By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LYMAN — For the past eight seasons, the baseball program at Harrison Central High School was led by a former “Southern Six” standout on the diamond.

Now, at least for the near future, that streak will continue even as the Red Rebels welcome in a new mentor.

Jeff Kovacevich was recently named the new head coach at HCHS. He comes to Lyman from just up U.S. Highway 49 in Wiggins, where he served as an assistant under Sean Miller for the past three seasons at Stone High.

A graduate of D’Ibervlle High and a key player for the Warriors back in the late 2000’s, Kovacevich went on to play at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College as well.

Although he has prior head coaching experience in Florida, this will mark his first head baseball coaching stint in South Mississippi. He does bring with him over 15 years of coaching experience at multiple competitive levels.

In 2016, Kovacevich led Cypress Creek High of Orlando, Fla., to its first district crown in 15 years. He landed at Stone because he was already connected to Miller, as the two coached together at Ocean Springs some years back.

“We are excited to welcome Coach Kovacevich to the Red Rebels family,” said Kevin Roberts, HCSD Director of Athletics. “His experience, passion for teaching, and commitment to building strong young men make him a great fit for the tradition of excellence that defines Harrison Central Baseball. We look forward to seeing his teams on the diamond.”

Kovacevich replaces Neil Frederic, who just finished up eight years as the helm of the Red Rebels.

The Pascagoula native Frederic went 92-124 at HCHS since coming back to the Coast from Center Hill High in 2018, where he served in the same capacity for several seasons.

Frederic, a former high school standout who played for coach Johnny Olsen at Pascagoula and later served on his staff at PHS, graduated from Pascagoula in 1994 and also played at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

In his eight seasons leading HCHS, he has led the Red Rebels to the state playoffs five times including three out of the past four years before not qualifying this past season since the Covid season of 2020 was cut short.

He took over in Lyman for the legendary head coach Pat Olmi, who spent 20 years in the same post. In his first season with HCHS, Frederic led the Red Rebels to their deepest playoff run in his tenure as they advanced to the Class 6A South State semifinals before losing in three games to eventual South State champion George County.

Harrison Central has never won a state baseball championship in the almost seven decade history of the program.