St. John's Names New Baseball Coach - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

St. John's Names New Baseball Coach

Head Varsity Baseball Coach Mike O'Reilly has decided to step down and assistant coach Greg "Hawk" Christian has been named his successor, St. John's Jesuit Director of Athletic Bob Ronai announced today.

O'Reilly led the Titans to a Three Rivers Athletic Conference championship and a 21-7 overall record in his only season last spring. He will remain on the baseball coaching staff as a volunteer assistant.

"Coach O'Reilly wanted to spend more time with his family, and we respected those wishes," Mr. Ronai said. "We thank him for his service and wish him nothing but the best."

Christian has more than 20 years of coaching experience, including more than a decade as the Varsity Baseball coach at Cardinal Stritch from 1999-2010. During that time, the Cardinals won three Toledo Area Athletic Conference championships and two district titles. In 2005, he passed Tom Fuller as the winningest baseball coach in school history with more than 150 career wins.

Along with his baseball coaching duties, Christian also coached girls and boys Varsity Basketball at Stritch for 10 years.

A 1977 graduate of Cardinal Stritch, Christian played football, basketball, and baseball in high school. As a senior, he was named All-City in football and baseball and earned team MVP honors on the diamond, where he served as team captain from 1976-77. Christian also was the Cardinals' starting quarterback on the team that advanced to the State Final Four in 1976.

"This should be a fairly seamless transition from Coach O'Reilly to Coach Hawk," Mr. Ronai said. "He has an extensive knowledge of the game and a good rapport with his players. We expect nothing but great things in the spring and the years to come."

Christian is married to Jill Hatfield, and they have three children: Kacy, a Toledo Fireman; Kylee, a Child Life Specialist at Toledo Children's Hospital; and Kendyl, a senior at Clay High School.