Bio

Wes Thigpen became Gulf Coast baseball coach in July 2019. He arrived in Perkinston with an impressive track record as pitching coach and recruiter, following a playing career that reached the professional level.

Thigpen spent the previous three years at Jones College, where the team went 121-27 (.818) with one MACJC title with two regular-season runner-up finishes. His staffs finished all three years in the top 10 in ERA in Division II, including the 2017 squad which finished second with an eye-popping 2.74 ERA. During his three seasons at Jones, his pitchers had a 3.34 ERA.

He’s coached two pitchers to NJCAA All-American honors and had Will Freeman picked by the San Diego Padres in the MLB Draft.

Thigpen spent 2016 as the pitching coach at Hinds, where all four sophomore pitchers signed to play NCAA Division I.

Thigpen was introduced to the MACJC when he started playing catcher at Meridian in 2008. He was a two-time All-MACJC performer who earned All-NJCAA Region 23 honors as a sophomore.

He moved up Highway 45 to Mississippi State for two seasons as a starter behind the plate. While there, he worked with Butch Thompson, then the pitching coach and now a respected head coach at Auburn. The Bulldogs made the Super Regionals during his senior season in 2011, when he was a team captain.

Thigpen advanced to Double-A with the Detroit Tigers organization in two seasons, but ended his playing career to begin coaching.

Thigpen is originally from Luling, La. He is married to his wife, Holly, and they have a son, Maddox Joseph, 4, and a newborn daughter, Emrie.