Danny Hignight has 500 wins, but Providence High’s baseball coach remembers No. 1, too
Victory No. 1 happened 22 years ago this month, but Danny Hignight still remembers the details.
“We beat Ashbrook, and we turned a key double play,” Hignight said Tuesday evening.
He said a newspaper account of the game suggested Providence had been lucky to win.
Hignight still disagrees with that assessment.
“We won it on a good play,” he said.
On Tuesday evening, Providence swept a doubleheader from Southwestern 7A/8A opponent Rocky River, by scores of 12-0 and 17-0.
The nightcap was the 500th victory for Hignight, now in his 22nd season as head coach of the Panthers.
Hignight, who got his start more than a quarter-century ago as an assistant coach at Watauga High, received a portrait of himself and posed for plenty of photos with family, players and friends.
He took congratulations from dozens of people, including former players who came to Providence’s baseball stadium to be part of the celebration.
And when it was all over, Hignight said the recognition was nothing he set out to gain.
“That wasn’t my goal,” he said. “It’s really pretty simple. My goal is to get my players to reach their potential.”
Danny Hignight is actually a “junior.”
His dad, Daniel James, was a lifetime baseball fan. He was a Marine and a Vietnam veteran and later became an official with American Legion baseball in Alexander County, where the family lived and where his son attended high school.
“Baseball has always been a big part of my life,” he said.
Danny (the son) attended Appalachian State and then worked as an assistant under two legendary coaches – Pete Hardee at Watauga High and Hal Bagwell at South Mecklenburg. Hardee is now at Alexander Central and Bagwell at Indian Land.
“I owe a lot of what I’ve been able to accomplish to those two guys,” Hignight said. “I was blessed to be with them.”
And when he arrived at Providence for the 2003-04 school year, he got to work with then-Panthers volleyball coach Zoe Bell, an iconic figure in her sport.
“I learned a lot from those coaches,” he said.
Hignight’s career record is 500-124. That includes 11 conference championships (including his first season in 2004) and state championships in 2015 and 2022.
The 2022 team went 34-0 and was nationally ranked.
Hignight has seen dozens of his players go on to college careers, including about two dozen who have played professionally.
“Coach has built a really good atmosphere here,” said Providence senior pitcher-infielder Jackson Debe, a Wingate commit. “He can be laid-back, but we all know when it’s time to go to work.”
“He’s a great teacher,” Debe added.
Debe, like several other people who talked about Hignight on Tuesday evening, said the Providence High coach is a great story-teller.
“Sometimes he’ll start telling us one of his stories,” Debe said. “They’re often funny, but they also make a point.”
Hignight said he takes special joy in seeing Providence baseball players grow – as athletes and people.
“That’s my goal,” he said. “That’s what I’ve set out to do.”
