Thursday, April 19, 2012
Hurla wins 300th game as Bishop Ward's manager
By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com
Believe it or not, there are still individual milestones possible for Bishop Ward baseball coach Dennis Hurla.
With Bishop Ward's victory against Basehor-Linwood on Thursday, Hurla picked up his 300th win as head coach of the Cyclones baseball program.
The accomplishment is the latest in a mile's worth of accomplishments for Hurla as the manager at Bishop Ward.
He guided Ward to 45 straight wins, stretching from 2007 to 2008. The winning streak remains a state record.
Ward also won six straight titles from 2003-08 and Hurla has coached the program to nine state titles - 1998, 1999 and 2010 being the other seasons.
Last year was the first time a Hurla-coached team at Bishop Ward did not make the state tournament in Salina, Kan. Ward also has the Kansas 4A record for 19 straight state tournament games won.
Though Ward had won three state titles prior to Hurla's arrival, it's safe to say Hurla transformed Ward from a good program to a perennial state power in baseball.