Charles Winston Dodson is going to be an athlete.

When “Charlie” is born on Sept. 24 (give or take a few days), he’ll have a deep set of athletic genes to draw from, not to mention red and black running through his veins.

Charlie’s parents will be Katie and Stephen Dodson, a pair of former Georgia athletes, and good ones at that.

Katie (formerly Katie Heenan) is a four-time NCAA gymnastics champion and the Gym Dogs’ all-time points leader, while Stephen is now plying his wares as a minor league pitcher after being selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 10th round of the Major League Baseball entry draft last year.

That’s one hell of a gene pool.

“That’s what everyone keeps telling us,” Stephen said. “But we just want it to be healthy. That’s all we care about.”

Between 2005 and 2008, Katie was a 13-time gymnastics All-American and the rock of consistency that the Gym Dogs relied on. She graduated in May with a degree in Middle School Education.

Stephen, who left Georgia after his junior year, was merely the Diamond Dogs’ Saturday starter on their way to a run in the College World Series’ championship series in 2008.

Stephen and Katie were married in November of last year, and now live in Asheville, N.C., where Stephen pitches for the Single A-affiliate of the Rockies as they await the birth of their first child.

Which, by the way, they already have some plans for.

“Stephen’s already said we’ve got to start him switch-hitting from the beginning,” Katie said, “and if we can put the ball in his left hand that would be better.”

Said Stephen, a 6-foot-4 inch righty: “Oh yeah. I’m going to try and make him a lefthander from the beginning. It’s a little easier road.”

While Stephen gets a lot of heckling from former teammates and both his parents and in-laws (“they always remind me that she’s got all the rings and bling”), it may be the genetic input from Katie’s 5-foot-3 inch frame that plays the biggest role in determining Charlie’s future.

“It’s no question if our kids are going to be athletic,” Katie said, laughing. “It’s just a question of if they’re going to be a shortstop or a pitcher.”

‘I fell in love with her’

Before they were making “super babies” (as Stephen said former teammate and groomsman Gordon Beckham liked to call them), there was a beginning.

“Stephen was actually good friends with [former Gym Dogs Megan Dowlen and Nikki Childs] the first semester of our freshman year [2005], and lived on the same floor as them,” Katie reminisced. “It’s so funny, because they would borrow his car and hang out in his room, but I didn’t even know who he was.”

Then came a group outing, an opportune, if accidental, seating arrangement, and the stereotypical “love at first sight.”

“A group of her friends and a group of my friends just went to dinner and a movie, and I happened to sit next to her,” Stephen said. “I started talking to her, and found out we had some things in common, and I got her number that night … we just connected right off the bat and I fell in love with her.”

Said Dowlen, the maid of honor at the Dodson’s wedding in Athens: “Katie and Stephen are truly best friends. They have been in love since they first met and very supportive of one another.”

Four years of dating later, and the babies are coming. Stephen, nervously laughing, said that Katie originally wanted 10 children, but has settled, for now, on six. Motherhood, it seems, is something the former Ms. Heenan was born to do.

“She’s absolutely fantastic with babies,” Stephen said. “My sister just had a baby and she loves taking care of her. She’ll be one of those mom’s that’s strict with them but will also have a good time with them.”

Said Dowlen: “Her nickname throughout college was always ‘Mama Heenan.’ She was always cleaning or baking, and the one to make sure we were awake and on time to 6 a.m. conditioning.”

Stephen, too, should be a natural father.

“He’s always been the guy’s guy and loves to hang out and do those things, but I really think that he’s going to be very protective, very attentive and a great father,” Katie said. “He loves to take care of me so I can only imagine when he has a child.”

‘Being together’

Stephen has had mixed success in Asheville, posting a 4.85 earned run average in 10 relief appearances for the Tourists as of Wednesday night. But he does have 15 strikeouts in 15 innings, and if you took out one rough outing against Lexington a few weeks ago, he would have a sparkling 2.25 ERA.

While Stephen’s goal for the future is obvious – make it to the bigs – Katie’s, at least for now, is a little unclear.

The voice of Georgia gymnastics on georgiadogs.com’s audio broadcasts last season, Katie said she is unsure if she’ll continue to pursue that career. She graduated in May with a degree in Middle School Education, and that too, she said, will be put on hold for the near future.

“I’m kind of in a place where I don’t know if I should pursue [broadcasting] or not because of having a baby in September, but I would love to still be involved with that kind of stuff,” she said.

“I think eventually I will teach, especially when your kids go to school and stuff. But for right now I’m not looking for any teaching jobs.”

Either way, the Dodsons are loving their new life together in Asheville.

“There’s just mountains all around you and great people there,” Katie said. “We are enjoying being there and being together.”