On Monday, February 10, 2025, Duane Case, principal of Hernando High School, was supposed to throw out the pitch for the campus’s first and last baseball game. With a chilly breeze and a light mist, the baseball players on both sides began to warm up for the game they were soon to play. While the players were warming up and having team meetings, Duane Case, a long-time principal and coach of Hernando High School, stepped out on the field. While waiting to throw the first pitch, Mrs. Case, Coach Karr, and the athletic director Mr. Brown, stood to the side, reminiscing about old Hernando memories. Soon after warming up, the national anthem was played, and the players went out on the field to show their respect.
Soon after this moment, Mrs. Case walked to the mound of Hernando High School for the last time. With a ball in hand, standing on the mound, he listened to the announcer talk. Talk about his achievements, his dedication, and the love that he has for this school and community. While the announcer was talking, Mr. Case’s family and a few members of the Diamond Girls club came out on the field holding a sign. Before he got the chance to read it, the announcer said something strange: “Number thirty-three has found its place.”. Confused, Mr. Case started to look around for answers as to what was going on. Following that, the announcer explained how, due to his long and meaningful involvement with Hernando High School, after the conclusion of Brayden Thompson’s senior year, they would be retiring the number thirty-three. Then everyone turned their attention to the back of the field, as two players dropped a black sheet revealing a jersey with the number thirty-three on it. Once all of this was revealed to Mrs. Case, he “was shocked and humbled,” and after he told us, “Coach Karr did that for me because I love this school, I love this town, and it was a big honor.”
Mr. Case’s wife, Stephanie Case, told us, “Coach Karr set this up because Duane graduated from Madison-Ridgeland Academy (the team Hernando was to play that night), and it was really special this being the last year in this building and this being the only place he has ever taught and coached. So, Hernando High School is just really, really important to him.” In addition, Coach Karr, the man who set this whole thing up, told us, “So we were able to start planning this back in the fall of 2024, and we just wanted to do this because we know Mrs. Case has been here for a while, and he has given his life to Hernando High School. Also, back when he started coaching, that was the field that he started coaching on.” and continued with, “Obviously it means a lot to him personally, but it also means a lot to the school and what he’s done, not just on the field, but off the field, and so we wanted to honor him.”
After that last quote from Coach Karr, we began to wonder why the number thirty-three was so special to Mr. Case, so we went to find him. Once we found him in the halls of Hernando High School, we stopped him and began to question him, and this is what he had to say: “Well, the story behind the number is when I was at Delta State, the legendary coach of Delta State was thirty-three; his name was Bob Ferris. He was in a bunch of different things, such as the Mississippi Hall of Fame; he played in the major leagues and was a long-time baseball coach at Delta State. But I was number thirteen when I played at Delta State, and so when I came here, I had a senior that was number thirteen. So, I took thirty-three because of Coach Ferris, and I kept that number all twelve years I was a baseball coach here. So, I just associated that number with him.” After talking to him about that, we decided to ask him how he felt about having his number retired, and he told us, “Being able to come back as the principal here after being a coach here so long, and a bunch of people don’t get that; they get it when they leave. So, it was quite an honor.”
Duane Case’s number thirty-three being retired was a heartfelt tribute to his year of commitment and dedication to Hernando High School and leaves the old high school with his legacy. While also opening the doors for more opportunity at the new high school campus.
