Coach Andy Richey is a renowned softball coach who has coached and taught for 37 years.  Born in Tupelo, Andrew (Andy) Wayne Richey is a 1981 graduate of Saltillo High who achieved his college degree from Mississippi State in 1985.  He began his 37-year coaching career in 1989 by serving as an assistant coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College.  He continued as an assistant football and head track coach at Houston, West Point, and Okolona before arriving at Thrasher in 1998.  He guided the Thrasher football, track, and baseball programs for the next 7 seasons as head coach, and then took over at Wheeler as head softball coach and athletic director.  Andy led the Wheeler Eagles in slow and fast pitch softball for 15 years.  During his tenure at Wheeler, the Eagles claimed 6 slow pitch and 5 fast pitch division titles for a total of 11 division crowns.  His 2010 Eagles slow pitch team had a record of 30-7 with a division title, a North half crown, and a state runner-up finish.  Andy’s 2011 fast pitch Wheeler squad won a division title and was North half runner-up. Coach Richey then took over at Tupelo Christian for 2 years, worked at Jumpertown for a season, and returned to Thrasher for the last three seasons.  Overall, Andy coached in 805 slow pitch and fast pitch games claiming 430 wins with 375 losses for a 54% winning mark.  Coach Richey is a 13-time division coach of the year with 6 slow pitch honors and 7 fast pitch accolades.  He was the 2010 North Mississippi Softball Coaches Association slow pitch softball coach of the year and received that organization’s fast pitch coach of the year honors 12 times from 2012 to 2024.  Andy is a five-time MAC All-Star coach with 2 for slow pitch and 3 for fast pitch.  In 2023, Coach Richey received the prestigious MAC Roy Garcia Outstanding Coach of the Year award.  Andy has been a member of the MAC his entire career and has served on the North Mississippi softball committee, the MAC Softball Committee, and was MAC Vice President and President from 2014 to 2016.  He has always been an active member of the community as an acting elder for the Covenant Presbyterian Church and he worked for the Booneville City Parks as director of baseball, softball, soccer, and the umpires during the summer months.