(Tucson, AZ) Wildcat’s Head Coach Mike Candrea with 1599 career wins under his belt, all at the U of A faced Stanford University for win 1600. This game would make him only the second coach to reach that milestone.
Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins has 1601 wins, she and Candrea have been going back and forth for years on being the top dog in total wins. Hutchins’ totals included wins while coaching Divsion II Ferris State who plays in the GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). Hutchins has 1578 at the Division I level, all at Michigan.
John Michael Candrea was born August 29th, 1955 in New Orleans, LA. He attended Central Arizona College where he played second base and later returned to the Coolidge Arizona Junior College to be an assistant coach in baseball from 1976-1980. He became the head coach for the Vaqueros from 1981-1985. Ironically, Candrea finished his junior and senior years in college receiving his under graduate degree and Masters degree up the road in Tempe for Arizona Sate University.
His coaching accolades include eight NCAA National Championships, which is tops for a Division I coach. He has eleven PAC-10/12 Conference Titles,
His individual awards are just as impressive. Three times he’s won National Coach of the year (1994, 1996, 1997). Twelve tine PAC-1012 Coach of the Year and several West Region Coach of the Year.
Candrea’s International accomplishments include a Gold Medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Greece and a Silver Medal in the 2008 Games in Beijing China. In the World Cup of Softball he’s won two Gold and one Silver Medal. The Pan American Games also with two Gold Medals in Santo Domingo in 2003 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2007.
On March 26th, 2017 he reached the 1500 win plateau and was the fastest to get there in history.
In the game against Sanford on Friday, Dejah Mulipola led the Wildcats with two jacks, a solo to center field in the second inning and an inning later with two on base to left field. That’s all the Cats would need, but this Arizona team is always hungry at the plate and ended up run ruling the Cardinal 9-1 in five innings.
After the game, Coach Candrea was asked what he thought about win #1600, his dry reply was, “it means I’m getting older.” That in a nutshell speaks volumes about the kind of man Mike Candrea is. It’s all about the players, the program and developing not only athletes but outstanding human beings while attending the University of Arizona.
Who knows what the final win tally will be when he hangs it up, but for the time being it’s full steam ahead and working towards a ninth National Championship.
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