By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HELENA – Less than 24 hours after the lone head baseball coach in program history departed, the Helena Huskies wasted no time making a massive splash in announcing PJ Guy’s replacement.

Former MLB All-Star and World Series champion Mitch Moreland was announced as Helena’s second head baseball coach on Friday, July 11 in an official social media post.

Moreland is a 12-year MLB veteran who spent time with the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics.

Since retiring from the MLB after the 2021 season, he has since moved to Helena, where he lives with his wife Savannah and three children Crue, Swayze and Ledger. He also previously lived in Pelham.

A native of Armory, Miss., Moreland debuted for the Rangers in 2010 and made an immediate impact, reaching the World Series in each of his first two seasons and making the postseason in five of his seven seasons in Arlington.

During his time with the Rangers, he flashed his leather as one of the best defensive first basemen in the majors, which he solidified by winning the AL Gold Glove for his position in 2016.

However, it wasn’t until he shipped up to Boston when he finally broke through as a champion. After making his Red Sox debut in 2017, he won the World Series in 2018 while playing 124 games. He made the AL All-Star team for the first time in his career with a .245 batting average, .325 on-base percentage and .758 OPS.

A trade during the Covid-shortened 2020 season brought him to the San Diego Padres, but his career there lasted just 20 games before he moved to the Oakland Athletics in 2021. That proved to be his final season in the majors after 12 seasons.

He finished his career with a .251 average, .318 on-base percentage, .446 slugging percentage and .764 OPS, including 1,020 hits, 186 home runs and 618 RBI.

Prior to his major league career, Moreland was a standout player with Mississippi State, reaching the College World Series in 2007 after he was drafted that same year by the Rangers. He is now a member of the Mississippi State Ring of Honor.

Moreland takes over for Guy, who was board-approved as the new head coach at Oak Mountain High School on Thursday, July 10.

Guy led the Huskies since their first season in 2015 and made three state championship series, winning the Class 6A state title in 2017. His teams reached the playoffs in each season that they were held, excluding the Covid-shortened 2020 season.

Moreland will now be tasked with bringing his major league pedigree to Helena and continue its run of seven-straight playoff appearances.