BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - First-year WKU head baseball coach John Pawlowski announced the additions of veteran college assistants Ty Megahee and Rob Reinstetle to his Hilltopper coaching staff on Monday afternoon.
Megahee (Norman Park, Ga.), a former assistant under Pawlowski at Auburn, will serve as WKU's recruiting coordinator and infield coach after spending the past two seasons as Mercer's hitting coach. Reinstetle (Columbus, Ohio), who has won 66 percent of his games and 362 contests overall as an assistant, will take on the hitting coach duties and work with outfielders at WKU.
"I'm extremely pleased to add Rob Reinstetle and Ty Megahee to the WKU Baseball family," said Pawlowski. "My search for assistants was very thorough and I couldn't be happier for the two coaches and their families joining us for this new era at WKU. Ty is a tenacious recruiter, he was a valuable asset when we were together at Auburn and it's been neat to see him grow as an assistant at his alma mater these past few seasons. Rob is another great recruiter with an offensive background who was very important to our run of success at College of Charleston and I know he's excited to get back at it. Both Ty and Rob are not only tremendous coaches, but they are also great men who will help develop our student-athletes on and off the field."
Megahee assisted his alma mater Mercer in winning 73 games over the past two seasons, including a 2015 appearance in the NCAA Regionals where the Bears lost a pair of one-run heartbreakers to host Florida State and Auburn. Despite losing seven position starters from a 2014 squad that won 38 games, Megahee's development of the young Bears was key in Mercer securing Southern Conference regular-season and tournament titles. That development resulted in a wealth of postseason honors for the 2015 Bears, headlined by sophomore standout Kyle Lewis. Under Megahee's watch, Lewis took home Louisville Slugger Second Team All-America, SoCon Player of the Year and First Team All-SoCon honors while also being named as a national finalist for the Gregg Olson Award in his first-year as a starter. Matt Meeder also garnered all-conference recognition, while Trey Truitt, a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, and Jackson Ware were named to the SoCon All-Freshman team.
"I'm very excited about joining the staff here at WKU," said Megahee. "It's a great opportunity because not only is WKU a place with winning tradition, but it's also a place that has tremendous support from the administration. You couple that with being in Conference USA, the top-notch facilities and the chance to work with Coach Pawlowski again, and it was an easy decision. I'm happy to be a Hilltopper."
In Megahee's two seasons at Mercer, the Bears hit 111 home runs and ranked Top 40 nationally in five separate offensive categories. Defensively, the 2014 squad ranked 28th nationally with a fielding percentage of .978.
Prior to his stint at Mercer, Megahee spent four seasons with Pawlowski at Auburn. The Tigers led the SEC in hitting in two of Megahee's four seasons on the Plains, including a 2010 team that set a school record for batting average at .348. That team also led the nation in home runs (131) and slugging percentage (.591) and finished in the top-10 nationally in hits (816), runs scored (584) and runs per game (9.1). The 2012 edition of the Tigers led the SEC in team batting average (.304), hits (610), on-base percentage (.386) and stolen bases (113). Megahee was Auburn's volunteer assistant during the 2010-13 seasons before Pawlowski promoted him to assistant coach in 2013.
Megahee led Monmouth to a NCAA Regional appearance as the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach for the Hawks in 2009. From 2006-08, he served as a volunteer assistant at Mercer immediately following his playing career in Macon. The 10-year coaching veteran played shortstop for the Bears and was an Academic All-Conference Selection in 2005. He graduated from Mercer with a bachelor's degree in education in 2006 and earned his master's degree in education in 2008.
In nine seasons as a college assistant, Reinstetle compiled a record of 362-184, helped guide his teams to six NCAA Regionals, a pair of Super Regionals and four conference championships. Seventy-six players have been selected in the MLB Draft under Reinstetle, 10 of those draftees reached the major leagues and six are on active MLB rosters. He most recently served as the recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss from 2007-09, where he signed four Top 20 recruiting classes and aided the Rebels in two Super Regional appearances. Reinstetle resigned from Ole Miss following the 2009 season to work in the private business sector for his family owned business.
Reinstetle spent the 2006 season as the recruiting coordinator at South Alabama and signed the No. 47 recruiting class in the nation for the Jaguars that year. His offensive tutelage helped South Alabama to a .326 batting average, a 39-21 record and a NCAA Regional appearance. Reinstetle was Pawlowski's hitting coach at CofC during the 2004-05 seasons and the Cougars won back-to-back Southern Conference Championships and advanced to consecutive NCAA Regionals in that span. Before joining Pawlowski at CofC, Reinstetle had three one-year stints at Okaloosa-Walton CC (2003), Cincinnati (2002) and Ohio Dominican (2001).
Reinstetle also played baseball at Ohio Dominican, where he received his bachelor's degree in cross disciplinary studies in 1999.
"I've been itching at the opportunity to get back into coaching and working with Coach Pawlowski at WKU is the perfect fit," said Reinstetle. "The Hilltoppers have a winning tradition - I've seen that first hand. They nearly upset us at Ole Miss in the 2009 Regional. The support from the administration and community was clear then and it's become very clear since visiting Bowling Green. I'm thrilled to be here and coaching alongside John again."
