Northwood High baseball coach Rob Stuart has watched his team jump off to a 7-2 start, but one of those victories was pretty special.

Stuart, now in his 14th year as the Timberwolves’ coach, notched his 200th career win Friday when the Timberwolves defeated Irvine, 18-2.

“There were a lot of losses in there too,” Stuart said Tuesday. “There were 130-some-odd losses. Those are the ones you remember sometimes more than the wins, but there were a lot of memorable wins.”

Stuart’s teams have been to the CIF playoffs 10 times. Northwood has won two league titles during that time.

Stuart is well-respected at the school.

“Getting to 200 is incredibly rare, but it’s a testament to the kind of high-quality coach and human being Rob is that the person least interested in this tremendous accomplishment is Rob himself because for him, coaching baseball has everything to do with ensuring a positive experience for his student athletes and very little to do with personal achievements,” said Northwood Athletic Director Phil Roh.

“I’m sure that for Rob, getting to that number is simply a byproduct of his stewardship over the program, but for me and so many others, Coach Stuart sets the standard. He’s not only an indispensable member of our athletics department, but he’s an even better teacher, as he was recognized by the Orange County Art and Music Association as its Visual Arts Teacher of the year. In this way, we are a better school because of people like Rob.”

Stuart credited others, saying, “the players, the great assistant coaches and the support of parents,” have been instrumental.

“We average about 15 wins a year, maybe 16 wins over the course of 13 years, so it’s consistency,” he said. “We try to be consistent and I think back on a lot of the things I’ve tried to do. We’ve expected our players to play hard and not blame the umpires and do the best they can.”

Stuart said he is proud of the way his players have conducted themselves on and off the field.

“Sure, kids get in trouble once in a while, but our troubles aren’t in between the lines,” he said. “We’re not going to point fingers and wear our pants a certain way other than the way we think is correct or not shave or wear strange jewelry.

“We just cheer and go about our business. Early on, when I started coaching I thought I had more to do with the wins and losses than I really did. If you leave it to the players, they’re going to be successful.”

Stuart, who teaches ceramics and screen printing at Northwood, takes pride in his teaching job.

“I get paid to teach and my job is unique,” he said. “I’m not under the umbrella that a lot of teachers are on in terms of curriculum and lesson plans, so every day I get to try something new and enjoy doing it.”

Stuart is supported by his wife, Lori, his son, Ely, who is a sophomore on the Northwood team and his daughter, Ruby.

“I have a very supportive wife,” Stuart said. “My son is currently playing here for us and doing a nice job. Ruby is in the seventh grade and loves to dance and loves to read.”

Stuart was an assistant coach at Irvine before becoming Northwood’s first coach. Stuart resigned after the 2006 season.

But three years later, he came back to coach the Timberwolves in 2009.

Stuart was an assistant coach at Irvine and Sonora before that.