Durwood Munn woke up today as a former baseball coach. After today, he will be a hall of famer.

Munn, who won four state championships at Beulah Hubbard High School in Little Rock before it was consolidated into the Newton County school system, will be inducted into the Crossroad Diamond Club Hall of Fame today in Jackson. He joins the likes of former Meridian Community College baseball coach Corky Palmer and Union native Joey Ezelle. 

“I don’t know what the proper word would be (to describe the feeling),” Munn recalled when he found out he would be inducted several months back. “I didn’t know what to think. I was just so thankful.”

The accolade is well-deserved. At Beulah Hubbard, Munn won four state championships as a baseball coach in 1972, 1984, 1986 and 1987. He also won baseball coach of the year nine different times, including being named The Clarion-Ledger’s coach of the year in 1987 and the Mississippi Association of Coaches’ coach of the year in 1988. In addition, Munn coached the 1985 South All-Star baseball team and was inducted into the Belhaven Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

A baseball player growing up, Munn played Babe Ruth and Dixie Senior youth ball in Meridian and attended Beulah Hubbard when he was in high school. He was even teammates with another local baseball legend.

“(West Lauderdale) coach (Jerry) Boatner and I were teammates all three years we were over there,” Munn said. “I played shortstop, and he played third base and pitched.”

Once he graduated from college with a teaching degree, Munn said he knew immediately he wanted to coach. 

“I love the sport, and as soon as I graduated I was offered the job, and I wanted it,” Munn said. “That’s what I wanted to do. I loved working with kids; I think it has a tendency to keep you young.”

Munn coached at Beulah Hubbard for two different stints, from 1965-72 and from 1979-88. He also coached at Choctaw Central and Heidelberg Academy.

While he’s most known for being a baseball coach, Munn coached basketball as well during his teaching career and even led the 1971 South Girls All-Star squad.

“I played both in college, baseball and basketball,” Munn said. “There wasn’t much of a difference, because I liked both games. It was just natural for me to coach both of them because I played both. I had more success in baseball, but I enjoyed coaching basketball as well.”

The sweetest memories as a coach for Munn were, of course, winning those four state championships, he said.

“There’s nothing like it in sports,” Munn said. “Anytime you win a championship, that’s what your goal is, and when you achieve your goal, it really makes you feel good. It’s special. They can’t take those away from you.”