Dustin McKay started his career coaching boys in baseball. But in recent years he’s coached girls’ softball in his hometown of Caddo and events of the past couple of years have made him appreciate that change. “I played football, basketball and baseball at Caddo and then went on to play baseball at Murry State and Southeastern,” explained McKay. “I had thought about coaching but I had a young family to think about out of college and so I went into construction for a few years. But I remember occasionally leaning on a shovel and asking myself ‘why did I go to college?’ So I eventually got into coaching baseball at Caney for four years.”
The opportunity to return to Caddo came up and Dustin took the job of coaching baseball and girl’s fastpitch. “I was skeptical about coaching girls at first but now I can’t imagine not coaching girls. Yes, there can be some drama involved with teenage girls, but I just treat them like I would boys. Sometimes you have to get after some of them and let them know you think they can do better but there’s also a time to pat them on the back. And when you can get that group to buy into what you’re doing, they’d run through a wall for you,” said McKay now in his sixth year of coaching the girls at Caddo.
All during his time as a coach, McKay has always looked to the example set by his dad, Ike, who was his high school coach and wanted to gain the respect from his players that he had for his dad. And it’s safe to say that he did gain that respect and an element of compassion that maybe sets the girls apart from the guys as he tells the story. “My dad had been battling health problems and the girls got together and sold shirts to help with some of mom’s expenses. Last year at regionals they showed up in these shirts that read ‘Ike-the man, they myth, the legend’ and that whole day they wore those shirts and that really touched me,” said McKay, choking back some emotions reflecting on his father who recently passed away.
McKay’s fastpitch team this fall included seven freshmen along with his sophomore daughter, Kadey, in the starting lineup most of the year. The youthful squad proved they had the talent to play with everyone in Class A as the Lady Bruins roared through the playoffs to reach USA Hall of Fame Stadium for the fastpitch state tournament. Caddo limited their three opponents to just two runs including a 3-0 shutout over Cyril to win the school’s first softball state title and finished with a 37-4 record.
