'I have been blessed': Apollo baseball coach Jerod Aker notches 500th career win
Jerod Aker feels blessed to be able to coach kids from hard-working, supportive parents during his 27 years leading a program. That helps his job as a coach.
On Monday, he reached the 500-win milestone in his head high school baseball coaching career in Glendale Apollo's 12-1 win over Waddell Canyon View.
The first 180 of Aker's coaching wins came at Morenci.
"This is my 27th year as a head coach. I was an assistant for 1 year in Holbrook under Rob Kiepke and I also assisted Scotty Richardson at Tolleson for a year," Aker said.
"I was fortunate to have players that were hard-nosed and very competitive," he said. "It also helped that their families had taught them the game. Our coaching staff was dedicated and worked their tails off.
"When I got to Apollo, I was fortunate to get the same kind of kid and family. I have so many great teams, players and memories from my years at Apollo, but the one that sticks out is 2016 when we won 29 ball games."
That team, Aker said, was led by shortstop Channy Ortiz, who starred at Grand Canyon and is now part of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Pitcher Brett Aker was an ace on that team and is now his father's pitching coach at Apollo.
The Hawks, who play in 5A, are 14-7 this season and ranked 16th in their conference by the Arizona Interscholastic Association.
"I have been blessed with amazing players, families and coaches," Aker said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Apollo baseball coach Jerod Aker notches 500th career win
