It’s difficult to determine which is a more staggering accomplishment in the college baseball realm: Winning 1,000 games as a coach, or coaching at age 86.
Still filling out the lineup card after all these years, John Winkin can make that call himself.
Winkin spent Sunday morning where any octogenarian might hope to find himself in mid-March, checking out a baseball game in Florida. The only difference – and it’s a dramatic one – is that Winkin was sitting in the dugout minding the store for Husson College.
Husson dispatched Drew University, 6-3, picking up the fifth victory of its annual tour of the Sunshine State and giving its spry skipper his milestone triumph.
In his 44th season, Winkin became only the 44th college baseball coach to top 1,000 wins. That accomplishment is even impressive when you consider that Winkin waited seven seasons between victories No. 943 and 944.
Unlike relative youngsters Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden in the football coaching fraternity, Winkin didn’t get a chance to go out a winner with the University of Maine baseball program he turned into a national power.
He was dismissed after his 22nd season in 1996.
While in Orono, Winkin recruited almost exclusively New England players and took a geographically challenged program to the College World Series six times, including five in a six-year stretch from 1981-86. Twice, the Black Bears finished third in the nation.
Two eventual Major Leaguers, Billy Swift of South Portland and Mike Bordick of Hampden (and later Auburn), were part of Winkin’s foundation at Maine.
Winkin won 301 games in his first coaching stint at Colby and 642 more at Maine, so it was no surprise when he landed on his feet at nearby Husson as an assistant to J.K. Kolasinski. He ascended to the Bangor school’s top post in 2004.
A member of seven different halls of fame, Winkin is on pace for another milestone before the end of this season, when he logs his 1,700th game as a collegiate head coach. After a victory over Colby-Sawyer on Monday, Winkin is 1,001-669-8 overall.
Husson swings through the area early next month. The Eagles are at the University of Maine at Farmington on April 1, Bates on April 4 and Saint Joseph’s on April 5.
Olson having a blast
At the start of the baseball season, Garrett Olson of Norway (Oxford Hills) was considered one of the top 100 prospects in this June’s Major League amateur draft.
Let’s just say last week didn’t hurt his stock.
The junior shortstop at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H., won Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week plaudits for the fourth time in his career. Tipping that iceberg was a game for the ages Saturday against Queens College, when Olson became only the 10th player in NCAA Division II history and first since 2001 to hit two grand slams in a game.
Olson belted a school-record 10 RBIs in a 20-5 win that gave the Ravens a doubleheader sweep. The 22nd Division II player to knock in double digits in a game, Olson ended up three RBIs shy of the NCAA record.
Through nine games, Olson is batting .405 with five home runs and 19 RBIs. In addition to its scouting report that named him the No. 95 pro prospect in the country, Baseball America magazine chose Olson as its Division II Preseason Player of the Year.
Staying on track
Two locals highlight the women’s track and field team at Gettysburg (Pa.) College.
Sophomore Shannon Yates of New Vineyard (Mt. Blue) competes in triple jump and high jump, while freshman Lindsay Visbaras of Auburn (Edward Little) brings her all-purpose abilities to the Bullets in sprints (100 and 200) as well as jumps (long and triple).
Visbaras leaps into spring track on the heels of an outstanding first winter campaign. In addition to a second-place finish in the triple jump at the Centennial Conference Championship, Visbaras won that event in two February meets at Susquehanna and a January showcase at Franklin and Marshall. She also was part of a school record-setting 4×200 relay team at the conference championships.
One of Visbaras’ high school teammares, Sarah Crispin, scored points in the NCAA Women’s Indoor Track and Field championships for Tufts University last weekend. The junior teamed with Katy O’Brien, Aubrey Wasser and Cat Beck for a time of 12:29.95, good for 10th in the distance medley relay. Crispin also earned the right to compete in the mile run for individual honors at the NCAAs, but she held out in order to concentrate on the relay.
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