Toby Gardenhire coached five season as the Blue Devils' head baseball coach (2012-16) after beginning as the UW-Stout head baseball coach in January 2012. Gardenhire accepted a position with the Minnesota Twins, starting in January 2017.

Gardenhire took over as the head coach of the Blue Devils just before the beginning of the 2012 season, joining the team in January 2015. Gardenhire finished with an 81-117 overall record.  During Gardenhire’s tenure, the Blue Devils earned 14 All-WIAC selections and three players – Brady Burzynski, Adam Widder, Jake Duske – were selected as WIAC Scholar-Athletes.

Gardenhire spent the summer of 2016 working with the Twins rookie league team in the Golf Coast League (GCL).

The 2015 season saw the emergence of Hayden Bowe, who posted one of the best ERA's in Stout baseball history on his way to earning first team all-conference honors. Adam Widder was selected as the WIAC Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete.  The Blue Devils also learned a valuable lesson during one of their community service projects. Inspired to become part of the Be The Match program, a bone marrow transplant registry, in part because of Bowe's father, who has a form of leukemia, Gardenhire was selected as a bone marrow match and underwent the surgery in early June.

The 2014 season saw the Blue Devils return to the WIAC Tournament after a seven-year hiatus and Stout took eventual national champion UW-Whitewater to 10 innings before bowing out in a slugfest. The Blue Devils' Ryan Freitag, who tied a school record for home runs in a single season, Brady Burzynski and Zach Carlson were selected all-WIAC.

Gardenhire, who began as the Blue Devil coach in January, 2012, has a lot of baseball background to draw upon. The son of former Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, Toby has been around baseball dugouts and locker rooms his entire life.

“It’s not so much the talent level I was around,” Gardenhire said. “But what I saw was the work ethic from a lot of the players. My dad’s locker was next to Kirby Puckett. I got to see a great player, a great teammate, what a great worker and what a great person he was. The same was true with Jim Thome. Here is a Hall of Fame player who is a genuine person. I can take a lot out of that.”

But Gardenhire has plenty of his own experiences to draw upon.

He has been a hitting and fielding instructor with the Twins Training Academy in Blaine, Minn., as a hitting and fielding instructor from 2009-11, and was a defensive fielding instructor with LPA Baseball in Roseville, Minn., from 2005-09.

During the fall of 2012, Gardenhire was selected to play with the German National Baseball Team as Germany attempted to quaify to the World Baseball Classic.

The 2013 season was a rough season for Blue Devil baseball. Due to what seemed like never-ending snow, the Blue Devils were unable to play any home games on Nelson Field and only practiced on the facility four times in the spring. Stout did land three players - Adam Widder, Santiago Morales and Mitch LaVelle - on the All-WIAC honorable mention squad.

The 2012 Blue Devil team added five wins to their record from the previous year and had two players - Jon Schoch and Ryan Gangestad - earning all-region honors, while Santiago Morales was a regional Golden Glove selection. As a team, the Blue Devils upped their batting average, their number of runs and their number of runs batted in.

Gardenhire, an infielder, played his college ball at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Junior College, at Southwest Missouri State and then finished at the University of Illinois when the Illini won the 2005 Big Ten championship. While in college, Gardenhire played summer ball for the Rochester, Minn., Honkers in the Northwoods League, earning the most inspirational player award in 2005.

Gardenhire was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2002 and again in 2005. He played with the organization's minor league teams from 2005-11. Gardenhire worked his way through the farm clubs, earning the 10th Man award for the AA New Britain, Conn., Rock Cats and received the Most Popular award with AAA Rochester, Minn., Red Wings in 2011.

“I have always wanted to stay in baseball, but that is harder than it sounds,” Gardenhire said. “When you are playing, your career can end so abruptly.

“I had a good experience playing in college. I have wanted to get into college (coaching) more than in the pros. I would like to be a part of the college atmosphere.”

At Roseville, Minn., High School, Gardenhire was a four-sport letter winner, playing baseball, basketball, football and soccer. He was a two-time all-conference soccer selection.

“I am really looking forward to getting down to work and have some fun,” Gardenhire said. “I am excited to be a part of the university. I think we are set up in a good situation because of what Seth and his staff did here.”

Gardenhire received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois in community health in 2005. In addition to serving as head baseball coach, Gardenhire is also an instructor in the UW-Stout Physical Education Department. Gardenhire was married to Lindsay Wlaschin only four days after officially beginning his duties at Stout.

Gardenhire is the 28th coach of the UW-Stout baseball program, which began in 1909.

Toby Gardenhire's Career Results
Year, Overall, WIAC
2012, 17-22, 6-17
2013, 12-27, 6-18
2014, 20-21, 10-14
2015, 17-22, 5-19
2016, 15-25, 4-16
Total, 81-117, 31-88