‘CALL IT A CAREER’
After one season leading the Dublin Jerome baseball program, Tim Saunders has stepped down.
Saunders, who previously coached Dublin Coffman for 33 seasons, guided the Celtics to records of 11-15 overall and 6-9 in the Occ-cardinal Division. He earned his 600th career win with a 13-3, five-inning victory over 50th-seeded Columbus South on May 15 in the first round of the Division I district tournament.
“I told them I would do this for a year,” Saunders said. “It was a fun year. I thought we’d win more games. We had the opportunity. We didn’t finish innings and we didn’t finish games. We got leads in almost every game; we just couldn’t hold the lead. It was a great group of kids. It was a good fit for me and hopefully it was a good fit for them.”
The 26th-seeded Celtics lost to second-seeded Watterson 8-3 in the second round May 17, giving Saunders a career record of 600-408.
“I guess to finish your career on 600, that’s what it was meant to be,” Saunders said. “No more, no less. Finish at 600 and call it a season, call it a career . ... I’ll stay in baseball somehow, but not at the varsity level. It takes up a lot of time.”
Saunders replaced Chris Huesman, who guided Jerome for its first 19 seasons.
Saunders built Coffman into one of the most successful programs in central Ohio before stepping down in 2020. His final season of coaching at Coffman ended up being 2019 after the 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He led the Shamrocks to 10 league titles, a Division I state semifinal appearance in 2000 and the state championship in 2001.
Saunders was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January.