Craig
Rainey is in his 14th season as the head coach
of Adrian College baseball.
In
13 seasons at the helm, Rainey has become the
program’s winningest coach while leading
the Bulldogs to back-to-back MIAA championships
and appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
In
2006, the Bulldogs won their second-straight MIAA
crown, sharing the title with co-champ Hope College.
Ranked fifth in the Mideast region at season’s
end, the ’06 squad was 25-15 overall and
21-7 in the conference.
The
2005 squad won the MIAA title and made the school’s
first NCAA Tournament appearance. The ’05
Bulldogs set school records for wins (27) and
ended the season ranked fourth in the Mideast
region.
Rainey
has mentored 19 all-region performers, as well
as 33 first-team All-MIAA players. He has also
produced two conference MVPs and a one league
most valuable pitcher. Two of his former Bulldogs
have gone on to play professionally with Keith
Bozyk ’94 and Greg Sieszputoski ’99
both playing for the Chillicothe Paints of the
Frontier League.
With
experience coaching at both the Connie Mack and
Poly League level, Rainey has been a guest speaker
at the Michigan High School Baseball Association
coaches’ clinic and the Illinois High School
Baseball Coaches’ Association coaches’
clinic.
Prior
to serving as the Bulldogs’ head coach,
Rainey was an assistant coach under former coach
and athletic director Henry Mensing. In 1993 Rainey
helped AC to its first MIAA baseball championship.
A 1988
graduate of Adrian College Rainey started for
three years at catcher for the Bulldogs and won
the MIAA batting crown as a senior, hitting .467
in league games.
Rainey
later earned a master’s degree in sports
administration from the United States Sports Academy.
A product
of Owosso, Rainey and his wife Jeannie have two
children, Ivan and Kia, and reside in Adrian. |