By Thomas Sellers Jr.
As a proud Munford High School graduate, Tammy McKinney declared four years ago her son Garrett would never wear purple and gold.
On June 9 Tammy backtracked her statement and amended it to say he will never wear those rival colors while in high school. Garrett was joined by his mom and dad Sid, also a MHS graduate, for his signing of his national letter of intent to play baseball at Bethel University.
With the Wildcats sporting a similar color pattern to Munford’s rivals Covington, Tammy proudly sported her best purple.
“The physical has always been there,” she noted. “But he really matured mentally this year. Everybody could see it. Whenever we were playing Brighton, which is one of our rivals, they could even see he had matured this year. He had to do that as well.”
Garrett’s maturity started his junior season when he threw a no-hitter against those Brighton Cardinals. The boy who started playing baseball in Tipton County at the age of 3 developed into a leader, dependable two-way player and college pitcher.
Also celebrating the day with Garrett were his sister Carson McLillie, grandmother Linda Wages and nephew Jason McLillie. Nearby during the ceremony were Garrett’s coaches Scotty Yount and Garrett Perry from the Munford staff and Bethel Assistant Coach Lee Whitaker.
Whitaker, a former Wildcat player, works under Head Coach Rusty Thompson. Whitaker was a catcher for Bethel and played with Munford Pitching Coach Perry. Perry called his friend and old teammate to reference McKinney.
“I like that he throws multiple pitches for a strike and that he floods the zone,” Whitaker said of McKinney. “I like that he has weak contact and controls the run-game really well. That’s a big thing for us. When we called and asked around, they talked about his character and how good of a teammate he is.”
McKinney said knowing his coach put his coaching reputation and name on the line for him means the world.
“I felt comfortable with there pitching staff there and I know could grow in the future playing up there,” he said. “It gave me more confidence really knowing Coach Perry believes in me. It really picked me up and I believe in what I can do and where I can go.”
From Perry to Munford Head Coach Yount, the Cougars were confident each time McKinney stepped up to the plate or took the mound.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how far he’s come since his freshman year,” Yount said. “I’m really proud of him and excited for him with this opportunity. Like I told him and everybody else, he’s always been my guy. We’ve got to win a game, I am putting Garrett on the mound. Because I know he’s going to compete to win.
“He was on the mound when we got put out of State this year,” he continued. “If I had to do it all again, he’d still be on the mound. He’s always my guy.”
McKinney was a huge part of the Cougars reaching the Class 3A State Baseball Tournament in 2022 batting .314 with a homer, three doubles and three triples for the season. He scored 25 runs while batting in 24 runners.
On the rubber, McKinney continued his ace performance with 72 strikeouts earning 5 wins. He had a 2.87 ERA.
“I never was really the kind of person who thought, ‘Man I can go really far with this,’” McKinney acknowledged. “I’ve just always excelled and believe in myself that I could go far with this and go to college. I believed I could go as far as God would let me.”
God-given ability has allowed McKinney to reach various team goals and reach many personal milestones. In a close, competitive game, it took every pitch and out from McKinney to survive the challenge of Brighton that night.
“As far as the no-hitter, what got him through that night?” Yount said. “Well, first the fact he was on the mound against Brighton, in Munford. He had a good start and it just carried over into the game. Nobody talked about it in the dugout the whole time. But we all knew it was going on. He will tell you, ‘I want to beat Brighton. I want to beat Covington.’ That’s what got him through.”
That night was life-changing for McKinney.
“After that night, I believed I would do something with my life and I could really go far,” McKinney said. “I carried that everyday like being an example for the younger people on the team everyday, in and out of school. I could really do that and just mature for the better.”
Sid said his son took that special achievement and used it as a springboard for his future.
“When we came to Munford to play baseball for the Munford Cougars, Coach Scotty Yount, we told him he’s not coming to high school here for a scholarship,” he said. “He’s going to go to college anyway. We both went here, so we wanted him to go to high school and have a good experience. If it works out and he gets a scholarship, fine. But he’s going to college either way. He decided he wanted to play at the next level.”
The no-hitter sparked that fire in Garrett to reach the college level.
“Last year after he threw the no-hitter, I guess he just started growing up more,” Sid recalled. “He started to become a man taking on more responsibilities on the team. We see him everyday. A lot of times we don’t see that growth. When other people come up to you and tell you we’ve seen this growth out of him and we see this, you know.”
Others around McKinney saw his maturity and his leadership behind the scene inspired his teammates when it came to their moment to shine – like reaching State. In a thriller against the rival Millington Trojans in Sub-State, McKinney’s classmates came up clutch on defense and from the mound. The battery of Owen Geiger and Dylan Phillips were nervous for their postgame interview. Familiar with the process, McKinney gave them encouragement.
“It was the first year I had ever gone to State in my four years of high school,” Garrett noted. “It was just a blessing to me I could do it my senior year. So I didn’t care if it was about me. It wasn’t about me. I was there last year. I was a junior and nobody knew about me. I had to do my interview with you. I just want to pick him up at that moment.”
Armed with an arsenal of pitches, winning experience and sense of brotherhood, McKinney said wearing the purple and gold of Bethel was the perfect uniform for him to continue his baseball career.
“It means a lot and brings a lot more maturity to me,” he concluded. It brings a chip to my shoulder. I have to go be that dude and keep doing what I’ve been doing and believe in myself.”
