Central Methodist softball coach Pat Reardon reached a rare accomplishment last week, earning his 1,000th career win. The milestone came almost exactly a year after the university celebrated his 950th win in anticipation of the high mark.

“It’s a big number. That’s a mark that not many people get to, and it’s a great accomplishment,” Reardon said. “I’ve heard from a lot of people. The biggest thing is it makes you look back at the people who reach out to you that you haven’t talked to in a while. It makes you feel better. Former players or coaches and just people in general who support the program. That probably means the most to me.”

Reardon has spent his entire coaching career at Central Methodist. This season marks his 33rd with the Lady Eagles softball team. He coached soccer for two years before that. 

Turning the team into an NAIA powerhouse did not happen overnight. It took 16 seasons to win a conference championship, and ever since, CMU has been a dominant team with two trips to the college softball World Series. Reardon said the turning point came when his father, Gene, became the team’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in 2006. That led to the team bringing aboard DI transfer Chelsea Fuemmeler in 2008, who led CMU to its first-ever Heart of America Athletic Conference championship.

“My dad joined me, and we got a couple of recruits that year that I thought were big difference-makers for us. And from that point, things started changing. I do give a lot of credit to my dad as our recruiting coordinator. You’re a much better coach when you have good players.”

Reardon has since been named the Heart of America Athletic Conference Softball Coach of the Year 12 times and has guided Central Methodist to 40-plus wins in six of the last eight seasons. He is the winningest coach in conference history, reaching the milestone in April 2015 after a win over Evangel.

Looking back at more than 1,000 wins over 33 years, two memories highlight his storied career. The first was in 2012 when his team earned a trip to the NAIA World Series. “I still remember that game, some of the players on that team. The final out was a line drive flyball to left field,” he recalled.

“We’d won a couple of conference championships and been close to going to the World Series and had not been.”

The next is when his daughter, Abby, played her first game at Central in 2016. That year, Central won its sixth straight conference title with a young team boasting five freshman starters, including Abby.

“That was a team that had come off the World Series and lost a ton of seniors,” Reardon remembered. “Nobody expected us to win another conference championship, and we won that year with those young kids.”

While the honor of 1,000 wins is bestowed upon Reardon, he is adamant about sharing the credit, especially to his family. “It’s the recruiting side. It’s the good players. It’s the good coaches that I’ve had. It’s the support I’ve had from the administration. And especially from my family. They’ve been on this ride a long time. My wife’s been there the whole time. My dad works with me. My daughter played with me and coached with me. My son even goes out in the summertime with me to help recruit. All those pieces together built the culture we have here now.”

Win number 1,000 came in the first half of a two-game sweep of Williams Baptist University, 5-2 and 7-5, last Wednesday in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. On Monday, Reardon improved to 1,002, splitting a two-game series against William Baptist in St. Louis.

Reardon and the Eagles are favored to win the conference again this year, landing at No. 7 on the top 25 NAIA coaches’ poll in November, the highest-ranking HAAC team by far after compiling a record of 52 wins against seven losses a year ago. The only other Heart teams to break the top 25 were Benedictine (18) and Baker (24), with Evangel and Grand View receiving votes.

The Heart is expanding to 15 teams next year, with Missouri Baptist and William Woods joining after this season.

Reardon said this year’s conference is more balanced than he’s seen in a long time, top to bottom. “Everybody has improved. Every doubleheader we play this year is going to be a battle. I think we’re right in the mix. We’re a different team than we have been. We’re going to be led by our offense and then our pitching staff.”

Central has shot out to a great start so far again this season. As of Tuesday morning, the Lady Eagles held an overall record of 16-4, with a perfect 4-0 home record and have won 12 out of their last 13 games. CMU opens conference play at home this weekend with doubleheaders against MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday and Graceland on Sunday.