(Photo from FranklinNOW)
To my family, Coach Hughes is "Mr. Jim," the bus driver who gets a hug every morning from my son, Ben, when he picks him up for summer school. To everyone else in Franklin -- and the state -- he's the winningest coach in Wisconsin prep baseball history.
"Mr. Jim" surprised us by showing up at one of Ben's very first baseball games after he learned that he was participating in the Challenger League, a baseball program for kids with special needs. After circling the bases, my son got a high-five from the winningest baseball coach in the state, and one of the nicest bus drivers in the world.
Congratulations, Coach! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
The number was 743. The significance was that it was the number of career victories Franklin coach Jim Hughes had moved to that night, moving him past former Arrowhead coach Tim O'Driscoll's 742 and into first place as the winningest coach in Wisconsin high school baseball history.
"I mean, how many 20-win seasons is that. Thirty?" Kleszczynski said. "Those are big numbers. Hats off to Jim. He gets his guys to win ball games. He's a good coach."
Hughes called the victory just another game, but acknowledged that he didn't get to 743 on his own."You just keep coaching," he said. "I've been around a long time. I've been lucky. I've got good players all the time and we win a number of games each year, you've got to have that as well. And right here, we've got outstanding parents. I've got real good parent support. You put all that together, my family support, and I'm a pretty lucky guy."
A handful of parents presented Hughes and his players with a cake with the number 743 on it and a player gave Hughes a game ball after the victory.
Read the rest at: Historic win keeps Sabers alive - FranklinNOW
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