(Photo from Southern Miss Baseball Facebook page)
After 14 seasons at the helm and 23 years with the program, Scott Berry has decided to hang up his cleats. USM says a search for his successor is underway.
Scott Berry is the all-time winningest Head Baseball Coach in Southern Miss school history. On Tuesday, he announced his retirement at the end of the 2023 season.
The news comes at a time when Southern Miss Baseball is on track to make the postseason once again and potentially host a regional. The team sits atop of the Sun Belt Conference on a 13-game win streak with an overall record of 35-15 and a conference record of 20-7.
Berry is in his 14th season as Head Coach compiling a 517-271-1 record with the program. He has been a part of the USM program for 23 years joining the staff as an assistant coach under another Golden Eagle baseball legend Coach Corky Palmer in 2001.
Under Berry, Southern Miss Baseball has won five regular season conference crowns, four league tournament titles and eight NCAA Tournament berths, including two regional hosting and one super regional hosting opportunities. Berry is a four-time Conference USA Coach of the Year.
Berry shared the following message to USM fans via social media:
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.
#EverythingMatters
Following the season, the USM Department of Athletics said in a release that it will hold 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. The university also noted that this Friday’s game against Louisiana has been dubbed “Scott Berry Night” to honor the longtime coach.
USM stated that a search for Berry’s successor is already underway, and that person should be named in the near future.
Frank Corder
