Almost inexplicably, the Pascagoula High School has had only two permanent head baseball coaches in the past 40 years.
And it looks as if the program is closing in on finding the third one.
The current post at the helm of the Panther program has been open for about six weeks, since former head coach Richie Tillman retired at the end of the 2023 season.
Tillman spent 13 seasons leading his alma mater on the diamond, including winning one state title in 2012.
Tillman’s tenure came on the heels of an almost 27-year stretch for Johnny Olsen leading Pascagoula as a head coach. Olsen won a state championship in 1996, and resigned suddenly in the middle of the 2010 program. Tillman took over in 2011.
John Tomes did serve as the interim head coach for a brief period when Olsen resigned.
The Pascagoula/Gautier School Board was set to hold its monthly meeting Monday night and is expected to approve a new head baseball coach.
The 228Sports staff has learned that an assistant coach for one of the four “Southern Six” squads that made it to the state playoffs this season is the top choice to become the new Pascagoula head coach.
We’ll keep you updated with the announcement as soon as it becomes official.
Four-four-Four
As we wrap up another prep baseball season in the state of Mississippi, and as the “Southern Six” placed four teams in the state championship round for the first time ever in the 73-year history of the Mississippi High School Activities Association, four seem to be the number in the title tilt.
Four teams came back to Trustmark Park as defending state champions after winning gold gloves the year before. And all four were successful in defending their titles.
In Class 1A, Resurrection went back-to-back for the first time in school history by sweeping West Union in two games in Class 1A. In Class 2A, East Union went back-to-back, sweeping Pisgah in two games for the Urchins’ fourth overall state crown.
In Class 5A, East Central went back-to-back for the first time in school history slipping past Saltillo in three games for its fourth state title in school history. And in Class 3A, Amory rallied back after being down game one to get past St. Stanislaus in three games and take back-to-back state titles for the first time in school history.
Lewisburg swept Gulfport in Class 6A, and Purvis swept West Lauderdale in Class 4A.
And the total games in those two series equaled…?
You guessed it, four.
Time to go
The end of the prep baseball season this year was one of the latest endings to the prep sports season in the state of Mississippi ever, according to records.
The season didn’t come to an official end until Saturday, June 3rd when the final two state title games in Class 5A and Class 3A were decided.
