Coaches

James “Marty” Kinard

James “Marty” Kinard is in his second season as the Interim Head Coach of the Claflin Softball Team. Kinard is in his sixth season with the program, serving the previous five as the assistant coach.


In his first season (2017) leading the Lady Panthers, Kinard led his team to the program’s first-ever Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) title along with an SIAC Eastern Division Title. For his efforts he earned the 2017 SIAC Coach of the Year and 2017 Outstanding tournament coach.


Prior to joining the Claflin University staff, Kinard coached baseball at Augusta Christian where he was head JV Baseball Coach and Assistant Varsity Coach for two seasons. As head JV coach, Kinard led Augusta Christian to two region titles, including a 16-2 season his second year, that featured six come from behind wins.


Before coaching at Augusta Christian, Kinard spent two summers working with Edisto High School as well as a summer in Honesdale, Pennsylvania where he was the Director of Baseball winning four tournament championships in different age divisions.


Kinard, a native of Orangeburg, SC played his high school baseball at Edisto High School where he was an all-region pitcher for two seasons and all-state his senior year. He was also a big part of Orangeburg Post 4 American Legion baseball's success for four summers and still holds the record for most games pitched in a season having pitched in 21 of 26 games.


Kinard played two seasons at Claflin University before transferring to USC-Aiken where an injury put a halt to his career. He then transferred back to Claflin to finish his undergraduate studies and earn a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Performance in 2009. In 2014 he earned a Masters of Education in psychology of positive coaching from the University of Missouri.


He is a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.


He and his wife Lindsay reside in Orangeburg.