Timberlake hires pair of coaches

Timberlake High's two latest coaching hires know they have some pretty big shoes to fill.

Matt George is the Tigers' new baseball coach, replacing Bill Rider, who guided the team to state each of the past four seasons, and five times total in his nine seasons as coach.

George, 42, is aware of all that. He was Rider's assistant all nine of those seasons.

"Following Bill, you don't want to make any drastic changes," George said. "I think there's a little bit of pressure to continue that tradition. I think we've developed a tradition of winning at Timberlake, and I'd like to build on it."

Casi Reisenauer is Timberlake's new softball coach, replacing Mike Menti, who guided the Tigers to state in each of his 16 seasons as coach.

"I'm excited. I think it'll be a challenge, but I'm definitely up for it," said Reisenauer, 32, who was Menti's assistant the past two seasons. "The good thing is, I know the program really well, and I know the girls really well, and hopefully we can continue that tradition."

George, who grew up in Kansas and played college ball at Bethany College in Kansas and at Missouri Western College, taught for four years at Lake City before moving to Timberlake nine years ago. He was an assistant at Lake City for one season.

"Matt has worked closely with coach Rider over the past nine years in building Timberlake's baseball program," Timberlake athletic director Tim Cronnelly said. "Coach George has a great work ethic and a ton of enthusiasm. He will do a great job moving our program forward."

It's the first head coaching job for George, who is also an assistant boys basketball coach at Timberlake High.

"The kids' expectations are that we are going to win ballgames," George said. "I have the luxury of taking over a program that's been successful."

Reisenauer played two seasons at Lakeland High, then transferred to Timberlake when that school opened in 1998. She played two seasons for the Tigers, and was a senior on Menti's first team in 2000.

"Casi is a proud Timberlake alum who has played and coached from club to college" Cronnelly said. "Casi is passionate about softball and Timberlake softball in particular. She is excited and wishes the season would start tomorrow. Casi is going to do great things with Timberlake softball."

Reisenauer played at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, and at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. She's also been a club coach in Spokane, and assisted at North Idaho College, Eastern Oregon, and Montana State-Billings as well as Timberlake.

"I think we need to evolve as the sport evolves," Reisenauer said. "Obviously, you don't want to fix what's not broken. I want to push the kids, and incorporate some of the things I've learned along the way."

Reisenauer's two years as an assistant at NIC were the first two years the Cardinals went to nationals. The second year, NIC finished second in the nation.

At Timberlake, Reisenauer was an all-Intermountain League selection as a junior, and the league MVP as a senior.

The past two years, Reisenauer was a counselor at Timberlake Elementary. This year, she'll be a counselor at Timberlake High.

"I have a lot of pride for Timberlake," Reisenauer said. "I'm really excited to coach these kids and represent my school. I have big shoes to fill, but I'm definitely up for the challenge."