When Hoover baseball coach Adam Moseley reflects on his 500 career baseball victories, a lot of people quickly come to his mind.

The first?

His wife, Kyra.

“We have four children and three of them are old enough to have activities they are involved in,” Moseley said. “If she wasn’t able to get them to different places and do all the things she does, I wouldn’t be able to do this job. It just doesn’t happen without her.”

The Bucs (23-16) beat Oak Mountain 4-1 earlier this month, giving Moseley his milestone 500th win in his 18th year as a head coach.

He spent his first eight seasons at Grissom before transitioning to Hoover for the last 11. Ironically, those two teams meet this week at Grissom in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.

RELATED: See the complete Week 2 playoff pairings

“This weekend getting to go back and see a bunch of former players and their families and hearing what they turned into when they got older whether they became coaches or doctors or whatever,” he said. “That’s what this is all about – the success stories of those kids. I don’t think any coach is arrogant enough to think they are the reason a kid becomes a man, but maybe we can be a small part of helping a young man become a grown man and be successful in life. Now more than ever, that’s why we do this.”

Moseley also gives plenty of credit to his players and assistant coaches for his milestone win total.

“I haven’t ever won a game myself,” he said. “We’ve had really good players with really good coaches here and at Grissom. Not many coaches are lucky enough to have the kinds of players I’ve been blessed to coach. There is a long list of great players – guys like Sonny DiChiara and Hunter Morris. How many people are lucky enough to coach two future SEC Players of the Year in the same career? I’ve just been very blessed.”

This year, the Bucs again had to fight their way into the postseason in a brutal area that included top-ranked Hewitt-Trussville along with Oak Mountain and Vestavia Hills.

“I love our kids,” Moseley said. “It’s such a hard area. Hewitt is as good as I’ve seen in a long time. To just get out of our area is a really big deal. Our guys played really hard. We’ve had a lot to overcome off-the-field in the past two seasons, but they keep showing up every day and coming to work. I really marvel at them. To put in what they put in and be who they are … I’ve got a truly amazing group of young men.”

What’s the key to a deep playoff run for Moseley and company?

“Throw strikes and not give freebies to the other team,” he said. “That means not walking guys, not making errors, not giving away easy outs on the bases or at the plate. As good as Hewitt is, this is a really deep field in 7A this year. Thompson vs. Bob Jones will be an amazing series. Tuscaloosa County is on fire right now. There are so many good teams in 7A. Whoever makes it to Jacksonville (for the Class 7A title series) will certainly deserve to be there.”

CLASS 7A PLAYOFFS

ROUND 1

(Series set for April 25-26 unless otherwise denoted)

Area 4 RU: Auburn (18-15) at Area 1 W: Alma Bryant (19-11), Fri., Apr. 25, 5 and 7:30 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 26, 1 p.m., if needed)

Area 2 RU: Daphne (18-15) at Area 3 W: Enterprise (28-1), Fri., Apr. 25, 5 and 7:30 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 26, 2 p.m.)

Area 3 RU: Dothan (19-10) at Area 2 W: Fairhope (26-9), Fri., Apr. 25, 5 and 7:30 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 26, 1 p.m., if needed)

Area 1 RU: Baker (16-14) at Area 4 W: Central-Phenix City (30-8), Fri., Apr. 25, 4:40 and 6:30 CDT (Game 3, Apr. 26, noon (CDT)

Area 8 RU: James Clemens (24-11) at Area 5 W: Tuscaloosa County (26-12), Fri., Apr. 25, 5 and 7 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 26, 1 p.m., if needed)

Area 6 RU: Hoover (23-16) at Area 7 W: Grissom (25-9), Fri., Apr. 25, 4:30 and 7 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 26, 1 p.m., if needed)

Area 7 RU: Sparkman (20-19) at Area 6 W: Hewitt-Trussville (31-2), Fri., Apr. 25, 4:30 and 7 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 26, 1 p.m., if needed)

Area 5 RU: Thompson (26-13) at Area 8 W: Bob Jones (32-9), Fri., Apr. 25, 5 and 7:30 p.m. (Game 3, Sat., Apr. 26, 1 p.m., if needed)