Taylor Tankersley answered the phone this morning sounding a bit tired.

Few would blame the former Warren Central pitching phenom since he was operating on about 15 minutes sleep.

Tankersley, the first-round selection of the Florida Marlins in the 2004 draft, learned he was getting the call to the majors about 10 last night following his Carolina Mudcats’ game against the Tennessee Smokies in Knoxville. After hearing the news from his manager in Carolina, Tankersley emerged from the dugout, looked at his mother Dana and sister Erin and declared, &#8220we’re going to the big leagues.”

&#8220I’m sure my face lit up and I wasn’t trying to play it cool,” the former WC and University of Alabama standout said this morning from the Knoxville airport.

Tankersley flew to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to meet with his new teammates. He will then board a plane headed for Denver where the Marlins will begin a series against the Colorado Rockies.

&#8220We’ve known for a while that there would be a good chance I would get called up,” the hard-throwing lefty reliever said. &#8220It was one of those things where it could be two months or it could be two days.”

Tankersley becomes the first player to play high school ball in Warren County to get the call to the majors since Vicksburg High’s Roosevelt Brown in 1999.

&#8220Roosevelt Brown made the statement when he got called up that it is another sign for kids in Warren County that it could happen,” said Hinds Community College baseball coach Sam Temple, who began coaching Tankersley when the southpaw was a freshman at WC.

Tankersley grew up in Openwood Plantation in north Warren Central and played in the Culkin league. He moved on to Warren Centrtal, guiding the Vikings to the 2001 Class 5A state championship.

After three stellar seasons at Alabama, the Marlins selected him with the 27th overall selection in the 2004 draft. He has since been converted to a closer.

This season with Carolina, a Class AA team in the Southern League, he is 4-1 with a 0.95 ERA and six saves in 28 1/3 innings pitched. He allowed 11 hits, struck out 40 and walked 14. He is the first Marlins’ prospect to reach the majors straight from Class AA.

&#8220This is a great thing for the Marlins, and something that will pay big dividends,” Temple said. &#8220He is one of the best competitors I have ever seen. This is just great.”

Several former teammates and friends are flying to Denver in hopes of seeing his first appearance. The Marlins will be on the road through June 11, then return home to face Atlanta. The Marlins do not play the Braves in Atlanta – the closest drive from Vicksburg – until late July.

&#8220It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Tankersley said. &#8220I have to meet with the team in Fort Lauderdale, then get on the jet for Denver. Maybe it will sink in then, maybe it will sink in when I get to the park.”

Atlanta pitcher John Thomson and Detroit’s Dmitri Young are both Vicksburg natives currently playing in the majors, but neither played high school ball here.