Morgan County High School didn’t have to look far in hiring new head softball coach Chad Pigg.
Pigg was previously the head softball coach at Harris County, where new MCHS head baseball coach Steve Westmoreland came from.
They are very familiar with each other and are now together again in Madison.
The new 28-year-old Bulldogs’ softball head coach helped lead Harris County to an Elite Eight appearance last year. The Tigers went 28-7 in 2022 under Pigg’s direction and finished third in Class 5A.
However, Pigg was looking for a new opportunity and is glad to have been hired at Morgan County. He explained his family is big on community and they instantly fell in love with Madison.
“When this opportunity presented itself, my wife and I had a great feeling about it.
So, we came up for the interview. She came with me and went to each lunch in town, which is when we fell in love with the town,” Pigg told the Lake Oconee News. “Before I even walked into the interview, we were really excited about this place. I hadn’t gotten that feeling about anywhere else. The town was awesome, and everybody we talked to was great. They all loved this place. That says a lot.”
Pigg was then officially offered the job, and he gladly accepted. Still, he is also happy to be close to Westmoreland, who was named Morgan County High School’s new baseball coach on May 30.
Pigg and Westmoreland have developed a tight relationship over the last few years at Harris County.
“It helped knowing I will still get to work with Steve [Westmoreland] with baseball,” Pigg added. “We have a perfect working relationship. He’s a great guy. A really good coach and a great person to work for. He’s also someone who will take anyone under his wing and let them lean on him. He’ll give the shirt off his back. So I have a good support system in him. Being able to come here and with this unique opportunity that presented itself, it just felt right.”
As far as softball goes, Pigg is familiar with how Morgan County has been successful over the years. The program has made it to Columbus, where the GHSA Softball Elite Eight is held, a few times. Pigg hopes to add to the winning culture at Morgan County and take the team back to Columbus.
The Bulldogs have a great chance to do just that this upcoming season, with a lot of starters returning. So, Pigg has recently been working with current players over the summer for that chance. He’s been traveling back and forth between Harris County and Madison for the last month.
“I would say that Harris County and Morgan County are similar. They’re county schools and a lot of the things are set similarly in terms of the rec departments and the feeder programs,” Pigg said. “So, having those systems in place - as far as getting to work closely with the middle school program - is an advantage coming from a place that runs a similar setup. I’m hoping to bring some rich tradition that I have from not only Harris County but also when I was at a few other places.”
Pigg replaces Doug Connelly, who is also the Morgan County High School athletic director, and community coach, Jason McBay. The pair have helped build up the process over the last several years.
Connelly and McBay have led the program to several regional championships and Elite Eight appearances. They have each played an instrumental role in helping elevate the Bulldogs’ program.
“There is some very, very rich history with softball at Morgan County because of those two guys,” Pigg said. “Fortunately, I get to keep them around. A lot of times coaches move on when somebody else steps in, but in this case, I am getting to lean on them and use their expertise. That is great.”
Pigg comes to Morgan County after serving at Harris County for the past two years, where he taught Special Education and was an assistant coach for both the fastpitch softball and baseball teams.
Before his time at Harris County, Pigg was an assistant coach at Denmark High School in Forsyth County, where he helped to lead the new school’s inaugural softball and baseball teams. In the Danes’ first season in 2019, Denmark High School finished as the state baseball runner-up in Class 4A.
In the fall of 2019, Denmark softball earned the program’s first-ever trip to the state playoffs in just its second season. Pigg began his teaching and coaching career at LaGrange High School in 2017-2018.
Pigg didn’t have to travel far for his first teaching job, as he graduated from LaGrange College in 2017. While at LaGrange, he starred as the catcher on the baseball team, earning selections to the 2016 USA South All-Conference first team and the 2017 USA South Academic All-Conference team.