Holly Springs High School had only been open four years when Carlos Rodon stepped onto the pitcher’s mound as a junior in 2010.

Rodon was about to have a breakout season, one that would attract the attention of professional baseball scouts everywhere. The left-handed pitcher, who was eventually ranked the No. 18 left-handed pitcher in the nation by Perfect Game, struck out 115 batters and recorded an earned run average of 0.80 during his junior campaign.

It wasn’t surprising to his head coach Rod Whitesell at the time. He knew during Rodon’s freshman season that he had the potential to be special.

“Towards the end of his freshman year, he started to figure it out a little bit. He was a little bit wild early,” Whitesell said. “Later in the year though, he had back-to-back games where he struck out 15 against Smithfield-Selma and Clayton. It was like, ‘Wow, this is a freshman just dominating.’ And then he just continued to grow from there.”

Grow he did. Rodon went on to win a N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A state championship at Holly Springs. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 16th round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft at the age of 18. He opted to go on to NC State, where he was the ACC Freshman of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, going 9-0 in 17 games and striking out 135 batters.

Rodon was drafted by the Chicago White Sox, who had the third pick in the 2014 MLB Draft. It was just the beginning of his journey. On Thursday, Rodon is slated to start on Opening Day for the New York Yankees.

Whitesell has followed Rodon’s career since high school, and he’ll be following along again this season — including on Opening Day.

“His mindset is going to be, ‘I’m going to shove that day.’ He’s going to go right at you. I’m going to guess the first pitch is going to be about 98 plus because he’s going to be amped up,” Whitesell said. “He’s gonna be ready to go and his mindset is going to be, ‘I’m going to attack, attack, attack.’ He’s gonna leave it out there.”

Rodon’s competitiveness is one of his greatest assets, Whitesell said. It was one reason he was able to help the Golden Hawks to a state championship in high school too.

“He has such a warrior mindset of, ‘I’m going to compete and I’m better than you.’ He just competes. I love kids that love to compete and want to win, and he is the epitome of that,” said Whitesell.

Last season, when the Yankees played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, Whitesell was able to make the trip to New York for a game.

“When they announced his name, it was just a surreal moment,” Whitesell recalled. “Then after the game, my son and I got to go talk to him a little bit and we’re standing there and Andy Pettitte is five feet away. It’s just kind of wild, this kid’s living out the dream.”

Rodon had that dream when he was on the mound at Holly Springs High School, the same place Golden Hawks pitchers throw the ball today. The fact Rodon came through Holly Springs, had a successful college career, got drafted, has played in the World Series, and will now start on Opening Day for the Yankees shows others what is possible.

“It’s cool for our kids to see that you can come from a small town, you can come from Holly Springs, and you can make it big time,” said Whitesell. “It may be in baseball, it may be in something else, but if you compete and you are willing to put yourself out there, good things can happen for anybody.”

The Yankees, led by Rodon, will open the season on Thursday against the Brewers — the first team that drafted Rodon out of high school. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.