Baseball is America’s past time, but more important than that, it is the family business for Wayne County Head Baseball coach Justin McDonald. When McDonald attended Fitzgerald High School, where he played baseball for the Purple Hurricanes, he shared the lineup with his twin brother, Josh McDonald, an assistant at Georgia Southern University. Their older brother, Jason McDonald – now the head coach of Fitzgerald’s baseball team – was an assistant during the twins playing days at Fitzgerald High School.
“[Jason] was actually the varsity assistant when me and my twin come through high school so that was probably the number-one influence on me becoming a coach. My twin brother Josh McDonald is an assistant at Georgia Southern University. My family has always been supportive of athletics. We have great parents who love to see their sons coach and spend a lot of time traveling to games,” Wayne McDonald says.
After playing middle infield and graduating from Fitzgerald, McDonald went on to play the same position at Georgia Southwestern University. When he finished his playing career in college, he became an assistant at the school.
“Of course my older brother had a big influence on me growing up. Coach Barry Davis, who is now the head coach at Rider University, was my college coach at GSW my first three seasons. He was a huge influence and he instilled aspects of the game that have gotten me to where I am today. Also Bryan McLain, who is now the head coach at GSW, also had a huge influence. I was fortunate to not only play for him for two seasons but also to stay on and coach with him as well for two seasons. I would say that those two seasons as an assistant coach got me to the level where I knew I could be a head coach and be successful at it. So I want to thank all of these guys who gave me the opportunity to play and coach with them,” McDonald says.
McDonald is in his eighth year of coaching and his sixth year of teaching health and physical education at Wayne County High School. He spent three seasons as an assistant, and for the last three years he has been the head baseball coach. He also coaches the varsity wide receivers for the Yellow Jackets football team.
Football season proved to be busier than usual for McDonald. The Yellow Jackets made an unprecedented run to the semifinals, losing to Griffin, the eventual 4A champion. It was busy on a personal level as well because nuptials for football coaches come in December or early in the summer, due to the time constraints of football.
“I am married to the former Carley Blount of Americus. We got married in December and this is my first season with a wife. She is my biggest fan, and this season has had highs and lows. She has been there to congratulate me on the highs and pick me up on the lows,” McDonald says.
Wayne County has long been known as one of the strongest baseball programs in southeast Georgia. The facilities and field have been as award winning as the teams on the field.
“I work for an outstanding administration. The administration at the high school is very supportive of the student athletes and everything that it takes to make those kids and programs successful. The community support for baseball and athletics in general is outstanding. We have great fan support at home and on the road all season long. It’s great to live and coach in a community that is as passionate about Wayne County High School athletics as the people here are. We have an outstanding Homerun Club that raises funds to continuously improve the program in all aspects. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to be running the booster club. It’s nice when you can just ask and they will find a way to get it done,” McDonald says.
One of the strongest assets for the Yellow Jackets is the strength and continuity of the middle school baseball to McDonald’s varsity squad. Coupled with strong assistants from the top down, it’s easy to see how Wayne could battle through tough losses and come out on top with a region title.
“Wayne is a great baseball community and you can attribute that to a number of things. I think…that the kids in this community have grown up watching the success that this program has had in previous years with the goal that they want to be in that program one day. We also have great feeder programs at each middle school. That is one thing that I worked really hard on, is getting both middle schools on the same page with the high school and incorporating everything we do from the sixth-12th grade. Those kids in the middle schools know that they are a part of the success we have had the high school because this is one big program,” McDonald says.
Strong assistants have been one of the keys to Wayne’s success, especially during McDonald’s last three seasons at the helm.
“It is very important to have great assistant coaches. I have a great staff here at Wayne. Jordan Mullis is our pitching coach and if you look over the past three years at what this pitching staff has done, it is remarkable. I am completely hands off with pitchers. He is in full control of the staff and does an outstanding job. Jesse Barfield is [junior varsity] head coach and works with our outfielders. He also does an outstanding job with maintaining the field. I am also fortunate enough to have three community coaches, Ricky Dent, Mike Roberts, and Chad Blanton, on staff who are huge assets to this program,” McDonald says.
High school baseball has been going through a lot of changes over the last few years with the adoption of new standards for bats.
“I don’t think the game has necessarily changed, it’s just the way you have to play the game now. I tell people all the time that it has now become a fun game to coach and not so fun game to watch due to the bat changes. But I think it equalizes the teams more and make us as coaches have to strategize and manufacture runs and not lean on the three-run HR like we did in previous years. The most important aspect of the game is the mental aspect. Being able to overcome all of the adversity and failure in a baseball season is huge. We spend a lot of time focusing on building each player to not only be physically strong on the field but also mentally,” McDonald says.
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McDonald keeps the family business going
By John Wood
