St. Paul’s coach Andy Robbins is all smiles after a 10-1 win over Alma Bryant Tuesday night made him the state’s all-time winningest baseball coach. (John O’Dell/Call News)
St. Paul’s players give coach Andy Robbins a celebratory ice bath after he became the state’s all-time winningest baseball coach with a record of 1,218-437 in 46 seasons, 40 with the Saints. (John O’Dell/Call News)
By ARTHUR L. MACK
IRVINGTON — No. 1-ranked Class 5A St. Paul’s used a six-run seventh inning to surge to a 10-1 win over Alma Bryant Tuesday night and make the Saints’ Andy Robbins the state’s all-time winningest baseball coach with his 1,218th career coaching victory.
Tuesday’s win put Robbins ahead of late Hartselle legend William Booth, who had 1,217 wins, according to ahsfhs.com.
Robbins — who has coached 46 years, 40 at St. Paul’s — was unaware of the feat.
“It’s a cliché but it’s one at a time, literally,” he said. “I’ve been blessed coaching. I had numerous kids and coaches. Being the winningest coach in Alabama history means I’ve been doing it a long time.”
Robbins acknowledged Saints coaches Bob Rutledge and Charlie Miller “took a chance on a young coach a long time ago. … St. Paul’s is such a great school. I am not worthy. I just want to thank the big guy and everybody at St. Paul’s for letting me stick around for this long.”
Robbins said he has no plans to retire.
“I love the kids, I love doing this,” he said. “To see these kids develop and move on into their careers, I’ve seen a lot of them go to the pros and also to become doctors and lawyers. It does my heart good.”
On Tuesday, the Saints (13-3) led 4-0 before using a six-run, four-hit seventh to ice the game.
Bay Lane got the win in five innings while Evan Harawah had three hits and John Stowers and Ross Delaney each had two RBIs.
“We’ve got a lot of good seniors and we’ve got a lot of babies that are doing really well,” Robbins said. “They work really hard and that’s the common denominator over the years.”
Booth is still considered the state’s winningest coach by the Alabama High School Athletic Association, which credits him with 1,217 wins to Robbins’ 1,017 at Faith Academy, Mobile Christian and St. Paul’s. Robbins coached at Faith and Mobile Christian when they were not members of the AHSAA.
