400 wins and counting for A.C. Flora baseball coach Andy Hallett

Win No. 400 arrived quickly for A.C. Flora baseball coach Andy Hallett.

With a 4-1 victory against Clinton in the second round of the district tournament on Monday, the Falcons’ coach earned his 400^th win just shy of four years after he reached the 300-win mark.

That milestone came in 2011 as Flora marched toward the Lower State final. Since then, Hallett has guided the Falcons to three consecutive Class 3A championships. Last season’s championship was win No. 382 for Hallett.

“Actually, I forgot that it was happening until they started announcing it over the loudspeaker. I knew how many wins I needed, but I didn’t realize that it was that one, that night,” said Hallett, whose Falcons host Eastside on Friday in the District 6 title game. He likened the surprise to the feeling of finding an extra cookie in the bottom of the bag.

“It was kind of like that ah-ha moment. It was a big sense of accomplishment and a feeling of pride that came over me. It was a big moment for me in my coaching career that I’ll never forget.”

Hallett has been coaching at Flora for 18 seasons, qualifying for the playoffs and posting a winning record every season.

But it could have been different this season because the Falcons lost a lot of talent to graduation.

Flora athletics director Charlie Wentzky remembered looking at the Falcons’ schedule early this season, when the team was 2-5, and seeing a treacherous slate of non-region competitors.

“You think to yourself, why didn’t we play some less challenging teams and give ourselves a break,” Wentzky said. But he already knew what Hallett would say.

“He’s not afraid to play tough opponents. He’ll play whoever he needs to play to get his team ready. His philosophy is any chance we have to prepare our team to be better, that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Wentzky learned how important preparation is to Hallett’s success as one of his assistant coaches in the early 2000s.

“He had a sign up with a John Wooden quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. And that’s Andy Hallett wrapped up right there. He’s going to be prepared and he’s going to have his kids prepared for every situation,” Wentzky said.

Hallett is quick to point out that it is not just his hard work that made his milestone possible.

“Four hundred wins is a number that means that a lot of people have been through here that worked hard and put us in a situation that allowed us to get where we are today,” he said.

As the Falcons (18-9) continue their quest for a fourth consecutive state championship , Hallett hopes he is helping his players by creating lasting feelings of pride and accomplishment.

“You don’t coach baseball games to win games for you or to have people look at you. You coach baseball because you love the game, and because you love the kids and you want to help them learn,” Hallett said. “For a lot of those classes that have been able to feel that and still carry that with them, that’s what I do it for.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 11:39 PM with the headline "400 wins and counting for A.C. Flora baseball coach Andy Hallett."