Notre Dame Regional High School softball coach Ray Reinagel is being inducted into the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame on January 4 in Columbia, Mo. 

Criteria for inductees includes a minimum of 10 years coaching in Missouri and “based on record, longevity and/or service to MHSFCA.”

Reinagel is a 1976 graduate of Notre Dame. He started as an assistant for the Notre Dame girls softball program in 2003, taking over the program as head coach for the 2023 season.

During his time with the program, Reinagel has amassed a 529-119 record. He’s been part of 17 district championships, nine final fours and the 2009 state championship team. Reinagel coached both his daughters at Notre Dame – Lindsay a 2004 graduate, and Lauren a 2010 graduate and pitcher on the state championship team.

Reinagel had an impressive fastpitch career of his own, playing men’s fastpitch for 25 years. His teams won state, regional and national titles, winning a gold medal in 1995 in the Olympics sports festival in Denver, Co.

He was elected to the Missouri Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame in 2010, and is a member of the Notre Dame Athletic Hall of Fame.

Ray, and his wife Lisa, were honored with the 2022 Annunciation Award, given by the NDHS Education Fund Foundation to those who have devoted immeasurable time, talent or treasure to sustain Catholic education.

“Ray has taught me more about the game of softball than I could have ever imagined,” said Notre Dame Athletic Director Jeff Graviett. “To say he is a softball guru is an understatement.  He understands the game and how to teach the game better than anyone I have ever been around, but that is not what makes him so special. Ray invests not only his softball knowledge and love for the game, but he shares his faith with everyone he encounters through coaching. He has invested so much in so many; including myself. Words can’t express what he has meant to not only Notre Dame softball but for Notre Dame High School. Being a graduate of Notre Dame and having two daughters graduate from the school as well, he has been a part of our school most of his life. The school can’t thank him enough for his time and dedication to the mission. Ray is truly one of a kind.”

Congratulations to Ray on a stellar coaching career!