Per GoBearcats:
University of Cincinnati head baseball coach Jordan Bischel announced the first three additions to his coaching staff on Tuesday with the hirings of Josh Reynolds, Kylel Pettoruto and Tom Winske as assistant coaches for the 2024 season.
“I could not be more excited about the composition of our coaching staff,” said Bischel. “This group brings a significant amount of high-level coaching experience, a passion for recruiting elite student-athletes and most importantly, an infectious energy and enthusiasm for helping student-athletes to develop on and off the field.”
// JOSH REYNOLDS
With more than 20 years of college and professional baseball experience as a player and coach, Reynolds will oversee the pitching efforts of Bearcats baseball. He recently served as Colorado Scouting Director for Prep Baseball Report from 2022 to 2023.
Prior to that, Reynolds coached at Northwestern where he oversaw the Wildcats’ pitching staff and took a lead role in Northwestern’s recruiting efforts (2016-22). He was named interim head coach in May of 2021.
Reynolds came to Northwestern after serving as an assistant coach at Kansas State from 2011 to 2015. He helped the Wildcats reach the NCAA Tournament twice in five years, while also securing the 2013 Big 12 Championship.
Prior to joining the coaching staff in Manhattan, Reynolds worked as an assistant coach at Evansville for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He also had successful stints as a graduate manager and a volunteer at KSU, and as an assistant at Northeast Texas Community College.
Reynolds pitched for a Division II powerhouse Central Missouri from 1998 to 2000. He set the UCM record for career wins with 34 in three seasons, while helping Mules to Division II College World Series appearances in 1998 and 2000.
Reynolds was selected in the third round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Mets in 2000. He also spent time in the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres organizations before transitioning to coaching in 2004.
// KYLE PETTORUTO
Pettoruto comes to UC following a four-year stint as the hitting coach/assistant coach for Rutgers University (2020-23). He will oversee the recruiting efforts of Bearcats baseball and will instruct infield play and assist in all areas of the offense.
Pettoruto recently led Rutgers to back-to-back top-5 league finishes, rebuilding a program that had not finished better than 10th in its entire Big Ten history prior to his arrival. The Scarlet Knights went 77-38 (.670) overall and 31-17 (.646) in the Big Ten over the previous two seasons.
Under Pettoruto’s guidance in 2022, Rutgers had one of the most prolific lineups in all of college baseball. The Scarlet Knights led the country with 9.6 runs per game and were top-5 nationally in runs (565) and doubles (147). In addition, the 2022 recruiting class was ranked No. 25 by D1Baseball.com and Top 35 by Baseball America.
Prior to his time at Rutgers, Pettoruto spent six seasons at Bryant and was a part of six straight Northeast Conference regular season championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
He played a role in producing 40 All-NEC selections, 46 All-New England selections, six ABCA All-Northeast selections, two NEC and New England Players of the Year, four NEC Rookies of the Year, two New England Rookies of the Year, one Collegiate Baseball Freshman Player of the Year and four Freshman All-Americans in his six seasons at Bryant.
Prior to Bryant, Pettoruto worked as an assistant coach with the North Shore Navigators in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in the summer of the 2012. Following the summer, Pettoruto was hired as an assistant coach at Merrimack. He worked with the outfielders and the hitters, helping the Warriors set a school record for wins in the spring of 2013.
Pettoruto was a four-year letterwinner at the University of New Haven and helped the Chargers earn a spot in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. He also played for the Joplin Outlaws of the MINK League and the Rome Thunderbolts during the summer.
// TOM WINSKE
Winske resumes his longtime affiliation withBischel when the latter was named to lead the Cincinnati baseball program. He will work with the Bearcat catchers and outfielders as well as oversee bunting and baserunning.
Winske comes to Cincinnati from Central Michigan, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach from 2019 to 2023. He combined with Bischel to lead the Chippewas to four Mid-American Conference (MAC) championships — two regular season and two tournament – and three NCAA Tournament berths.
With Winske on the coaching staff, the Chippewas compiled an 102-32 MAC record and posted three consecutive 40-win full seasons for the first time since 1986-88. They won a combined 132 games in 2019, ’21 and ’22, marking the winningest three-year stretch in program history.
Winske came to CMU after a highly successful two-decade run as the head coach at NCAA Division III St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. He amassed a 444-287-1 career mark from 1999 to 2018 and is the Midwest Conference’s all-time leader in both conference and overall wins.
Winske was named the Midwest Conference North Division Coach of the Year nine times in his 20 years at St. Norbert and led the Green Knights to four conference championships and five NCAA Tournament berths. His 2017 team won 30 games, the most victories in a season by any men’s athletics team in St. Norbert history.
Bischel, a pitcher, played for Winske at St. Norbert from 2000 to 2003 and served as an assistant under his mentor from 2007-09.
