How Benedictine's Kevin Farmer quietly reached the 500-win milestone in his coaching career

After 21 years as a head high school baseball coach, the wins have started to blend together for Benedictine's Kevin Farmer.

There were the two Class A state championships at Calvary Day, and then two more while coaching his alma mater Benedictine in 2014 and 2018. There were scores of victories that helped lead to those benchmark moments for Farmer, who has baseball in his blood.

Farmer reached a career milestone with his 500th win recently as the Cadets rolled to a 22-8 win over Chapel Hill in the Georgia Dugout Club's tournament at the Lakepoint Sports Complex near Atlanta on Feb. 25.

A humble man and coach, Farmer isn't the type to promote himself and the win came without a lot of fanfare.

His passion is Benedictine and baseball, along with his family and the players and coaches in his program. He gives them all the credit for allowing him to rack up all those wins.

"It's a great milestone, but for me, as a coach, it's not about the wins, but it's about the relationships I've been able to build through baseball with my players and assistant coaches -- even with opposing coaches. It's those friendships I've been able to develop that mean the most to me."

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Farmer said his family forms the foundation of his successful career.

"My direction and purpose have been supported all these years by my wife, Sarah and daughter, Emma, my parents, Joe and Wanda and especially my brother, Kyle, who helped me achieve this accolade as a player and now as an assistant coach."

There have been a lot of standout players who have helped Farmer build his legacy from Calvary stars like Hunter Newman and Justin Edwards to Benedictine standouts like Brad Stewart, Stevie Powers, Carter Holton (now playing at Vanderbilt) and Justin Thomas (now a freshman outfielder at UGA).

"You don't get to 500 wins without having that kind of talent surrounding you," Farmer said. "I love coaching baseball because it relates to everyday life so well. Baseball is all about failure, especially as a batter. And you can use it to help players learn to handle setbacks in other parts of their life. They learn to deal with adversity and work as part of a team -- which can help you out when you're done playing the game."

Junior shortstop and pitcher Parker McCoy said Farmer has been a huge influence. McCoy committed to play at North Carolina last summer.

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"I love coach Farmer -- he's super hard on me, but I know it's all based on love and he wants me to be at my best on and off the field," McCoy said. "He's always telling us to do our job, and don't try to do too much. He focuses on the little things in baseball that lead to success when you do them right."

Farmer, 49, has a career record of 501-150-2 after the Cadets dominated visiting Jenkins Tuesday night in a 17-0 victory. He was 241-70-1 in 10 seasons at Calvary, and is 260-80-1 since taking over at BC in 2013. He says he doesn't have a career mark for wins in the back of his mind.

"I just try to take it day-to-day, game-to-game and year-to-year," said Farmer, a UGA graduate and assistant principal at BC. "I try to stay in the present and have an impact on the lives of the players I coach."

Senior Kaden Tuten, a pitcher who also plays infield and outfield, is another one of Farmer's player's who will play at the next level as he has signed with Brevard College in North Carolina.

"It was a special feeling to be part of Coach Farmer's 500th win," Tuten said. "That's a big accomplishment honor to win that many games -- and I wouldn't want to play for anyone else. I think what makes Coach Farmer special is his knowledge of the game and the relationships he has with his players. He still goes out and learns new things and then he teaches it to his players in ways that we can understand."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Benedictine baseball coach Kevin Farmer reaches 500 win career milestone