Clearwater Central Catholic coach Todd Vaughan earned his 500th win after the Marauders beat Countryside 3-2 Thursday night. The win is also noteworthy because CCC improved to 23-0 and ensured its first undefeated regular season in school history.
Vaughan, 52, is in his 26th season as CCC’s head coach. Prior to that he was an assistant for eight seasons. He played shortstop for CCC’s 1979 state championship team.
Vaughan has averaged 19 wins per season and has won state titles in 2002 and ’07. Last season, CCC won 26 games and advanced to the state semifinals.
After the win, the team presented Vaughan with a new fungo bat signed by all of the players. And, of course, there was the customary dumping of the Gatorade cooler.
"We were taking batting practice and I was trying not to think about it but you can't help it,'' Vaughan said. "I keep all the score books from past seasons and I went back and looked at the very first win (vs. Tarpon Springs). I was trying to remember who pitched and all that and it got me to thinking about all the players who had a hand in this. I figure there have been about 520 players through the years. There've been three athletic directors. They've all had a piece in this.''