Kirk looks on from his spot in the dugout.

Kirk looks on from his spot in the dugout.
By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

The golden era of Clermont Northeastern baseball added another accomplishment to its burgeoning résumé last week as head coach Mike Kirk won his 100th game at the helm of the Rockets program in an 11-6 win over Bethel-Tate.

“I remember my first win like it was yesterday and I remember the last one because it literally was yesterday,” Kirk said on April 28 after win No. 102, an 11-1 victory over Georgetown. “There were a lot of them in between. I’ve been lucky enough to coach the only three sectional championship teams in our school’s history and I’ve been really lucky to have a lot of really good kids — from kids who have played college baseball to kids who have been drafted to play professional baseball to kids who were really good high school players.

“Regardless of the talent, I’ve enjoyed coaching the kids, especially given their attitude and willingness to come in and work hard every day. That’s something that I look forward to and something that drives me.”

Kirk took over the solo CNE varsity program in 2009 after acting as a co-head coach with Jason Kreimer for two seasons. Prior to that, in 2006, Kirk led CNE’s junior varsity squad after coming over from the JV position at Williamsburg in 2005. Kirk also took over athletic director duties three years ago.

For the last decade, Kirk has been in the dugout with his various teams working towards goals that never included personal accolades. The coach said filling out a preseason questionnaire earlier in 2015 was the first time he realized how close he was to the milestone, but in typical coach-speak fashion, Kirk deflected credit to his players.

“It’s never been about me,” he said. “It’s always been about the kids and trying to get the baseball program, and our athletics in general, to a point where it’s never been before.

“Whether it’s been baseball winning sectional championships, seeing softball have all that success, getting to the regional finals or traveling and following Jenna Mummert last year in her quest to win a state title in high jump, seeing all those things has been great.”

Kirk and his 2015 Rockets are doing their best to continue the winning ways both in this season’s win and loss column as well as adding to their coach’s growing tally.

At 9-13 (5-4 Southern Buckeye Conference) on the season, the Rockets are in third place in the SBC-National.

However, despite regular-season success or struggles, Kirk’s teams have inherited a quality of playing well when their season is on the line. Participants in five consecutive sectional finals and winners of three of those, Kirk sees his job at the May 3 draw meeting as singular.

“I look to give the kids the best opportunity to extend the season,” Kirk said. “That’s kind of what I base the draw on. Last year, we extended our season to the sectional championship and we’ve proven that we can play in a game like that.

“As a coach, I’m always going to do my best to extend their season or their careers as long as I can.”