AMHERST — It was 37 years, 86 athletic seasons and over 1,700 games in the making.
On Thursday, after Turners Falls High School finished off a 3-1 Western Mass. Division III Softball Tournament semifinal win over Mt. Everett Regional School, Gary Mullins joined the exclusive club of Massachusetts coaches who have amassed 1,000 career varsity wins.
Mullins became the third Franklin County coach to reach the coveted plateau, joining Frontier Regional School’s Vi Goodnow and Mohawk Trail Regional High School’s Joe Chadwick.
Legendary Leominster High School multi-sport coach Emile Johnson Jr. is the only other confirmed member of the 1,000-win club, holding the state record with 1,250 wins.
The number by itself — 1,000 — garners instant respect. It’s only fitting for Mullins, who gained immeasurable respect from opponents during his playing days for his tireless work ethic, dedication and loyalty. He coaches his teams that same way, and the results — especially over the last decade in softball and boys’ basketball — have been a product of that hard work.
Mullins’ first win came in his varsity debut on April 11, 1980 over then-independent foe Hopkins Academy, a 17-10 win in Hadley — not even five miles away from Sortino Field, where he recorded win No. 1,000.
It must have been satisfying for Mullins, a proud Smith Academy graduate, to beat his natural high-school rival in his first game as a varsity head coach — regardless of the colors he wore that day.
And it seemed only fitting that Mullins reached such an impressive milestone at Sortino Field — a field where the Indians have been virtually unstoppable since postseason games were brought to UMass in 2000. The Indians they were 4-0 alone last season and after Thursday’s win improved their overall record to a staggering 28-3.
As easy as coaching softball has seemed for Mullins (he’s never had losing record, or even a .500 record), boys’ basketball and boys’ soccer were always a challenge.
Mullins, who played soccer in college, helped start the boys’ soccer program at Turners. Despite regularly losing many promising middle-school players to prep schools, his teams were almost always competitive in his 18 varsity seasons before stepping away after the 2000 campaign with a record of 71-190-32.
Mullins first took over as head coach of the boys’ basketball team in the 1985-86 when the program was struggling. After a number of lean years, Mullins brought the Indians back to respectability and his teams have qualified for postseason play in nine of the last 11 years. He’s 287-348 in his 31 seasons.
Mullins’ softball record is obviously the most impressive, as he moved to 642-138 overall, including an astounding 74-18 in the Western Mass. Tournament.
The humble Mullins has said on many occasions that he’s not a numbers guy. In true fashion Thursday, Mullins wasn’t aware of what he had accomplished — his assistant coach and best friend Mark Sullivan finally told him about the milestone afterward.
“That’s kind of neat,” Mullins humbly said. “It takes a lot of time, and lately I’ve been able to get some more good people to help me out, so I’ve been able to do less and watch more. I get a chance to teach more, which I really enjoy.
He also knows his supporting casts, both on the field and off, have been instrumental in helping all of his teams improve during each season.
“I always credit my players and assistant coaches because I should,” he said, “because without them I would have had a tough time getting here.”
Mullins — who turned 64 last month — is within reach of some other milestones, including the most state championships by a county team (Frontier’s volleyball team won its eighth state title in the fall).
And judging from his passion and drive for the games he loves to coach, it appears that the Hall of Fame mentor will reach more of those accomplishments. The man shows no signs that he’s ready to slow down.