Southern Miss head baseball coach to retire after 2023 season

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Southern Miss head baseball coach Scott Berry is retiring at the end of the 2023 season.

According to Southern Miss Athletics, Coach Berry decided to end his coaching career Tuesday morning.

Berry has guided the Golden Eagles for the last 14 seasons and has been a part of the program for 23 years, joining the staff as an assistant coach under the late Southern Miss coaching legend, Coach Corky Palmer in 2001.

Coach Berry is a legend in his own right, leading the program to six-straight 40-plus win seasons, the most in the country.

Berry will retire as the all-time winningest coach in the program’s history after winning his 500th game earlier this season and counting, surpassing another Southern Miss legend Hill Denson.

The Golden Eagles have won 517 games, five regular season conference titles, four league tournament titles, clinched eight NCAA Tournament berths - including two regional hostings - and hosted a super regional for the first time in school history in the 2022 season.

Below is the parting message that Scott Berry left the Southern Miss faithful:

“To the Southern Miss Faithful,
I could coach baseball forever; however, life continues to remind me our time is precious. For the past 23 years, it has been my honor to work at The University of Southern Mississippi. The 2023 baseball season will be my final season as Head Baseball Coach. Our program has a solid foundation for this transition in leadership. I am sincerely grateful and humbled by your support for me and this program. Throughout my career, I have recognized that no one can do anything alone. I am grateful to all the staff, players, coaches, and Administrations for everything they have done to build our program.
I want to thank my family publicly. Laura, Kathryn Grace, Garren, and his wife, Macie, have sacrificed and arranged their schedules for mine. When my daughter was little, I was working on the baseball field, and she asked me if this was my garden. Over the years, I have often reflected on her profound, innocent observation of my coaching career.
Yes, Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field has been my garden. Hopefully, you will agree we have grown and tended to many young lives and have thoroughly enjoyed a game that is truly America's and SMTTT's favorite pastime. Every walk has an end, and each step makes a memory. Thank you, God, for everything; I will hold your word in my heart.
Thank you, Southern Miss Faithful; it has been a blessing to me to serve as your Baseball Coach.”
Scott Berry, Southern Miss Athletics

Southern Miss Athletics says following the season, the athletics department will host a retirement reception in Berry’s honor and fans will be invited to congratulate him for his contributions to not only Golden Eagle baseball, but the University of Southern Mississippi as a whole.

Southern Miss has not announced who will be the next head coach of their storied baseball program, but it is expected that the Golden Eagles’ pitching coach Christian Ostrander will take over at the end of the season.

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