And under Kincaid’s guidance, a Chatham A was named pitcher of the week six times over the course of the two summers.

Kincaid spent the summer of 2004 as the pitching coach for the Wenatchee AppleSox of the Pacific International League. The AppleSox captured the International Division Championship, with a number of their pitching staff receiving 1st and 2nd Team All-League honors.

After two seasons as a pitcher on the community college level at Antelope Valley College, Kincaid moved on to San Francisco State as a junior. There, he was 5-3 as a senior in 2000 with six complete games and a 1.50 ERA.  That was the third lowest single-season ERA in SFSU history and ranked him fifth in the nation for Division II.  He earned All-CCAA honorable mention.  He left SFSU ranked among the top 10 in career wins (12) and third in ERA at 2.88.

Kincaid pitched professional baseball briefly for the Rockford (IL) RiverHawks of the Frontier League.

He holds an Associate of Arts degree from Antelope Valley Community College, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Physical Education, Single Subject California Teaching Credentials, and a Master of Arts in Secondary Education from San Francisco State University.


Rich Graves

Outfield Coach; First-Base Coach

2nd year at Palomar

 

A.A., College of the Sequoias; B.S., Fresno State University, 1972; M.A., University of LaVerne

Rich Graves is in his second season after 32 years at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside and Riverside Poly High School. winning 426 games as a head coach and 10 league championships. Under Graves, the M.L. King Wolves and Riverside Poly Bears made 20 CIF-Southern Section playoff appearances. Graves' 1998 Poly team was Southern Section runner-up. At Poly, Graves coached Greg Myers, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1984 who went on to play 19 years in the Major Leagues with the Blue Jays, California Angels, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A's.

Graves, a San Diego native who began his high school baseball career at Lincoln High School and later played for Morse High School, played baseball on the community college level at College of the Sequoias, served a stint in the U.S. Air Force and earned an A.A. degree from COS, a B.A.degree from Fresno State and an M.A. degree from the University of La Verne. He's been as associate scout for the Kansas City Royals since 1993 and, prior to that, was an associate scout for the San Francisco Giants.

Graves and his wife Barbara live in Oceanside. Son Ryan Graves played Division I college baseball for Loyola Marymount University and Oklahoma State and currently is the pitching coach at the University of Kansas.

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