Southridge baseball coach Gene Mattingly retires after 20 years

Southridge baseball is entering a rare turnover point after Gene Mattingly retired following 20 years with the program, including nine seasons as head coach. The Raiders will begin a search immediately for a new leader, ending an era that changed the standard for baseball in Huntingburg and across Dubois County.

Mattingly’s résumé at Southridge includes three semi-state championships, three regional championships, four sectional championships and the program’s first state title in 2021. That title run came after Southridge endured three straight trips to the state finals in 2018, 2019 and 2021, with the 2020 season wiped out by the pandemic.

The defining breakthrough came at Victory Field, where Southridge beat Hanover Central 2-0 in the Class 3A championship game for the first state crown in program history. The victory capped a stretch in which Southridge repeatedly played on the biggest stage in Indiana high school baseball and turned the Raiders into one of the state’s most consistent contenders.

The retirement also closes a chapter that carried deep personal meaning inside the Southridge community. Mattingly’s daughter, Alexa “Lexi” Layne Mattingly, died in April 2017 at age 16, and local coverage at the time noted that the Raiders dedicated the 2018 season to her memory. For many families around Huntingburg, that connection made Southridge baseball more than a winning program. It became part of the town’s emotional fabric.

Mattingly’s legacy also reaches beyond Dubois County’s borders. Southridge’s rise overlapped with the years Colson Montgomery starred for the Raiders, and later coverage credited Mattingly with guiding Southridge to three state championships during Montgomery’s time in the program. With Montgomery now a major-league player, Mattingly’s retirement carries added weight for a program that helped produce one of the region’s most visible baseball names.

Southridge’s athletics site and MaxPreps still listed Mattingly as head coach in spring 2026, a reminder of how recently the program’s leadership was expected to remain unchanged. Now the task shifts to finding the next coach who can inherit a team defined by championship expectations, statewide credibility and a community that has come to measure success through Southridge baseball.