SEATTLE - (Oct. 11) Seattle University softball Head Coach Geoff Hirai has announced that former University of Washington standout Caitlin (Noble) Nies and Ben Reindel have joined the Redhawk coaching staff beginning in the fall of 2016.
Nies will be in charge of pitching and catchers, administrative duties and assist with recruiting while Reindel will work primarily with infielders, hitters and recruiting.
“Caitlin will be a great role model for our young athletes," said Hirai. "She is loyal, hard-working, and most of all, has a lot of experience help building programs to being winners.“
Nies, formerly Caitlin Noble during her playing career as a Husky, pitched at UW from 2005-2008. She finished her career anked fourth all-time in strikeouts in program history and was a member of the 2007 team which placed third at the Women’s College World Series.
Nies went on to serve as the pitching coach at Northwestern State University from 2009-2012. In 2010, the Demons had biggest improvement in the NCAA, going from five wins in 2009 to 27 wins in 2010. In 2011, the pitching staff led the Southland Conference in team ERA of 2.11 and pitcher Kelee Grimes was recognized as an All-Conference first team pitcher with a 1.51 ERA.
Most recently, Nies returned to Washington, serving as the head coach at Glacier Peak High School from 2013-2016. In 2014, her team won the Wesco 3A District Tournament and earned the first berth to the State Tournament in school history, finishing 5th place. Nies was voted the 2014 Wesco 3A/4A coach of the year and the 2016 team also finished 5th place in the State Tournament.
“I’m really excited to be a part of Redhawk Softball," said Nies. "Coach Hirai has exciting things going on here and I feel blessed for this opportunity at a world class university. I’m looking forward to working with our student-athletes and helping them reach their goals.”
Reindel joins Seattle U from Shoreline Community College where he has served as the Head Softball Coach for the past two seasons. Reindel rebuilt a Shoreline program to a top 10 RPI ranking in just 16 months after taking over a zero win program.
He coached eight All-NWAC North Award winners over those two seasons including five first-teamers. One of those players, Sarah Casel was awarded the NFCA Golden Shoe Award for leading the NWAC in stolen bases with 49.
“Ben has a lot of coaching experience and with that he will bring a lot of knowledge that is needed here to build this program," Hirai said. "He has great passion and energy that every program needs to be successful.”
All told, Reindel has coached both baseball and softball over the past 12 years. Before Shoreline CC, he was the head softball coach at Mt. Rainier High School where he led teams to two playoff berths in three seasons including their first district tournament appearance as members of the 4A level. At MRHS Reindel coached two Division I players: Maylynn Mitchell, a CSUN All-Big West infielder and Texas Southern University pitcher Jasmin Fulmore.
Previously, Reindel was the head baseball coach at Foster High School, Tyee High School and an assistant coach at Kennedy Catholic High School. Reindel grew up in Burien and attended Kennedy Catholic High School and obtained a B.S. in Social Science from Central Washington University.
Coach Reindel is also certified through the Pacific Institute as a PX2 Performance Psychology Facilitator.