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Former Pike County head baseball coach DeAndre Pitts has joined the Charles Henderson High School baseball coaching staff.

Pitts is a graduate of CHHS, where he was a two-time all-state infielder for the Trojans, helping CHHS capture the 2014 Class 5A State Championship. Pitts earned a .415 batting average with 16 doubles, seven home runs and 57 RBIs as a senior at CHHS.

“I’m truly grateful – and very thankful – to be able to be back home and be able to see some of these familiar faces,” Pitts said of returning to CHHS. “I’m glad to be back home where it all started, being a little kid from Troy with a baseball dream and now I can come back and help the kids from my hometown that have that same dream.”

Pitts went on to play at both East Mississippi Community College and Motlow State Community College before transferring to Longwood University in Virginia. He also played Division I baseball at Tennessee-Wesleyan. Along with playing Division I baseball at Longwood, he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Pitts will serve as infield and outfield coach at CHHS. The past two seasons, he’s served as the head baseball coach at Pike County High School. Under his leadership, Pike County saw its first baseball player sign a college scholarship in more than a decade when Omari Barrow signed with Paine College.

Pitts played alongside current Trojan head coach Chase Smartt on that 2014 championship team at CHHS.

“Me and Chase have played together since we were like seven years old, all the way up through high school,” Pitts said. “We’ve always maintained a good friendship. After I received the call about the possibility of coming home it was a no-brianer for me.”

Pitts, who will also teach 12th grade English, said that he’s excited to be able to give back to students from his hometown.

“I just want to come back and invest in the kids in the program and help build the program back up,” said Pitts. “Chase has done a great job already here but I think putting our heads together – and bouncing ideas off each other – we’ll just continue to build it up further.”