Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
Hewitt-Trussville head coach Jeff Mauldin and the assistant coaches shake hands with the coaches for Central-Phenix City following game three of the Class 7A state baseball championship series at Jacksonville State University’s Rudy Abbott Field in Jacksonville on Saturday, May 21, 2022. The Huskies fell to Central-Phenix City 3-0 in game three, finishing second in the state. Photo by Erin Nelson.
TRUSSVILLE – There has long been a number synonymous with baseball greatness.
The No. 700 has been important to baseball fans since Babe Ruth cranked his 700th home run in July 1934. He finished his career with 714, then Hank Aaron surpassed him in April 1974 with his 715th. Barry Bonds put his name atop the list in 2007, albeit with an asterisk, when he hit his 756th home run. Alex Rodriguez finished his career with 703 round-trippers.
Only those four players have ever sent more than 700 baseballs into and beyond outfield bleachers.
But the number is also synonymous with greatness in the Alabama high school baseball wins list, and Hewitt-Trussville head coach Jeff Mauldin has now reached it.
The Huskies beat Pelham, the program Mauldin previously led, 11-0 to give Mauldin his 700th career win, his 306th with the Huskies. Mauldin won 218 games leading Clay-Chalkville from 2000 to 2006, and 176 wins from 2007 to 2012 at Pelham. He’s been at Hewitt-Trussville since. Mauldin led the Cougars to a state championship in 2003 and Hewitt-Trussville in 2016. The Huskies have finished as the state runner-up in 2013, 2018 and 2022.
“Honestly, when you got to certain numbers during your career, [you say], ‘Hey that’s neat. Let’s move on,’” Mauldin said. “I really try to focus on what we’re doing today for practice. Someone sent me something in the last few weeks, and it listed the AHSAA coaches and win totals. It had it typed out to where I was placed in there. It really took me back. It kind of stopped me in my tracks. I looked at it, and I saw the names on the list and where my name was. It was super humbling. It makes me emotional to just really realize how blessed I’ve been as a coach to be in situations and God giving me opportunities to be at the places I’ve been at with the coaches that have been with me, players that have been with me, the relationships.”
That list ahead of Mauldin isn’t long, regardless of the source you choose. The Alabama High School Athletic Association lists only five coaches ahead of him with more wins: William Booth of Hartselle with 1,185 wins, William Murrell at Athens Bible with 910, Richard Patterson with 893 wins at four programs, Ken Whittle with 783 at Trinity Presbyterian, and Richy Brooks with 711 wins at Tarrant and Benjamin Russell. A wins list on the Alabama High School Football Historical Society website lists the same names, but also six others who have won more than 700 games.
Regardless, Mauldin is up there. His winning percentage is one of the best, if not the best.
“Wow, how blessed I have…,” Mauldin said, and he paused. “It’s really ‘we.’ Me and Coach [Jeff] Schrupp, my wife, my family. Schrupp and my wife, they’ve been with me on this entire thing. That’s why I say it’s a ‘we’ thing. And Coach Schrupp’s wife, Kelly. We’ve all kind of been on this journey together.”
Schrupp has been on Mauldin’s staffs since 2000. There have been many others. Lynn Elkins helping out at Clay-Chalkville, Sean Anderson at Pelham, others. Naming them all would be a task.
“You think about all the others,” Mauldin said. “There are tons and tons of players. You feel like we have made an impact on kids in baseball because you have so many kids from the past [staying in touch] or had gone into coaching.”
One of those players, DeMarcus Kelly, played on some of Mauldin’s early Hewitt-Trussville teams. Kelly said he could write a book about Mauldin.
“In my eyes, he’s the best coach to come through the state of Alabama,” Kelly said. “How many coaches can you say changed their team in a summer and lead them to a state championship the same year? Forever grateful to have gotten the opportunity to gain a lot of baseball knowledge and life talks.”
Thinking back to players from Clay-Chalkville, Pelham and Hewitt-Trussville makes Mauldin emotional. He hears from former players still in the game in some way, yes, but former players now with wives and children come to Hewitt-Trussville games to support their former coach, guys who haven’t played in a high school or college game in years.
“God has truly watched over everything we’ve done,” he said. “And the people that have been placed in our paths that have been a part of it is unbelievably humbling.”
Carter Pharis, who played for Mauldin at Hewitt-Trussville and now coaches alongside him, said reaching 700 wins is not an accomplishment that happens by mistake.
“This happens through a relentless work ethic, holding a high standard in everything he does, and his teams do, paying attention to extremely small details that add up to wins, and pushing others to be elite,” Pharis said. “When he first came to HT, he defined his standards, and it was very evident what he was truly about.”
Speaking before the 2024 season began, Mauldin said, “God willing, it’s going to happen.”
“Trust me, I’d much rather you tell me – I know it’s impossible to do this – you’re going to end this season in Oxford and Jacksonville than get 700, but you can’t do one without the other,” he said.
One of those boxes is now checked. Sights will now shift toward the latter.
“It’s about our team, it’s about our kids,” Mauldin said. “We always put our kids first.”
