Carl Roland: McEachern High School
Roland was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2022.
At the time, it may have seemed like it was not a big deal.
But to Carl Roland, those relationships with his former players were worth more than gold.
The longtime McEachern High School coach whom many credit for building the struggling program into a baseball power during his tenure, was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022.
Roland passed away on October 18, 2021 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. He passed away less than two months before he was scheduled to be inducted into the GDC Hall of Fame.
“I’ve had many of them stay in contact with me,” Roland said. “When I first got my diagnosis, one of my former players Tracy Dean put together a little get together for us. I think there were something like 80 or so people that showed up that night. That meant a lot.”
Roland probably impacted many of his former players as much as they did him.
From 1976 to 1994, Roland guided the Indians to four region baseball titles, five region runner-up finishes, a state baseball championship in 1987 in the state’s largest classification and finished with an overall coaching record of 313-148.
During his time, only one team from each region made the state baseball playoffs.
In his 17 seasons at McEachern, none of his teams finished with a losing record. His 1979 team was the first program at the school in any sport to win a region title in 17 years.
Roland also coached softball at McEachern from 1980-2005. His teams won six region titles, made five trips to the state semifinals and his teams twice finished as the state runner-up. He had one losing season in 25 years as the softball coach, yet that team still finished eighth at the state tournament.
His overall softball record was 400-253, giving him 773 combined wins between the two sports.
“Carl’s teams were always very well-coached and very well-prepared,” said former Osborne coach Donnie English, a member of the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame. “You knew when you played him, you had better be ready.”
Roland enjoyed the game as evidenced by the stories he told.
“I remember this game in 1979 when we were playing at Osborne … it was 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh and Osborne had the bases loaded and no outs. I kind of laughed and told our guys, ‘ We’re in a mess aren’t we?’
“We brought in five infielders and we kept battling. We scored two in the eighth, then they scored one in the bottom of the eighth. The tying run got thrown out at the plate trying to score. But what else could we do? There was no sense in going out there and crying about it.”
English praised Roland not only for his coaching ability, but the way he molded the McEachern baseball program into a power. He said the school’s current baseball facility was built by Roland and his staff.
But the legendary coach wouldn't take all the credit for his success at McEachern. He said he coached the junior varsity for one season before taking over the varsity.
“A lot of those guys when I took over the varsity, they had played with me before,” Roland said. “So they were ready to roll. It was the relationships not only with them but all the players that I coached.”