How Jenkins baseball coach Seth Gaspin reached a milestone with his 400th career win
Seth Gaspin has been a fixture on the baseball field as a coach for 27 years, and the long-time coach at Jenkins reached a milestone last week as the Warriors knocked off Windsor Forest for his 400th career win.
A former standout in his prep playing days at Memorial Day, the first baseman/pitcher went on to play at USC Salkehatchie and Savannah State.
Gaspin started his coaching career at Thomas Heyward before leading his alma mater from 1997-2003. He led Memorial Day to five GISA (now GIAA) Final Fours and a state championship in 2001. He took over at Jenkins in 2004 and had another stellar run with the Warriors, winning four region titles and making a run to the Sweet 16 in 2007. After a one-year stint at Dunnellon High School in Florida, he came back home to Savannah, serving as an assistant at Benedictine before returning to Jenkins in 2021.
Known for passing along his passion for the game to his players, Gaspin said those connections are what makes his job so special.
"Winning 400 games is really a tribute to the great players and assistant coaches I've been able to work with over the years," said Gaspin, 54. "The best thing about it is all the relationships that you make. I've been to so many weddings and been to see so many babies. You don't really realize how long you've been doing it until a moment like this and you realize how lucky you are."
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Jenkins has struggled recently, but the Warriors are off to a great start this season with a 6-1 record.
"This is the best team we've had in a few years," Gaspin said. "It's exciting and it revives you as a coach."
Billy McAdams is an old-school baseball man who has worked as an assistant with Gaspin for 21 seasons.
"Coach Gaspin loves the game and he plays it the right way," McAdams said. "He knows the game so well and brings discipline to the players. He wants to make them become better players, and better people too."
Gaspin said one of the things he is most proud of is that several of his former players have joined the coaching ranks. Savannah Christian's Matt Oglesby starred for Gaspin before going on to play at Savannah State. He led the Raiders to the GSHA Class 3A Final Four last season. Ashley Walker is now the head coach at Terrell Academy and recently won a state crown. Lee Heaberlin is now the head baseball coach at East Coweta.
"I'm still close with all those guys, and with former coaches like (Benedictine's) Kevin Farmer and Kevin Brown, who coached at Groves," Gaspin said. "Matt (Oglesby) and I talk all the time, and I learn a lot from him about all the new things you have to know about with the kids today with social media and things like that."
Talking to his players, it seems like those lessons are paying off.
"Honestly, I think coach Gaspin has evolved since last year," said sophomore first baseman Charlie Stuart. "He's more of a coach you can feel free to talk to about things outside of baseball now.. He hasn't gone soft, but it seems like he's learned there are different ways to communicate with different players. He's created a good sense of community and a bond within our team by working on those relationships."
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Jenkins baseball coach Seth Gaspin notches his 400th career victory
