Milestone win made coach elite

Editor’s note: Whether key plays, incredible achievements or milestone events, sports are full of instances that stick out more than others. Sports editor Chris Schanz has seen a ton of them. In this “Memorable Moments” series, he’ll revisit some important moments in area athletics.

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Coach long enough, milestone wins are destined to come.

At least, you’d hope.

Lea Selvey has been around a long time. He doesn’t shy away from saying so.

Longevity alone hasn’t helped Selvey get his milestone wins. Sustained success and quality teams have also played a part.

Six years after his son Kyle threw a no-hitter for career win No. 400, the Jay County High School baseball coach reached his 500th victory on May 24, 2019.

Selvey was sitting at 499 victories as the defending sectional and regional champion Patriots entered the Class 3A sectional semifinal against Heritage, a team Jay County beat in the title game the previous year.

A stroke of luck for Heritage put it ahead of Jay County, 1-0. An error and back-to-back walks loaded the bases, and then a wild pitch allowed the first run to score in the second inning.

In the third, JCHS senior starting pitcher Wyatt Geesaman was in another jam, but catcher Gabe Faulkner corralled a pitch in the dirt and threw out a would-be base stealer attempting to swipe third to end the threat.

Heritage didn’t have a runner past second base for the remainder of the game.

Jay County, meanwhile, tied the score in the home half of the second inning on a Faulkner double. It took the lead for good in the sixth.

Geesaman fell behind 0-2 but drew a six-pitch walk. He advanced to third on a single from Michael Schlechty, and scored on an errant pitch to Isaac Moeller.

During the top of the seventh inning, just three outs separating Jay County from a chance to defend its sectional title, pieces of paper started being circulated through the JCHS fanbase. A banner and signed baseball appeared too, albeit discreetly.

History was about to be achieved.

Nine pitches for the first strikeout. Three for the second. Three for the third.

With his wide grin, assistant coach Todd Farr shook Selvey’s hand and gave him a big hug. Moments later, Daniel Fugiett, Quinn Faulkner, Ryan Schlechty, Reid Claycomb and Geesaman all celebrated with Selvey near the pitching mound.

The Jay County fans in the stands clapped their hands and held up their paper signs reading “Selvey 500.”

On the same weekend as the Indianapolis 500, Selvey reached 500.

“It just means I’ve been here a long time,” Selvey said after the game. He said the same after his youngest son gave him his 400th win back in 2013 as well. “That’s always been the goal … I’m happy we won because I want 5-1 and we can go from there.”

Jay County went on to give Selvey his 501st win by claiming consecutive sectional championships. He got 502 a week later in the regional semifinal, but the Patriots suffered a walk-off setback, 7-6, in the regional final to Yorktown.

The victory put Selvey in rare territory. According to the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association, Selvey is one of 58 coaches to reach the 500-win plateau. Twenty-one of them are still coaching.

Dave Pishkur of Andrean — the team which beat Jay County in the semi-state in 2018 — is the state’s all-time wins leader with 1,014.

Forty-eight other coaches have reached 400 or more wins.

So Selvey is in elite company.

In his 31 years leading Jay County, Selvey has guided the Patriots to seven sectional championships (1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2007, 2018 and 2019) and three regional titles (1992, ’93, 2018). They’ve won the Olympic Athletic Conference six times (1991, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2007 and 2008) and the Allen County Athletic Conference once (2017).

He’s compiled a 502-333 record.

Longevity certainly helped him reach 500 career wins, but coaches can only do so much. It’s up to the players to perform, and the hundreds of teenagers and young adults he’s led over the years have rewarded him accordingly.