New Trier baseball coach Mike Napoleon did his best to keep quiet about his impending milestone. His players, however, were well aware of what was at stake in the Thursday, April 14, home game against Deerfield in Winnetka. So when junior first baseman Matt Kann delivered a walk-off single to give the Trevians a 5-4 victory in nine innings, they made sure to have the Gatorade bath ready for Napoleon to celebrate their coach’s 800th career victory.
In doing so, Napoleon became just the fifth high school coach in Illinois history to reach 800 wins.
“I came into the game thinking that I just wanted to have a big day for (Napoleon),” said Kann, who was 0-for-4 before the game-winning hit. “It didn’t work out well, but I’m glad I was able to come through (at the end). He gave me a huge hug after the game. I’m just happy that I could help him get 800 wins.”
Several former players came back in anticipation of witnessing the 800th win, including Napoleon’s son Dusty, who was a New Trier player when his father reached 500.
“It’s nice to see everybody that cares about you come out for this,” Mike Napoleon said. “Naturally state championships rank pretty high on the list, but any time you hit a milestone like this is always good. 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.”
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Mike Napoleon’s accolades at New Trier include state titles in 2000 and 2009, and runner-up finishes in 1999 and 2007.
Mike Napoleon has been the coach at New Trier since the 1997 season. Prior to that he coached at Notre Dame for six seasons and Providence for five seasons. The win also tied Mike Napoleon with Ron Klein, for whom the Trevians’ field is named, for most victories in program history with 542.
“New Trier has had a long and rich history of baseball and Mike has certainly built upon, and is just about to put a cap on, that history,” New Trier athletic director Randy Oberembt said. “When he hits (806) he’ll advance to become the third-winningest all time in Illinois. That, from a competitive excellence standpoint, that speaks for itself.”
The winning culture Mike Napoleon has established at New Trier was on full display against Deerfield. The Trevians faced adversity from the get-go when starting senior right fielder and cleanup hitter Michael Hurley pulled up lame with a hamstring injury in the top of the first. Sean Douaire, a junior, replaced him and went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
“You saw we lost our right fielder in the first inning and we had another guy come off the bench,” said Pete Drevline, an assistant coach under Mike Napoleon for 14 years. It doesn’t matter who’s in that lineup. We’ve gone through multiple guys, multiple years. He just prepares everybody to win.”
New Trier trailed 4-3 heading into the sixth, but tied it on a bloop RBI single by junior Will McNulty, the team’s No. 7 hitter, who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Given McNulty and Mike Napoleon’s relationship away from the diamond, the performance was particularly special.
“He’s actually my adviser at school, so every morning I see him. Every morning we talk baseball, it’s a usual thing,” McNulty said. “He’s probably the closest I am to any person at New Trier, so it’s something special for all of us and for him. Eight hundred wins, that’s insane.”
Brett Christie is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press