FDTC’s McDonald wins 500th game
Coach Preston McDonald (right of center) happily accepts an honor from Florence-Darlington Technical College to commemorate winning his 500th game as head coach. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Florence-Darlington Technical College’s head baseball coach Preston McDonald joined the exclusive 500-win club after the Stingers swept Fayetteville Tech in their doubleheader on Wednesday, March 29.
“It’s all about the players, you can’t win without having talented players and we’ve had some really talented guys come through in my 14 years of coaching,” McDonald said of 500th win.
McDonald, a Sumter, SC native, took over as head coach at FDTC in 2010. He has since led the Stingers to two JUCO World Series Appearances, two East District Championships, and five Region 10 regular season Championships including four out of the last five seasons (excluding the COVID-19 shorted 2020 season).
The Eastern District Championships were the first in the programs history and marked the College’s first appearances in the JUCO World Series. In 2017, the Stingers finished seventh in the country and McDonald was named NJCAA D1 Eastern District Coach of the Year and ABCA/Diamond Sports NJCAA D1 Eastern Region Coach of the Year.
The Stingers are well on their way to claiming another Region 10 title again this season and for the third consecutive season as their doubleheader sweep today moves them to 9-0 in the region and 32-5 overall.
“You’re only as good as the people around you and I’ve had some tremendous assistant coaches over the years who have meant a ton to the program,” he added. “Coach (Doug) Gammell has actually been here since day one since I’ve been the head coach, so this is his 500th win as well as assistant coach.”
Since joining the Stingers’ McDonald has coached 85 NCAA Division 1 baseball signees and 164 of his players have gone on to play baseball at 4-year colleges. This includes John Taylor, who helped lead the University of South Carolina to back-to-back NCAA Baseball National Championships in 2010 and 2011 and Spencer Jordan, Florence-Darlington Technical College’s first MLB draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in the 41st Round in 2010. He has since coached 13 total players that have gone on to be selected in the MLB Draft and 3 others who signed as Free Agents.
With the wins on Wednesday, McDonalds career record increased to 500-223-1 for a .695 career winning percentage.