Davis Lee Whatley – Trojan Baseball 1968 – 1969
A four-sport letterman at Indianola High School, Davis Lee Whatley loved baseball the most and brought his talents to Moorhead to play for the MDJC Trojans and Head Coach Carl Grubb his freshman year and then Head Coach Jimmy Bellipanni his sophomore year.
“The 1969 team was undefeated in the North Half – 10-0. We went to the State Championship down at Gulf Coast in Perkinston. We lost 3-2,” Whatley said. “I pitched 8-1/3 innings. There were two men on base when the other pitcher came in. We were ahead 2-1. That was the first time he took me out of a ballgame. Back in those days, there wasn’t a pitch count. You toed the rubber and you were in there.”
He recalled that MDJC was instituting a construction plan across campus that engulfed the baseball team’s home field. That became the new girls’ dorm and the team had to play their home games on the road in Leland at Baker Field. And no teams had any dugouts.
“We just sat on the fence line on benches,” he said. “We didn’t have a field in 1969. We practiced on the football field. I think they played in Leland for three or four more years.”
Whatley recalled the coaching he got from Coach Bellipanni.
“Don’t walk 'em. If you walk 'em they’ll score,” Whatley recalled with a laugh. “It’s been 52 years since I pitched at Moorhead and I really loved it.”
Whatley’s talent was described by his friends as “all he had was a little curveball.” In high school, there was some tough competition as Indianola played Drew who had a pretty good shortstop – Archie Manning.
“They were pretty tough – the first two batters were Manning and Allan Silverblatt. We had a good team. We won the district my sophomore and junior years. We beat them,” he said.
His sophomore record was 6-1 and Whatley enjoyed his time as a Trojan and continued his career at Delta State University joining legendary Head Coach Dave “Boo” Ferriss in his inaugural year.
“He knew some kind of baseball and he was some kind of a gentleman,” Whatley said.
After graduation, Whatley coached baseball at Pillow Academy for four years and then moved back to Indianola to start a three-decade-plus career in the Indianola Public School system at Lockard Elementary. He retired in 2008 and now plays golf four days a week “wherever the grass is green and the sun is shining.”
He also stayed active coaching summer baseball in Indianola for several decades as well as officiating high school basketball. Whatley has been married (Pam) for 38 years and has three sons – Lee, Rob and Will.
Whatley's MDJC/DSU Accomplishments include:
- Member of Beta Kappa Honor Society at MDJC
- Deans List Scholar at Delta State
- BSE and Master's of School Administration from Delta State
