Ryne Mantooth joined the Kentucky Wesleyan College Department of Athletics in August of 2017 as an Assistant Coach with the baseball team and will be entering his seventh season on the staff.
His tenure with the Panthers is Mantooth’s first coaching stint at the collegiate level after spending eight seasons as an assistant coach at Apollo High School alongside his father, head coach Bob Mantooth. The duo led the Eagles to three regional championships during that span including 48 wins over the past two seasons. Ryne was named the Assistant Coach of the Year in both 2011 and 2015.
In the Panthers' 24-16 season in 2022, Mantooth guided the pitching staff to a 5.02 overall ERA and a 277 to 146 strikeout to walk ratio. Both CJ Fairchild and Devin Smith finished with an ERA in the 3s, with the former posting a 3.03 ERA and the latter recording a 3.39 ERA under Mantooth's guidance.
The 2019 season saw the Panthers improve their ERA to 4.19 while striking-out 373 batters. Devin Smith also was named Great Midwest Pitcher of the Year in 2019. The hard-throwing right-hander also became the first pitcher in Kentucky Wesleyan history to earn All-America honors. Alex Franzen was also named to the Great Midwest First Team.
In his first season with the Panthers in 2018, the pitching staff posted a 5.79 ERA with 373 strikeouts against 156 walks. Wesleyan threw four complete games, two being shutouts. Both Sammy Holder and Chris Johnson earned All-G-MAC honors under Mantooth's tutelage.
As a player, Mantooth spent three seasons at Austin Peay State University and two seasons at the University of Louisville as a redshirt. At Austin Peay, Mantooth compiled a record of 17-12 with an earned run average of 5.64. At the plate, Mantooth boasted a .257 batting average over his career with 36 hits and 14 runs scored.
Mantooth was a member of the 2007 Ohio Valley Conference regular season and postseason tournament champions. He was the winning pitcher in the regular season title clinching game, allowing four hits and one run in seven innings in a 9-2 victory over Eastern Kentucky University. The Governors went on to defeat the University of Memphis 18-7 at the NCAA Division I Regional, marking the first team in school history to win an NCAA tournament game.
A 2004 graduate of Apollo High School, Mantooth ranks third in the school record book with 26 wins and second with an ERA of 1.60 over his career. Mantooth is tied for third with 10 wins in a single season (2004). That mark was tied by current Kentucky Wesleyan pitcher Ryan Hundley in 2015.
During four seasons with Apollo, Mantooth won 26 games including a record of 10-2 and 76 strikeouts during his senior season. Mantooth brought home All-State, All-Region and All-District honors during both his junior and senior season. He won four district and three regional titles with the baseball team while also playing basketball and golf.
Mantooth obtained a Bachelor of Science in Education from Austin Peay State University in 2009 and a Master of Arts in Education and Teacher Leadership from University of the Cumberlands in 2015.
A native of Owensboro, Ky., Mantooth currently resides in Owensboro with his wife, Lynsie, and their two children, Tatum and Myers.
