Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. Newton Falls coach Mark Baker calls out a play on defense during the Tigers 39-20 win at Campbell Monday evening. It was the 300th win of his 19-year career.

CAMPBELL — Even at a young age, Newton Falls girls basketball coach Mark Baker knew he wanted to make an impact on the lives of school-aged children.

He knew teaching was his calling. As it turns out, coaching at Newton Falls was too.

Baker claimed career victory No. 300 Monday evening in a 39-20 road win at Campbell Memorial, in a contest where the Tigers took an early lead and didn’t look back.

“I would say that I feel honored, I feel humbled. I have to give thanks to the kids, the former players, I’m not the only one that has contributed toward 300 wins,” said Baker, who’s in his 19th season at Newton Falls. “I have several assistant coaches, I have to give thanks to my wife (Kay) first and foremost, without her I wouldn’t have ever made it this far. My assistant coach, who I kinda consider my co-head coach Tony Houshour, I learned a long time ago that you can’t run a program by yourself.

“There isn’t enough hours in a day, it’s not something that one person can completely accomplish by themselves, so you have to have good people around you.”

Many will recognize his deep and growling voice as he patrols the sidelines, a mainstay for nearly two decades as the head coach for the Tigers.

His fondness for the game and education came from his grandparents Herbert and Anna McGovern.

“In all honesty, it goes back to my upbringing when I was a child. I was actually raised by my grandparents, and my grandfather who really didn’t get to go far in school,” explained Baker. “He always said when I was around him that if he had to do it again, he’d like to have been a teacher. So I knew at an early age that I was going to be a teacher and I was going to kinda live in his shadow.

“My grandmother was actually an athlete and she taught me how to play basketball and this goes back to a long time before women were even allowed to cross half court and things like that. I just knew from her teaching me the game of basketball that I was going to be a teacher and someday I was going to be a girl’s basketball coach.”

Knowing that Baker was at win No. 299 going into Monday’s contest, the Tigers players wanted to jump out to an early lead for their coach and led 13-0 following the first period.

Senior Natalee Albert tallied a team-high 11 points, including a pair of threes in the first.

“Coach Baker just really means a lot to us, this was really important to us, we’ve been looking forward to it all season,” said Albert. “I’ve been working with Baker since I was in like first grade, he’s always had a huge impact on me, him, and Coach Kay, his wife, she coaches volleyball at our school so they mean a lot to me.

“He always says learn to listen and listen to learn and I think that listening to what a coach has to say can really impact you not only in your life but in your game too.”

Sophomore Lilly Sait added six points for the Tigers (8-12) and junior Angeliz Diaz scored a game-high 12 points for the Red Devils (0-20).

With an uncountable number of contests under his belt, it can be hard to single out one or two standout moments, although a 55-54 triple overtime loss during the Division III regional semifinal to Elyria Catholic in 2018 remains a powerful memory.

“That was just a fantastic game even though we came out on the short end of things, that’s a really terrific game to go back and watch,” said Baker. “I think maybe we learn more from the losses, maybe I learn more as a coach from the losses, but I hope that I enjoy winning more than I hate losing at this point, which is not the easiest thing to do in the world.”

Newton Falls enters the tournament as the 10th seed in the Division IV Northeast 2 bracket. They are set to play No. 13 McDonald at home on Feb. 15.

“We’ve been doing some things to try and get us healthy, to try and get some rest here in the postseason,” Baker said. “I think we can do some good things in the postseason. I think you’ll see kids start to perform. I think we got a little bit of extra life in us here. The league has certainly prepared us, the league was extraordinarily strong this year.”

Albert adds. “We’re feeling really confident right now, our first couple games we’re looking to win, we’re really excited. It’s always our goal to make it to the district semis and then try to get to the district championship.”