Coast pitcher strikes it big with spot on prestigious summer league program

Former West Harrison High ace Jacques Pucheu, a pitcher at Austin Peay University and Gulfport native, got called up to play baseball for a prestigious Summer League program.

Pucheu landed in Boston about 1 p.m. Wednesday and caught a bus to Cape Cod to claim his spot on the Hyannis Harbor Hawks roster.

The Harbor Hawks team is part of the Cape Cod Baseball League, one of the the most prestigious wood bat summer leagues in the U.S.

Pucheu won’t be the only Mississippi player around — one of his coaches is former Mississippi State University powerhouse Ron Polk.

Polk, considered the “Father of SEC Baseball,” was a longtime head baseball coach for the MSU Bulldogs. In 31 seasons as a coach for the SEC, Polk has an 1139-590-2 (.667) record and a career record at 1373-702-2, according to the Harbor Hawks website. Polk made it to the College World Series eight times.

Pucheu was activated on the Harbor Hawks roster Wednesday.

Pucheu — who’s coming off an exceptional, record-setting season for the Governors in Clarksville, Tennessee — is guided by faith. He’s often seen pausing before games and looking up to pray.

He’s never alone on the mound, either. “Be with me,” he asks his sister, Sydney, who died in car crash last year. She was leaving Dallas and headed home to Gulfport to be with her family for the Thanksgiving holiday.

When asked how he copes with his sister’s loss, Pucheu said, “Pray. Love your teammates. Love your family. Love your friends. Find people you can talk to. Faith is my number one priority. I know one day I’ll see her again...”