It didn’t take long for new Galveston College head baseball coach Brian Reinke to make his mark on the Whitecaps baseball program as he celebrated his 400th career win as a head coach last week with a milestone triumph against North Central Texas College.
Reinke’s milestone achievement coincides with the Whitecaps best start in recent years, an 8-4 record after splitting a pair of games over the weekend against Monroe College and Wabash Valley College.
“It is a testament to the players and assistant coaches that have done the work through the years,” said GC Head Baseball Coach, Reinke. “The people behind the scenes are what makes a college baseball program successful. The greatest of those are my family. Without their support, none of this happens. My wife always jokes that she is ‘just’ the coach’s wife but in reality, she is the foundation that my career is based upon. I cannot express enough what my wife, Leticia, means to me and our program. I’m looking forward to many more achievements for our baseball program and the next milestone at Galveston College.”
Before Reinke could register his 400th win, the Whitecaps made him sweat it out against NCTC on Feb. 7, which only made the victory and reaching the milestone that much sweeter.
Trailing 7-2 in the third inning, GC mounted a comeback. The Whitecaps scored seven unanswered runs in the next three innings, two runs in the fourth, four in the fifth and added an insurance run in the sixth to take a 9-7 lead.
GC’s pitching also did its part, shutting out the Lions in the remaining four innings to give the Whitecaps their fourth win of the season, at the time, and the 400th in Reinke’s career.
Through this weekend’s games, which included an 8-3 win over Monroe College on Saturday, Reinke now has 404 career victories.
Reinke, the ninth Whitecaps head baseball coach in program history, arrived at GC after coaching The University of Texas-Permian Basin baseball program for 17 years, where he compiled 396 career victories.
He began his college coaching career at Augustana College, his alma mater. Reinke later coached at Trinidad State Junior College, where he won the NJCAA Region 9 championship in 2000. Afterward, he helped start the baseball program at Midland College as an assistant coach for five years. At MC, he helped lead the Chaps to a Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) championship in 2002 and a Region 5 championship appearance in 2003.
In addition, during his college baseball coaching career, Reinke has been the recipient of two Coach of the Year awards.
Reinke and the Whitecaps will be back on the field when GC hosts Temple College on Feb. 21 at 1 and 3:30 p.m. and Dallas College Eastfield on Feb. 23 at 12 and 2:30 p.m. Both series will be played at Bernard Davis Field.
For more information about the Galveston College Whitecaps baseball program, rosters and season schedule, visit https://www.gcwhitecaps.com/landing/index.
ABOUT GALVESTON COLLEGE
Galveston College was founded in 1967 and is a comprehensive community college providing the residents of Galveston Island and the surrounding region with academic, workforce development, continuing education and community service programs.