'Pretty awesome': Teacher and Baseball coach Dan Hydash earns win No. 200 at Redwood

Dan Hydash didn't get into coaching for the wins.

It was about serving the community, building relationships with life lessons and helping mold boys into men through baseball.

Although those were a few of his original goals, the victories have also piled up along the way.

Hydash reached career win No. 200 at Redwood High School on March 13 in the Rangers' 2-0 victory over El Diamante in 10 innings.

The longtime head coach has been the lead skipper at Redwood since the 2014 season and began his high school head coaching career at Central Valley Christian.

As of press time, Hydash has tallied 201 wins at Redwood with a pair of Central Section Division II championships (2015, 2016) and five combined East and West Yosemite League titles (2014, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023). His Ranger teams have averaged 20.1 victories per season.

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According to Central Section historian Bob Barnett, Hydash has amassed 250 career wins as a head coach. He won 49 games during his run at CVC from 2010-13.

Hydash began his coaching tenure at the Visalia public school as an off-campus coach but joined the teaching staff a couple of years ago as a special education teacher.

In Hydash's 10th season, Redwood is off to a 7-3 start.

"That's why I got into coaching originally is to mentor and advocate for kids, and now I get to do that in the classroom as well," Hydash said. "I get to be on campus so I'm available to the kids. There's nothing better. I wouldn't pick another profession. To be able to teach and coach, to be able to help kids is why you coach. You don't coach for 25 years — this is my 25th year — you don't coach that long unless you absolutely love kids and want to help them out in any way you can. That's pretty awesome."

'I got the best family in the world'

Hydash has coached baseball in Visalia for a quarter of a century.

During that time, his support at home has been the backbone of his success.

The family's anchor is Kerry, Hydash's wife, and their two children, Jaden and Nolan, play a big role, too, in helping provide consistency and stability.

That's a big reason for Hydash's longevity as a coach.

"I absolutely have the best wife that I could have," Hydash said. "I have a daughter that just graduated from Redwood last year that's at UC Irvine. My son, Nolan, is gonna be a seventh grader at Ridgeview. I couldn't coach, you don't coach unless you have a great support system. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for my family. They're everything to me. I love them for it, and again, they're so supportive, and accepting of the long hours. Sometimes when you're going through rough things as a coach, if you don't have that support, you're not going to make it. I have the best family in the world."

Serving others is the family business for the Hydashs.

Kerry is the President and CEO of Family Healthcare Network — one of the largest networks of community health centers in California.

Since 1976, Family Healthcare Network has served over 230,000 patients in Tulare, Kings, and Fresno counties combined.

"She's very busy," Hydash said of his wife. "Smartest woman I've ever met. Works harder than anybody I ever met. Again, she has a job where she gets to help people. That's what they do. They get to help thousands of people every year, and I'm very proud of her. She works, you know, 10, 12 hours a day and she comes home and supports me. How can you beat that?"

'We come into a winning program'

Redwood has won back-to-back league championships.

The Rangers captured the West Yosemite League championship in 2022 and made history last season by winning back-to-back league titles, an East Yosemite League crown, for the first time in program history.

That type of consistency was built by Hydash's commitment to developing Redwood as a perennial Central Section power year in and year out.

The Rangers graduated most of their key starters, including current Stanford pitcher Joey Volchko, from last season's 24-win team that reached the Central Section Division I semifinals.

Still, Hydash's club has continued its competitive nature into 2024.

Redwood opened EYL play with back-to-back wins over El Diamante, beating the Miners 2-0 on March 13 followed by a 9-2 decision on March 15.

In that shutout victory, which was anchored by junior pitcher Erik Rico's no-hit, nine-strikeout performance in seven innings, junior centerfielder Jaxon Griffiths launched the game-winning RBI double in the 10th frame.

Rico, Griffiths, junior shortstop and lead-off hitter Isaac Esquivel and third baseman C.J. Ramos were all members of the 2019 Visalia Blue All-Stars 12-and-under team that won the Major/60 Cal Ripken World Series championship.

In the seven-run win over the Miners, Ramos went 2-for-3 hitting with a run and a walk. Esquivel had a hit, run, RBI and stolen base. Griffiths and Rico also had a hit and run in that EYL victory.

"It's great," Griffiths said. "The team chem, we've got great team chemistry. We have team dinners every week. Team chem, it helps everything for the wins. When we're all playing, everything is clicking and we can win off those."

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That mindset is implanted when players step foot on campus as a ninth-grader.

"We know we come into a winning program, and we are going to go somewhere after this," Griffiths said. "But coming out as a freshman, you're just thinking, 'I want to succeed here. I want to help out my team.' "

Tulare County Cream of the Crop Power Rankings

Here is one view of the top five baseball/softball teams in Tulare County (records are as of March 18):

Baseball

1. Redwood (7-3): The Rangers are the defending East Yosemite League champions.

2. Tulare Western (3-7): The Mustangs are anchored by UCLA signee and starting pitcher Justin Cuellar.

3. El Diamante (4-7): Senior centerfielder Caleb Silva is one of the top players in Tulare County this season.

4. Mission Oak (4-5): The Hawks lost only one starter from last season's 16-win team that advanced to the Central Section Division III quarterfinals.

5. Central Valley Christian (9-3): The Cavaliers won a Tri-County Conference-Sequoia championship in 2023.

Softball

1. Tulare Union (7-2-1): Senior pitcher Mason Hatton is one of the top players at her position in Tulare County.

2. El Diamante (9-2): The Miners opened the 2024 season with nine straight wins.

3. Redwood (5-4-2): Senior Shelby Somavia is among Tulare County leaders in hitting with a .548 batting average and three home runs.

4. Mission Oak (10-5): Senior Rebekah Beasley is batting .512 with six doubles as one of the Hawks' key veterans.

5. Monache (5-8): Shy-Lee Teran, a pitcher, is one of Tulare County's breakout freshmen this season.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Teacher, Baseball coach Dan Hydash earns win No. 200 at Redwood