By Robert Wilson
St. Andrew’s baseball coach Mark Fanning is stepping down after 29 years at the episcopal private school in Ridgeland.
But Fanning isn’t retiring, he is just taking a break from coaching to watch his son Rolen play baseball at William Carey in Hattiesburg.
Fanning will continue as the Director of Athletic Facilities, but not having the coaching responsibility will give him freedom to go watch Rolen.
St. Andrew’s associate head coach Josh Newell has been promoted to replace Fanning.
“After 29 years as head baseball coach at SA, it was time for a different routine,” Fanning said. “Baseball coaching hours are tough in the spring and do not allow much flexibility. It was time for me to step aside so I could watch my son Rolen play at William Carey University this spring. Coaching baseball at St. Andrew’s has been a tremendous job and one that has left me with some great memories. I have been fortunate to have a lot of really good baseball players who were always willing to do anything that was asked of them to help us be successful. I have seen so many quality players and people graduate each year, but we always seemed to have some younger players ready to step in and take their place. I have been fortunate to have had some really good teams, including the state championship teams of 2018 and 2024, but also many years where we got really close to winning it. As I look back on my career in coaching the championships were a lot of fun, but the relationships with the players were so much more important. It is awesome to watch a boy come into the program and leave as a young man, and think that maybe I played a small part in their development. I am also excited that I get to remain at St. Andrew’s as Director of Athletic Facilities and can still have an impact on the school and athletic department.”
Fanning believes he is leaving the program in good hands.
“Josh joined us in 2024 after being the head coach at Park Place Christian School,” Fanning said. “He made an impact immediately with our players and has been a big part of our success the last three years. Josh communicates well and has gained the respect of our returning players. After two years as an assistant, he was named associate head coach last season. Josh’s role will change some as the head coach, but I feel like his knowledge, expectations, and organization will continue the success of the St. Andrew’s baseball program.”
Newell, who played baseball at Ridgeland High and graduated from Mississippi State, is looking forward to taking over the program.
“I’m incredibly honored and grateful to be the next head baseball coach at St. Andrew’s,” Newell said. “There has been a great foundation set for our program and we are ready to get to work. Coach Fanning is one of the best to ever do it. He’s been such a great mentor to me and I’ve learned so much from him. Being able to work with him for the last three years has been such a blessing. I’ve seen him not only teach the game, but help our players become young men.”
Newell is the son of Jim and Judy Newell. He has been married to Katie Newell for five years. He has two sisters, Jessica and Jana Kay, and one brother. Jayson.
Fanning wants to makes sure that high school baseball fans know that he isn’t retiring.
“I used the term stepping down instead of retiring in case the right opportunity to return to coaching happens when Rolen is finished playing,” Fanning said. “I still enjoy coaching baseball, but the hours just do not work at this point.”
The 52-year-old Fanning – a Newton County High, East Central Community College, and Mississippi College graduate – has had an outstanding coaching career and won 626 games and two state championships (2018 and 2024) in his 29 seasons, all at St. Andrew’s, longer than any active baseball coach in Mississippi at one school. He had only two losing seasons and they were both 15-17 in 1999 and 2004.
He was named the Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Baseball Coach of the Year in 2024.
Fanning was a star shortstop and pitcher at Hickory High before the school consolidated, along with Decatur High, into the Newton County High in 1990. He played basketball and baseball his junior year at Newton County High and played football (receiver and kicker), basketball and baseball as a senior. Fanning played baseball for his father, Mack Fanning, at Hickory and Newton County. The Fannings led Newton County to a 23-7 record Mark’s senior year, and he played in the all-star game in 1992. He played shortstop, second base and third base for two seasons at East Central CC and two seasons at Mississippi College. Fanning did his student teaching at Clinton High in the spring of 1997 and coached baseball with then Clinton High coach Doug Hutton.
“I worked with (former St. Andrew’s baseball coach) Mike Barkett at Barkett Sports (a sporting goods company) in 1996 and one day he asked me if I would be interested in the St. Andrew’s baseball coaching job,” Fanning said. “I got the job on his recommendation and my first season was the spring of 1998. That was my first job and 29 years later, I’m at the same place. I’ve been very fortunate anad had pretty good baseball players every year. Our booster club has been great. We didn’t have lights and that’s the first thing I did when I got the job. The booster club has helped so much over the years and the administration has been very helpful and behind me all the way. They have helped tremendously to make our baseball facility one of the best in the state. We have an indoor facility down the right field line. I have spent a lot of time working on the field. We bought a house about a five-minute walk away so I’m close by if I wanted to come work on the field”
Fanning credits his father with a lot of his coaching philosophy. Mack Fanning is in the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame. He started coaching in 1968 and retired in 2014 and coached at Hickory and Newton County. Mack Fanning coached slow pitch and fast pitch softball and baseball. He won state titles in slow pitch in 1999 and 2012, fast pitch in 2001, 2003 and 2004 and baseball in 1981 and 1983. The Newton County High athletic complex is named after him.
Marie Fanning, Mark’s mom and Mack’s wife, was a first grade teacher at Hickory and Newton County for many years.
“I’ve been learning about baseball from my dad since I was five or six years old,” Mark Fanning said. “He always found different ways to get things done. Practices wasn’t the same. There are different ways to become better. In the classroom, you don’t teach every student the same and that’s the way it is in baseball. Every player learns differently. You can’t throw together a plan and keep it. You have to adjust that plan in order to make everyone better. I still used the same signs my dad used.
“I played for Jamie Clark at East Central. The biggest thing I learned from Jamie was when you coach junior college you are getting superstars from all of these high schools, and he did a great job of making everyone feel a part of the team even though some weren’t as talented as the others. He did a great job with roster management and found ways to get everyone in whether it be pinch hitting opportunities or another way to contribute to the team.
“I played for Tom Gladney at MC. Tom was a great organizer. He was a very detailed person. We knew exactly what we were doing every day. When we went on a trip we had an itinerary and we knew all the time where to be and when we should be there.”
“Coach Fanning is the most dedicated high school baseball coach that I know and while he may not always have the best team on the field, he will never have the less prepared team on the field because of the way he works to prepare us day in and day out, regardless of the conditions,” said St. Andrew’s third baseman Friend Walker, who graduated in 2024. “Coach Fanning has been an incredible blessing to my high school career and has taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance and has taught me the importance of only worrying about what I can control. I am so thankful for Coach’s leadership and the way he has pushed me through the years to be a better player and to learn how to deal with adversity in the face of overwhelming odds – being down three in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the state championship game up against Landon Harmon. Coach Fanning means so more to the St. Andrew’s community than people even realize, and it is hard to put into words the impact he has on us as players and men. From making sure to teach us the importance of Easter to the meaning of our lives as men as a whole in sharing the good news of the Gospel with us, to being an incredible advocate to all of our players to pushing us to be the best that we could possibly be, I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me to have Coach Fanning as my coach.”
Fanning is married to Patti Fanning, and they celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary on June 20. She works in the investment department at Bank Plus. Rolen is their only child. Patti has only missed one of his games since he started playing when he was three years old.
Rolen Fanning, who played for his father and graduated in 2024, enjoyed playing for his dad.
“Having my dad as my coach means so much to me because he has been there every moment of my life helping me to get better as I got older,” Rolen Fanning said. “I am so proud of what he has accomplished as a coach. It was super helpful having my dad as my coach because whenever I wanted to practice outside of our team practices, he was able to give me a practice-like atmosphere that made me push myself harder than normal.”
