JACKSON — Belhaven baseball coach Hill Denson announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the 2019 season, bringing to an end a career that spanned 33 seasons.

Denson coached at Southern Miss from 1984-97, retired once, and then took over at Belhaven in 2001. He’s won 1,058 games as a college coach and won eight conference championships.

Belhaven made the school’s first-ever appearance in the NAIA World Series on his watch in 2010.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my 19 years here at Belhaven,” Denson said in a statement. “I would like to thank the administration here for putting me in charge of this program for so many years and I am grateful to all of the players who have given me the opportunity to be their coach. I’m stepping away from the game that has been a huge part of my life in order to slow down a little and spend more time with my wife, kids, and grandchildren.”

Denson also coached in high school at Callaway, Manhattan High School, and Chamberlain-Hunt Academy in Port Gibson.

Denson was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Belhaven opens the 2019 baseball season Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. against LeTourneau, at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson.