Dan Hydash’s high school baseball coaching career began almost three decades ago in Visalia.
In 1997, after his playing career had concluded at College of the Sequoias, Hydash’s little brother’s Divisadero Middle School team needed coaching help, so the head coach at that time asked his players if they knew anyone with baseball experience who was interested.
It was an unpaid volunteer position, but Hydash’s brother, Matt, asked his older sibling, and Hydash brothers took the field together.
“I still had a desire to stay a part of the game,” Hydash said. “Honestly, I never thought I would be a coach, but I got out there to help in middle school at Divis and kind of fell in love with it. It’s in my blood. I think it was what I was meant to do. I enjoy it.”
Twenty-nine years later, Hydash is one of the all-time winningest high school baseball coaches in Tulare County history.
In April, Redwood defeated Porterville 6-5 to give Hydash the 300th win of his head coaching career, becoming just the second active coach in Tulare County to reach that coaching milestone. Tulare Western’s Ken Searcy entered this season with 369 career coaching victories.
As of May 5, Hydash has amassed an overall head coaching record of 303-162. He began his head coaching career at Central Valley Christian in 2010 and took over at Redwood in 2014.
“That’s not something that I set out to do or really thought about,” Hydash said. “It’s special, definitely, just because I’ve been able to do it a long time. All the amazing players that I’ve been lucky enough to coach, and all the amazing coaches that helped me do this, it’s really been special. It’s really a program thing. A lot of people played a part in this. I’m just thankful for the players, the coaches. No. 1, my family, too, who have allowed me to do this.”
That support at home has helped Hydash elevate a Redwood program, that the 10 years before his arrival, the Rangers won just one league championship — a three-way West Yosemite League crown in 2005.
With Hydash at the helm, Redwood captured back-to-back Central Section Division II plaques in 2015 and 2016, respectively, while claiming seven outright league championships (2014, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), including three straight East Yosemite League crowns.
Over the course of his coaching tenure, Hydash also became a credentialed special education teacher at Redwood in 2022. That was something that he wanted to accomplish after guiding players on the field.
His goal was to also help and impact students in the classroom.
What has coaching and teaching taught him?
“You learn that every student, every player has a story,” Hydash said. “That’s something that, as a young coach, I didn’t realize. You just take players at face value. Maybe they’re not doing well one day, you kind of get on them, but as you start to figure out a little bit, ‘Hey, everyone has a story.’ You start to think about it a little bit differently, how you approach players and students, and I think that’s definitely benefited me, as far as being a little bit more understanding and becoming a better coach. I think I’ve been able to make better connections with my players, like I do with my students, which is something I’m pretty proud of.”
What is Hydash’s favorite thing about coaching?
“Just coming out and being around the guys,” Hydash said. “I love being around the players. I love developing relationships with them. I love seeing them go on to bigger and better things. Not necessarily baseball, but just being successful in life. I love being around my coaches. I’ve been very lucky with the coaches that I have on my staff. I’ve been very intentional about having the best guys who are not only really good with the players but also very knowledgeable. We’ve been lucky, in my opinion, to have the best staff in the area year in and year out. Those are the things that I enjoy the most. When it’s all said and done, when I’m done doing it, I’m going to miss the relationships that we get to build every year.”
As of May 5, with two regular-season games left to play, Redwood (16-10, 9-4) is tied with El Diamante (18-7, 9-4) for second place in the EYL standings. Monache (19-7, 10-3) is currently in first place.
Nate Ramirez, a senior pitcher, has been part of two EYL championship teams and played for Hydash for three seasons.
Since 2023, the Rangers have posted three consecutive 20-plus win campaigns.
What are a few reasons for that success?
“Hydash and the whole Redwood staff, they’re the best around, in my opinion,” Ramirez said. “I’ve learned tons from them. We practice hard every day. We do different drills every day, and it’s the things we actually need to work on. I think what he does in practice, leading up to games, prepares us the most.”
New CVC baseball head coach Caleb Flores played for Hydash when the ladder was the Cavaliers skipper from 2010-13.
Hydash started Flores, a former pitcher, right away as a freshman, instilling confidence and belief early in his high school career.
That eventually led Flores to pursue a coaching career.
“I loved playing for Hydash, man,” Flores said. “He was intense. He demanded greatness. I would have loved to play all four years for him, but he’s gone on to have a lot of success at Redwood and has built that program to be a Division I championship contender every year. It was a blessing. I threw a lot of innings for him and played every day for him. I learned a lot of good stuff from him.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Redwood baseball coach Dan Hydash reflects on 300 career wins
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
