The most successful head baseball coach in the history of Ocean Springs High School, as well as one of the tops in the annals of South Mississippi, will be honored Saturday,
The home diamond of the OSHS Greyhounds will be dubbed “Steve Tomaszewski Field” in ceremonies preceding the Ocean Springs-Murphy (Mobile, Ala.) game at Noon. The Ocean Springs School District Board of Trustees approved a resolution in September to rename the playing field after the man who is affectionately known as “Coach Tom” by many.
Tomaszewski served the Ocean Springs School District for over 20 years as a teacher and coach. His first year at the helm of the Greyhounds was 1976, and over the next two decades, he turned what amounted to basically a downtrodden OSHS squad into one of the most competitive programs in the state of Mississippi.
During his tenure, Tomaszewski produced perhaps the most successful era ever in OSHS baseball history, as his teams captured five Gulf Coast Conference titles, two District 8-AA championships, and a Division 7-5A crown in his final season of 1993. From 1979-1984 his teams won at least 20 games each season, with the 1981 and 1982 squads each winning 25 games apiece. After the Greyhounds played for the South State championship in 1981, Tomaszewski’s crew returned the next season with unfinished business as he guided them to the first-ever baseball state championship in 1982.
According to the OSSD, “Coach T. remains an advocate for the students of OSSD to this day and can also be found roaming the sidelines of various Greyhound sporting events.”
New head coaches on the diamond
As Tomaszewski is being honored on Saturday, five new prep baseball head coaches on the scene in the “Southern Six” this season will be finishing up their first week on the job in regular season play.
And one of his former players has taken over his former team as former Greyhound Tommy Walker is the new leader of the Greyhounds. Walker takes over from Brian Rea, who is now an assistant coach at Biloxi High.
And speaking of the Indians, they also have a new head coach that is returning to his alma mater, as well as former Biloxi High standout Hawtin Buchanan takes the helm of the Indians this season.
Staying in Class 6A, and moving over to D’Iberville, Brent Martin will guide the Warriors this season as he replaced Cragin Gilbert.
Moving back to Jackson County, and moving down one classification into Class 5A, Deion Ulmer is now the head coach at Gautier High.
And in Pascagoula, the home of the defending Class 1A state champion Resurrection Eagles, Aron Frederic has been named the interim head baseball coach for this season according to school officials.
Veteran head coach Johnny Olsen retired after guiding RCS to the title last season, and his top assistant Lee Tingle took over. But tragically, Tingle died soon after being elevated to the top spot after contracting a rare disease. Fredric, along with Tingle one of Olsen’s top two assistants, was just recently named as the new leader for the Eagles.
