Eight hundred.

Five.

What do those numbers mean, you ask? They signify the elite company New Trier baseball coach Mike Napoleon entered Thursday, April 14, after picking up his 800th career win with a dramatic ninth-inning comeback 5-4 victory over Deerfield.

“We [the team] didn’t talk about it ever, but you know it was on everybody’s mind,” Napoleon said.

Napoleon becomes only the fifth coach in Illinois baseball history to win 800 or more games, but strangely enough isn’t even the active leader in wins. Simeon’s Leroy Franklin holds that honor with 806.

The 31-year coach, 20 of which have been at New Trier, had one word to describe what winning 800 games meant to him: longevity.

“I’ve had some great players and you don’t get to this number without great players,” Napoleon said. “The programs I’ve had, Notre Dame, Providence, New Trier, it says volumes about getting to that number.”

Napoleon started his career at Notre Dame in 1985 and also had a four-year stop at Providence before coming to the Northfield school and taking the program over in 1997.

Napoleon’s New Trier career has included state titles in 2000 and 2009 and second-place finishes in 1999 and 2007.

“Naturally state championships rank pretty high on the list, but any time you hit a milestone like this is always good,” Napoleon said. “It’s a good personal thing, but it proves all these players that you’ve had, all these guys are a part of it and they know that. They know how much I care about them, they know how much I care about them even after they leave, so they know that they’re a part of this.”

It didn’t always look like the Trevians were going to need a comeback to defeat their Central Suburban League rivals. New Trier jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first inning thanks to a two-RBI double by junior Will McNulty.

But then Deerfield pitcher Ryan Pfutzenreuter shut down the Trevian lineup, giving up only two hits until the sixth inning.

“The pitcher did a really good job and their defense made a lot of plays behind him,” Napoleon said. “We didn’t get complacent or anything, he just had really good stuff and they played well in the field.”

With one out and Sean Douaire on second base. McNulty drove in a third teammate with a single, tying the game at four. Neither team would score and the game would go into extra innings. Douaire, who finished with two hits, came into the game in the bottom of the first inning to replace cleanup hitter Michael Hurley, who injured his hamstring diving to catch a foul ball.

“I was just looking to get the ball in play and it just happened to bloop over the second baseman,” McNulty said.

After the eighth inning and top of the ninth went three up and three down, the Trevians came up in the ninth with a chance to send the home team home a winner. After Martin Duffy and Carter Heisinger led off with back-to-back singles and Dylan McGuire worked a hit by a pitch, Matt Kann laced a single to win the game, setting off mass hysteria and a time to celebrate for the home team.

“New pitcher, new life and any time you get a new pitcher, it always brings some life to the dugout,” Napoleon said. “Duffy getting on base and then Carter not getting the bunt down but getting a base hit, we could just feel the vibe.”

“There’s a lot of character building things during the case of a game,” Napoleon said. “If you’ve ever played baseball, you tend to not take it up with you each at-bat.”

Along with reaching the 800-win mark, Napoleon tied the school record in wins with 542, putting him in a tie with Ron Klein.

And what better way than to win a coach’s record-breaking game than in extra innings, on a dramatic walkoff, with the sun down and chill in the air on your home field.

– See more at: http://www.wilmettebeacon.com/high-school/baseball-new-trier%E2%80%99s-napoleon-reaches-800-wins-dramatic-fashion#sthash.KKbggTGl.dpuf