NATCHEZ — Hunter Ogden will have a chance to follow in the footsteps of his father at Trinity Episcopal Day School — the only difference being the gender of the players he coaches, and the size of the ball.

Robert Ogden started the softball program at Trinity in the mid-2000s before he died in 2007. Now, his son will have a chance to carry on his Trinity legacy as the new head baseball coach of the Saints.

Ogden replaces Kyle Ketchings, who will depart Trinity after one season to pursue law school. Ogden will also be an assistant coach for the football team. With his father’s history at Trinity, Ogden said he’s looking forward to coaching at the school.

“It definitely had a big impact on me coming back,” Ogden said. “Anytime you can follow your dad, it makes it easier I guess. I think he’d be happy if he found out I was there.”

A Natchez native, Ogden previously coached as an assistant baseball coach at Adams County Christian School in the 2010-11 school year. He spent the next year coaching at Brookhaven Academy before taking over the baseball program at Amite School Center this past season. ASC went 16-6 under his watch.

Ogden said he was grateful for the opportunity to coach at a place like Trinity, he said.

“It’s always been a great academic school, and especially in the last 10-plus years, athletics have been top-notch as well,” Ogden said. “I’m a Natchez boy, and I know a lot of people with the school.”

Head football coach and athletic director Josh Loy contacted Ogden in April about the football and baseball vacancy, and Ogden said his history with Loy made it an easy move for him.

“I’ve known Josh for several years, and we have a good relationship,” Ogden said. “We communicate well. That’s going to be beneficial, because him being the AD, I have to be able to communicate very well.”

Though Trinity will lose a few standouts because of graduation this year, Ogden said he’s excited about what the future holds for the Saints’ baseball program.

“We have some good players coming up,” Ogden said. “We have a good pitcher in Quinton Logan who I’m very excited to coach, because he has a lot of upside. I know the numbers were down, but I’m going to try to get as many guys out there as I can get.”

Ogden said moving down to Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class A gives the Saints a chance to do very well in the future. He also said his coaching style will be to teach all aspects of baseball, not just stress one part of the game.

“I’m really hands-on, and I’m all about fundamentals and teaching kids how they get where they need to be,” Ogden said. “They’re probably going to take more reps with me with groundballs and popups than they’ve probably ever done before.

“It seems more and more that you have to go back to the basics, and I really feel like that’s what we’ll do. I’ll teach them from point A to point B and all the way up.”

For now, Ogden said he’s been back and forth between ASC and Trinity as he assists in coaching the football players during spring practice.