A coach's pride: McDougald recounts Waldrep's MLB debut

Jun. 12—{p class="p1"}{span class="s1"}THOMASVILLE — It's the dream of every high school coach in any sport. To be going about your average day and then get a call that a player you coached is about to have his dream come true. That was what Thomasville head baseball coach Erik McDougald experienced on his way to Tallahassee for game one of the Florida State Super Regional.{/span}

{p class="p1"}{span class="s1"}"My phone rang and it was Hurston (Waldrep). So I answered the phone and he was like 'well, you know I won't be pitching in Georgia my next outing'. and I didn't think about it. Gwinnett's on the road or something like that," McDougald said. "I could feel his smile through the phone and I was like, 'What are you trying to tell me?' He was like 'I'm getting called up to the big leagues'."{/span}

{p class="p1"}{span class="s1"}A surreal moment, for sure, and McDougald and his coaching staff wasted no time. They started planning right away and, on Saturday, they were in the car and headed to Washington, DC.{/span}

{p class="p1"}{span class="s1"}McDougald described the moment as surreal and said that he was speechless during an interview. Watching a kid he coached and who is still so involved in his high school program pitch on the biggest stage of them all will do that to a coach. Waldrep stays very connected with the Bulldog program. He talks to coaches and players and even attended THS practices before he headed to Florida for spring training.{/span}

{p class="p1"}{span class="s1"}"Every kid who plays any kind of sport, you have a dream of getting to the professional level," McDougald said. "And here's this guys that you know, you know him quite well, you've known him for a long time, you've known his family and he's out there and he's playing Major League Baseball."{/span}

{p class="p1"}{span class="s1"}One of the biggest moments for the Thomasville coaches and Waldrep came in the bottom of the second inning when Waldrep sent Eddie Rosario packing on a three pitch strikeout, his first big league K.{/span}

{p class="p1"}{span class="s1"}"I've got it on my phone. It's incredible," McDougald said. "First pitch, everything. He gets the first out and you're going, man, this guy officially has stats in Major League Baseball now."{/span}