Coolen praises players for his winning ways

The number goes next to Bob Coolen’s name in the record book.

The credit, Coolen said, belongs to the players who’ve suited up for the University of Hawaii softball team over his 21-plus seasons as head coach.

"It’s a tribute to the players," Coolen said after reaching the 800-win mark in his UH career on Thursday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

"The program is what makes a coach successful because we never hit a ball, field a ball or throw a ball. The players are the ones that go out and get the W’s."

Coolen reached the coaching milestone late Thursday night when the Rainbow Wahine closed out a 7-2 win over UAB to sweep an opening-day doubleheader in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic.

Senior Kelly Majam drove in two runs, freshman pitcher Keiki Carlos earned the win and senior Kaia Parnaby picked up a save in Coolen’s latest landmark victory.

He reached 799 earlier in the evening when Parnaby struck out 11 while allowing just one hit in a 2-0 win over Ole Miss in UH’s season opener. Sharla Kliebenstein provided the decisive swing with a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth, UH’s only hit in the game.

The subsequent win over UAB moved Coolen to 800-454-1 in his tenure at UH and 872-548-1 overall, including a five-year stint at Bentley to begin his coaching career.

Coolen’s march to 800 at UH began on Feb. 20, 1992, with a win over BYU-Hawaii. The softball program was in its eighth year of existence when Coolen was elevated from assistant to head coach.

He’s had just two sub-.500 seasons and has led UH to five conference titles (one in the Big West and four in the Western Athletic Conference) and 10 appearances in the NCAA tournament. The Wahine have reached the postseason in four of the past six years, reaching the super regionals twice and the Women’s College World Series in 2010.

Coolen — the third-longest-tenured coach at UH behind Dave Shoji and sailing coach Andy Johnson — reached 700 wins on April 10, 2010, in a doubleheader sweep at Boise State. This year’s seniors were freshmen back then and again contributed to Coolen’s latest landmark on Thursday.

"We’ve had a lot of highs in this program and we currently have a senior class that’s been very successful and that’s contributed to a lot of W’s in my tenure here," Coolen said.

"Getting 800 just means I’ve been coaching a long time and have come across the path of a lot of young ladies that mean a lot to me and my family and to this program here. It’s just a tribute to all of them that have persevered."

Parnaby earned the win in Coolen’s 699th victory in her freshman year and posted her 20th career shutout in getting her coach to No. 799 on Thursday.

She later closed out No. 800 with a dominant relief appearance. She struck out eight of the nine UAB batters she faced while earning her fourth career save.

Parnaby threw a total of 10 innings on opening night and finished with 19 strikeouts and no walks while giving up one hit.

"To start the season 2-0 and get (Coolen’s) 800th win was nice," said Parnaby, who has 48 wins and four saves in her career.

Carlos earned a win in her college debut, striking out three while allowing four hits and five walks over four-plus innings. The Mid-Pacific graduate also singled in her first career at-bat.