Rob Reinstetle, who served as an assistant under Pawlowski at College of Charleston, will take on recruiting duties and work with the outfielders in his fourth season on The Hill in 2019 after he reunited with Pawlowski in the summer of 2015.
In 12 seasons as a college assistant, Reinstetle has compiled a record of 423-284, helped guide his teams to six NCAA Regionals, a pair of Super Regionals and four conference championships. Seventy-eight players have been selected in the MLB Draft under Reinstetle, with 10 of those reaching the Major Leagues. He has also coached 23 All-American honorees.
Reinstetle oversaw a very talented hitting team during his first season on The Hill in 2016, which included one of the top duos in C-USA in Danny Hudzina and Kaleb Duckworth. The two were both named to the All-C-USA first team at the end of the year and both claimed All-American titles. Hudzina, who was the first Hilltopper to hit .400 for a season since 1997, was named to the ABCA All-American third team at the end of the year before being drafted in the 10th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Duckworth finished the year with a .329 batting average and a team-high 36 RBI before being named to the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America third team.
Before coming to WKU, he 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.
During his 2009 season at Ole Miss, the Rebels went 44-20 and won the SEC regular-season title on their way to hosting a NCAA Regional. Ole Miss defeated WKU in the Oxford Regional Championship Game to advance to the Super Regionals, where it eventually fell one-game shy of the College World Series at the hands of Virginia. The Rebels had five everyday starters finish the season with a batting average of .335 or higher and Reinstetle inked the nation’s No. 12 recruiting class for the following season.
Reinstetle aided Ole Miss to a 39-26 record and another NCAA Regional appearance in 2008, where it finished runner-up in the Miami Regional. The Rebels hit .295 as a team with Reinstetle as the hitting coach, which was highlighted by Cody Overbeck’s .356/.428/.621 season at the plate. He signed the highest ranked recruiting class of his career that season as Baseball America ranked it as the nation’s 11th best signing class.
In his first season with the Rebels, Reinstetle had Ole Miss among the tops in the SEC in batting and saw three batters hit .368 or better for the year. That trio included SEC Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American Jordan Henry (.376), Freshman All-American Zach Miller (.368) and Detroit Tigers ninth-round draft pick Justin Henry (.381). Reinstetle closed a standout first season as recruiting coordinator by inking the nation’s No. 14 signing class.
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 set single-season school records in hits (707) and batting average (.326) in addition to a 39-21 record and a NCAA Regional appearance. During his lone season with the Jags, Reinstetle helped develop All-American slugger David Freese, who was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and eventually drafted by the Padres in the ninth round of the MLB Draft. Three Jaguar hitters were selected in the 2006 MLB Draft, including Freese, who was named the 2011 World Series and NLCS MVP after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series victory.
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. The Cougars went 95-31 with Reinstetle on Pawlowski’s staff in the 2004-05 seasons. In his two years at Charleston, Reinstetle orchestrated the Southern Conference’s top offensive team and helped spark the Cougars’ emergence as a nationally premier team. The 2005 Cougars led the nation with a .355 team batting average and 179 doubles while the 2004 squad ranked second in the country with a .343 average. Charleston set single-season school records and paced the SoCon with 553 runs, 179 doubles and a .355 team batting average in 2005.
As a team in 2005, College of Charleston led the Southern Conference in five different offensive categories and finished the year ranked Top 25 in three national polls. During its 48-15 season in 2005, CofC set SoCon record for hit by pitches (122) and sacrifice bunts (94). The 2004 edition of the Cougars accomplished the rare feat of having five different players eclipse the 50-RBI plateau, another school-record accomplishment with Reinstetle as an assistant.
Prior to his stint at College of Charleston, Reinstetle coached at Okaloosa-Walton Community College. He aided the Raiders to a 43-13 record and a second-place finish in the Florida Regional Junior College Tournament. Under his guidance, OWCC led the state of Florida in batting average (.348) and doubles (138).
Reinstetle spent the 2002 season as an assistant at Cincinnati after helping lead his alma mater, Ohio Dominican, to a NAIA College World Series appearance in 2001. He played baseball and earned his degree in disciplinary studies in 1999. Before beginning his coaching career at Ohio Dominican in 2001, Reinstetle served as an associate professional scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Reinstetle and his wife, Christy, live in Bowling Green with their son Cale (9). He also has two step daughters Brittany (24) and McKenzie (18).
