Toby Rumfield Was a Four-Year Starter at Belton H.S. in Football, Basketball
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Toby Rumfield was a four-year starter at Belton H.S. in football, basketball and baseball and was a three-time all-state baseball player, the only male Belton athlete to make all-state in the same sport for three years. He played pro baseball in the minor leagues for 11 years and in 2009 was the manager of the River City Rascals in O’Fallon MO. Toby Rumfield was born on Sept. 4, 1972, in Lubbock TX to Shelby and LaVerne Rumfield. He was the 2nd of three boys and was the third of four members of the Rumfield family to star at Belton H.S. His father, Shelby, played football, basketball and baseball from 1962-1965 and later coached at BHS; his brother, Brock, was all-state in both football and baseball in 1993-94; and his brother, Shayne, was the Tigers’s top pitcher in 1988. In football, Toby started as a QB and free safety as a freshman on the 1987 team that was 6-4 on the year. and was all-district at free safety. As a soph he was Belton’s QB on the 1988 team that was 6-5-1 on the year. As a junior he was the QB on the 1989 team that was 9-2, won District, and lost in bi-district but ended the year ranked #6 in Texas. He was 1st team 8-4A all- district as a junior after throwing for 1,173 yards (70 completions in 166 attempts) and 12 touchdowns (with only four interceptions). As a senior in 1990 he was the QB of the Tiger team that was 2-8 on the year. He was also named Belton’s Best Offensive Back and Most Conscientious Player and Belton’s top male athlete after his senior year. Toby was also a 4-year starter in basketball as he was a 6'2" freshman forward averaging 6.1 ppg (and winning the team “hustle” award) on the 1988 team (featuring Billy Carlock) that was 27-7 on the year and lost in the 1st round of the playoffs. He was an all-district as a soph in 1989 on the Tiger team that was 12-18 on the year and all-district as a junior on the 1990 team that was 18-12 on the year. He was all-district again in 1991 as a senior on the Tiger team that was 19-14. In baseball Toby was Belton’s starting catcher as a freshman in 1988 and was named 2nd team all-district for Belton’s 15-12 team after hitting .460 with 22 RBIs. As a soph he was named 1st team all-district and 2nd team all- state by the Texas H.S. Baseball Coaches Assoc in 1989 after hitting .486 with 43 RBIs and 6 HRs and 19 SB’s. As a junior in 1990 he led the 22-8 Tiger team to the Area Championship and was named 1st team all-district and MVP of the District and 1st team all-state by the Coaches after hitting .426 with 34 RBIs, 3 HRs, and 12 SBs. As a senior in 1991 he was again 1st team all-district and MVP of the District and 1st team all-state by the Coaches after leading the 20-6 Tigers by hitting .489 (a school record which still stood in 2001) with 42 RBIs and 10 HRs. Toby thus became the first male Tiger athlete to make all-state for three years in one sport. Toby Rumfield graduated from Belton H.S. in 1991 and was recruited by Texas A&M, North Texas and SWT for football; by Rice for basketball; and by Texas A&M, LSU, and UT for baseball. He signed with UT for baseball but decided to forego playing in college after he was the 64th overall pick by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1991 professional draft. Toby, at 6’3” & 220 lbs., played 11 years in the minor leagues (1991- 2002) as a catcher with six major league organizations (Reds, Braves, White Sox, Expos, Marlins & Cardinals) and played several years at the AAA level before retiring in 2002. He was a scout with the Royals before becoming a manager for the River City Rascals in Florence KY. In 2009 Toby Rumfield, 36, and his wife, Kari, and their children, Samantha, 10, Toby Joseph, 8, & Justin, 4, live in Florence KY. Kari is a general manager with the Florence Freedom, a minor league baseball team in Florence KY while Toby is the field manager of the River City Rascals of O’Fallon MO— across the Ohio River from Florence. The children spend much of their summers in Belton with their grandmother, Laverne Herrington, while their parents work for the two teams in KY. .