TAMPA, Fla. — The Wiregrass Ranch baseball team finished its season with a 15-7 record and some mixed emotions.
On one hand, the players are proud of what they accomplished this year — on the other; they are sad to say goodbye to the seven seniors who will not return next season.
What You Need To Know
- Wiregrass Ranch baseball has a big graduating class
- Head coach Marshall McDougall’s plan for next semester is to build on this “next-man-up mentality” he’s adopted this season
- The Bulls closed out the 2023 season with a 15-7 record and reached the first round of regionals
- McDougall already is preparing the junior varsity team, sharing varsity’s motto
“We’re deeper than we’ve ever been. It’s been kind of the next man up mentality. We’ve lost three guys to season-ending injuries this year, and it just seems like whoever had gotten called on has come out and really helped us out and produced for us,” said Head coach Marshall McDougall.
McDougall has been at the helm of this program since 2014.
“I was very lucky my first year,” he said. “We actually won districts my first year. That was the only year I think the school has ever done it. We had a really, really good year that year.”
The plan is to carry that success forward by building on this “next man up mentality.”
“Can’t really tell you all my secrets, but just our thought process,” he said. “Our approach at the plate. It helps give kids’ confidence and kind of trust themselves.”
Isiah Fudge is one of the seniors on the team. He said he believes the team really put its best foot forward this year.
“I think that helps a lot, which is just like keeping your head level and just trying to do everything right,” he said. “It’s really just being in a team effort for the most part. Everyone has come together on every side, whether it’s pitching or fielding. It’s just — we’ve just strived for greatness, and that’s what we’ve been trying to achieve.”
That approach got the Bulls to the first round of regionals.
“These kids are committed to playing in college, and I think they understand kind of what I’ve been preaching about — what’s it going to take to get there? So they’ve kind of worked very hard on their own, putting the work in and that’s kind of paid off,” McDougall said. “They’ve bought into our system of what we’re trying to do.”
Maddox McDougall is one of the few who will return next year.
“I think it’s we just all work to win instead of individual stats, and whenever you don’t put yourself in front of the team, it usually comes together and find ways on (base) and find ways to get in, and we’ve been pitching good and it just all goes together,” he said.
As they get the new players on board, Maddox said, “When you welcome someone, they usually stick in pretty well.”
Coach McDougall is already preaching this to the junior varsity team.
“We like to think that most of the kids, by the time they’re in their senior year, know how to act, know what to do and can lead by example, so the younger kids understand what’s supposed to happen,” the coach said. “So we usually call up a couple kids throughout the year just to be around the experience, so when they do get here, they know what to do.”
The goal is to bring home the school’s first state title.
