Ouachita Baptist Baseball -- Assistant Coach Dirk Kinney

Phone: (870) 245-4255

Dirk Kinney enters his first season for Ouachita Baptist and comes into a program that went 50-10 last season, including a school-record 21-game winning streak.

Kinney, who grew up in New Jersey and Oklahoma, comes to Ouachita Baptist as the former head baseball coach at Eudora (Kan.) High School where he received Coach of the Year Honors in 2006 and 2007 with a team record of 24-2 and finished runner-up in the 4A 2006 Kansas State Baseball Championship . Eudora’s team record while Kinney was head coach was 87-21. He took over a program that had only one winning season (9-7 in 1999) to a state powerhouse. He sent 19 players to the collegiate level in his five years as head coach at Eudora.

This past summer, Kinney coached the FCA Grays in the M.I.N.K. League to a third-place finish in the Midwest NBC Regional. He is a graduate of Sterling College in Kansas, where he was named team captain in 1999 and received All-Conference honors. Prior to Sterling College, he played baseball at Murray State Junior College in Oklahoma. Kinney received his Masters in Educational Administration from Benedictine College in Kansas in July 2005.

Kinney, who is the son of Thomas and Donna Kinney and born in Havre de Grace, Md., has also worked as an instructor at Kansas University Baseball Camps, as well as been the head coach of the Midwest Rebels Elite Summer High School Team (2004 State Champions). In addition, he played for the Lindsborg Black Sox (1998). Kinney continued playing in the summer of 1999 until Tommy John Surgery ended his playing days.

Kinney placed high school baseball at Elgin High School for Keith Mullins. He has two sisters who currently reside in Idaho. Kinney recently was married to wife, Angela, who is an Advertising Executive for Saatchi and Saatchi X in Fayetteville, Ark.

Assistant Coach Ryan White

Ryan White is entering his second season on the OBU staff. 

White’s duties includes coaching the outfield, advance scouting, travel coordination, and assisting with the hitters.  White joined the OBU staff after a successful career at fellow GSC-school, Arkansas Tech University.  He was a four-year starter at ATU from 2002-2005, earning All-GSC honors three of the four seasons.  As a sophomore, White led the GSC in hitting with a .446 average.  He left ATU as the career leader in hits (250), doubles (50) and walks.  He also helped lead ATU to back to back GSC tournament appearances in 2004 and 2005.

This past summer, White coached Lakeside American Legion to their second State Title ever, finishing with a 27-10 record.

White was born in Jonesboro, Ark., to Jan and Tommy White and grew up just down the road in Hot Springs.  He played high school ball at Lakeside High School.  While at Lakeside, he was a three-time all-conference selection, and a two-time all-state selection.  White helped lead the Rams to their first-ever state tournament appearance in 2000 and led a return trip in 2001. 

White is unmarried and lives in Hot Springs, Ark.