Ben Wright is all about winning, it’s what he does.
When he was a prep baseball player at Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart Academy in the mid-1990s the Irish won a Class D state title in 1996 and finished runner-up one year later.
After graduating high school in 1998 he went on to play baseball at Alma College and helped the Scots win the MIAA title in 1999.
Upon graduating from college in 2002 he soon thereafter started coaching baseball.
Initially he coached two years at Montabella before taking over the Chippewa Hills baseball program in 2007. With Wright at the wheel the Warriors have had a phenomenal run as they have won seven conference titles, three districts, two regionals and have appeared in the state semifinals once (2013).
On Tuesday Wright nailed down his 300th career coaching victory in a 12-4 victory at Grant High School which bumped his career coaching record to 300-154.
“I have always been around successful teams,” said Wright, whose 2018 Warriors are 10-2 overall and 6-0 in CSAA action. “I am a little lucky that way.”
Wright said that he learned his love of the game from his grandfather Leland McConnell.
“He had a great influence on me and on our family,” said Wright. “He lost the use of his arms due to polio, but that didn’t stop him. He was at every game when we were growing up as kids and I cherish that time. He taught you verbally and I have kind of applied that to the way I coach.”
Since taking over the head coaching reins at Chippewa Hills the Warriors have won 66 percent of their games under Wright’s watch. For baseball coaches in general a 60-percent winning percentage is considered outstanding, yet Wright’s teams are closer to winning 70 percent of the time.
“I didn’t even realize or start counting (wins) until a couple years ago,” said Wright. “It’s been a good run, but I’ve had a lot of good people and players who have helped make this happen.”