Playing baseball has always been a dream come true for Reed Rheinhardt. From his little league days in PCMA ball through his days as a Henderson County Colonel, playing in front of his hometown fans has always brought Rheinhardt great joy. Now, as a college baseball player, he’s got another opportunity to play in front of his community as a member of the Henderson Flash.
“Playing in front of my hometown fans is awesome because most people don’t realize how big an impact it makes. People care about people from Henderson,” Rheinhardt said. “I know people from Henderson like to come out and watch all the Henderson boys play.”
While he enjoys competing for his hometown crowd, Rheinhardt also plays to honor his family members who have supported him and made sacrifices so that he could play baseball. While his parents are easily his biggest supporters, Rheinhardt will never forget how his baseball journey started with his grandmother.
Long before he began his college baseball career at Oakland City University, Rheinhardt’s earliest memories of baseball were in his backyard as a three-year-old with his grandma.
Though she has since passed away, he remembers his grandma as being a “big sports girl” and an avid University of Kentucky basketball and baseball fan. He credited her with fostering his love of baseball.
“My grandma used to take me out back and always would throw the Wiffle ball to me,” Rheinhardt said. “One day I hit a home run over the garage and she was like, ‘Yep. We’re probably going to play baseball.’”
Rheinhardt still uses that motivation today as he pursues aspirations of playing Division I baseball and hopefully professionally one day.
He just finished his second year at Oakland City, but due to the school’s recent closure, he will be continuing his career at Brescia University in Owensboro next season. This sudden change was just one of the challenges he has had to overcome that have helped him mature since becoming a college player.
One of the biggest obstacles for Rheinhardt was when he was asked to give up hitting to focus on pitching. As a young ballplayer, he had always enjoyed success both at the plate and on the mound. Ever since his first grand slam as a PCMA slugger, he always really liked hitting, so adjusting to a new role was a major shock.
“Stepping down from hitting to be a pitcher only in college was rough for me,” Rheinhardt said. “I’m over that now and it’s just about trying to get to the next level of college baseball.”
As a pitcher, he described himself as someone who relies on movement to fool hitters. While his fastball can be powerful at times, he mostly uses it to set up his off-speed pitches like his slider, curveball, and changeup.
Last summer, in his first season with the Flash, Rheinhardt faced another challenge which was new to him: an elbow injury which limited him to pitching just 10 innings.
“That was actually my first injury ever. I’ve been taking better care of my elbow and my arm because I don’t want to get hurt again,” Rheinhardt said.
Despite the challenges that have come his way, he hopes that he is able to play for a local Division I program such as Murray State or Western Kentucky in the near future.
Off the diamond, Rheinhardt’s biggest hobby is golf. He joked that while he is not the best at it just yet, he is going to be the next Tiger one day. He was always told as a young player that golf would mess up his baseball swing, so he never took it very seriously. Now that he no longer has to worry about his swing, he likes to golf quite a bit.
His other favorite hobby right now is building chemistry with his teammates. He and the rest of the Flash are determined to win the Ohio Valley League championship. He knows that the key to a great team lies in its ability to play cohesively as a group.
“With us being busy and playing almost every day, we obviously do things on the off days. We hang out quite a bit. It’s the team bonding together because that’s how you get a good team,” Rheinhardt said.
That falls in line with Rheinhardt’s philosophy on baseball.
“The best lesson I’ve learned, honestly, is just to be a good teammate all around. Just be a good teammate and treat the game right and in the end the game will treat you right,” Rheinhardt said.
Rheinhardt hopes it all leads to a great experience for both his team and the community.
“Henderson is a good environment. It’s right on the river. You get a nice sunset every night. The people here are amazing. It’s a good time to come out to Flash Field and watch a couple games here and there.”
