STARKVILLE – Starkville Academy announced the hiring of Justin Flake as the school’s next head baseball coach on Friday. Flake joins the Volunteers from Grenada High School, and previously served as head coach at Nanih Waiya, Winston Academy, Choctaw County and Heritage Academy. At Heritage, Flake led the Patriots to a state championship in 2019.
“It has always been an attractive job to me,” Flake said in a school press release. “I know how important baseball is there. There’s a lot of support for the program, and they’ve had some good players through the years. I’m looking forward to getting started and seeing what we can get done once all the dust settles.”
“We had the advantage of starting our coaching search early,” said Vols Athletic Director Greg Owen. “That allowed us to find the right guy to lead our program. We wanted a proven championship winner on and off the field, a character builder, and someone that would instill the confidence of an elite mindset. After meeting and investing time with Justin Flake, I knew we had our guy.”
Flake takes over a Vols team that finished 19-9 last season under Lee Berryhill, a Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Famer who coaches softball at the school but stepped in to lead the baseball team for the 2025 season. The team was swept by Leake Academy in the playoffs, but graduated only three players, returning a talented and experienced roster for Flake to lead into 2026.
“It has always been an attractive job to me,” Flake said. “I know how important baseball is there. There’s a lot of support for the program, and they’ve had some good players through the years. I’m looking forward to getting started and seeing what we can get done once all the dust settles.”
The school administration expressed its excitement over Flake’s arrival. The leadership of Berryhill gave them time to find the right candidate while the team was in good hands, and they were able to bring in someone with knowledge of the division as well as experience.
“We are very excited to have Coach Flake join the Starkville Academy faculty as our new head baseball coach,” Head of School Jeremy Nicholas said. “His record as a coach speaks for itself, but even more impressive than that are the outstanding comments that others in our profession say about him. He does a terrific job at developing both the skill level and the character of the young men who play for him.”
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