Carroll University announced Stein Rear has been hired as the school's new baseball coach Monday by Director of Athletics Joe Baker.
'Coach Rear has a great baseball background and is familiar with both NCAA Division III and baseball in Wisconsin,' Baker said. 'He has a proven track record of improving programs quickly, and I am excited about what he is going to with our student-athletes.'
Rear comes to the program from Northland College, following a three-year stint as head coach at the NCAA Division III school in Ashland. His squads increased their win total each year, including a 15-14 mark in 2013 that stood out as the program's best season since 2006.
Rear also coached five seasons at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, part of a staff that went 169-66 during his stay and reached the College World Series in 2008. He has also coached at New Glarus High School, his prep alma mater, and earned an undergraduate degree in physical education at Whitewater, as well as a master's degree in P.E. and coaching.
The hiring comes on the heels of the school firing Derek Hassell. Hassell's 33-year-old brother Jonathan Hassell was the subject of a criminal complaint stemming from an April 15 incident at a Carroll baseball game in Ripon. An umpire overseeing the game claimed Jonathan Hassell punched him in the face, fracturing a tooth and breaking his glasses. A source said Derek Hassell knew about the incident and refused to cooperate with an investigation.