Harlem coach records 500th victory
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Harlem coach Jimmie Lewis is given a plaque by Byron Wren commemorating his 500th career win after his team defeated Evans High School on Tuesday in Evans.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Maybe the most telling sign of how much respect Jimmie Lewis has in Columbia County came after Tuesday night's game between Harlem and Evans.
Despite being on the home field of a team that he battled throughout more than two decades, Lewis was congratulated by the public address announcer on the win, the 500th of his career.
Lewis becomes the second Columbia County coach to reach the 500-win record, joining former Evans and Greenbrier coach Terry Holder. Westside's Gerald Barnes is also a member of the club.
"Heck, it is a good number to have beside your name," said Lewis, who has won five state titles while coaching at Harlem.
"But it really has to do with all the kids that I've coached at Harlem," he continued. "I've never won us a game. I might have lost us a few, but I've never won one."
Harlem (15-7) jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the second inning and never looked back, cruising to a 9-5 win over the third-ranked Knights.
Evans High School's Stephen Keeler slides safely into second as Harlem's Kyle Knight forces the ball to first during the game. Harlem won the game 9-5 to give coach Jimmie Lewis his 500th career win.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
"I think that is hard to put into words," said Dietmar Perez, the Harlem pitching coach who was a starting player for Lewis during the coach's first season at Harlem.
"Jimmie has taught me so much over the years, and it is special to be here for this milestone. I think it was better coming against Evans. When we were the only two county schools, the baseball games were huge," Perez continued.
The 52-year-old's overall record stands at 500-261, but he said there was nearly a dispute over how many wins he had.
Lewis said he previously counted two ties as half-wins, and would have won No. 500 on Friday against Richmond Academy.
"When I was getting closer I heard about the stuff going on with coach Barnes (and the discrepancy of whether or not Barnes reached 600 wins this season)," Lewis said. "I didn't want to go through any of that stuff, so I just threw them out."
Lewis said following the game that he wasn't sure he was ready to put the 500-win mark into perspective.
"I don't know if I'll coach another 10 years, 10 weeks, 10 days or 10 minutes," he joked. "I'm not hanging on to pass anyone. Gerald is so far ahead of us anyhow, I'll never catch him."
Lewis could, however, catch his former rival Holder, who retired from coaching baseball with 527 wins.
The Harlem baseball team defeated Evans 9-5 Tuesday to give Coach Jimmie Lewis his 500th career victory. He joins Westside's Gerald Barnes and former Evans and Greenbrier coach Terry Holder as the only area coaches to reach that milestone.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
One of Lewis' biggest wins came in 1990, when the Bulldogs ended the Knights' 61-game winning streak seven games shy of the national record. Evans coach Ricky Beale was on third base when that game.
"You want to win every game so I can't feel too good for coach Lewis," Beale said. "But he is an outstanding coach and one of the best the state has ever seen.
"Evans has had some great games with Harlem over the years that I've been a part of. It has been special to be right there to see him coach."