Longtime coach David McDonald led the Wheeler High School baseball program in Georgia from 1979-2010, amassing a career record of 496-322 (.606). He led the Wildcats to the Georgia state playoffs seven times, capturing six region titles while competing in the state’s largest classification.
Named the 2004 ABCA/Diamond Sports National High School Coach of the Year, McDonald is now the Executive Director of the Georgia Dugout Club and currently serves as an assistant coach at The Lovett School in Georgia. He was an assistant coach at Mount Paran Christian before Lovett.
McDonald is a three-time Cobb County Coach of the Year and two-time Georgia Dugout Club Coach of the Year. He was named a Metro Atlanta Dugout Club All- Star Coach three times. In 2002, the field at Wheeler High School was named David McDonald Field in his honor.
Many of McDonald’s former players went on to play college baseball and multiple signed professional contracts.
Having served on the ABCA’s Lefty Gomez Committee, McDonald is also a charter member of the National High School Baseball Coaches Association (NHSBCA) and a Past President of both the NHSBCA and Georgia Dugout Club. He has been a vital member of the All-American, Field of the Year, Coach of the Year and National Ranking committees for the NHSBCA and served as the District 3 Chair on the Executive Board from 1992-97.
For several years, McDonald was involved with USA Baseball, having coached the gold medal-winning team that traveled to Taiwan in 2000 and serving as trials coach from 1997 through 1999.
In addition to being a member of the Georgia Dugout Club, Georgia Athletic Coaches Association, NHSBCA and Wheeler Athletic Halls of Fame, McDonald was honored as the recipient of the ABCA/Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award in 2015, an award given annually to an individual who embodies the ABCA Code of Ethics and who models the character traits of honesty, integrity, respect and personal responsibility.
McDonald is a graduate of St. Joseph’s High School in Jackson, Mississippi, and went on to play collegiately at Mississippi State.
In March 1995, McDonald was presented the Bronze Star with “V” (Valor) and the Purple Heart by President Bill Clinton for his service in the Vietnam War at a ceremony in Marietta, Georgia.
