Thuresday, July 28, 2005
Pearl River’s Artigues new SELU head baseball coach
Wildcat mentor guided PRCC to 2002 World Series berth, 2004 MACJC championship during four-year tenure

POPLARVILLE — Pearl River Community College head baseball coach Jay Artigues is heading to Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond to replace Dan Canevari who resigned his head coaching post June 28 after three seasons with the Lions.
    Artigues, a former All-MACJC infielder at PRCC, was hired in 2002 to lead the Wildcats and guided the team to unprecedented heights; including a NJCAA Division II World Series berth and Region 23 championship in his first season in Poplarville and an MACJC state championship in 2004. His 2005 team finished No. 1 in the final NJCAA Division II baseball poll.
    The Wildcats qualified for both the state and regional tournaments all four years during his tenure and the Bay St. Louis native was selected as Region 23 and Central District “Coach of the Year” in 2002.
    Artigues was one of the finalists for the SELU job when Canevari was hired as the Lions head coach in 2003.
    While at Pearl River, Artigues was 170-48 and posted a 46-12 record this past season, marking the most wins ever by the Wildcat squad. PRCC also boasted a record 28-game winning streak during 2005. He arrived at Pearl River via Bossier Parish (La.) CC where he compiled a 109-57 record in three seasons. Artigues career Juco record is 279-105.
    Artigues began his coaching career in the 1992-93 school year as an assistant at Spring Hill College in Mobile, then served as dean of students and head baseball coach at St. Louis Catholic High School in Lake Charles, La., from 1993 until 1996. He was athletic director and head baseball coach at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Hammond during the 1996-97 school year before moving on to the University of New Orleans as an assistant coach the following year.
    Artigues was hired as BPCC’s head coach in 1998.
    A graduate of St. Stanislaus Prep, Artigues was one of the most prolific hitters in history for the Rockachaws; batting .535 his senior year. He signed on with PRCC for the 1988 and 1989 season where he batted .414 and .416 his freshman and sophomore season, respectively, and earned all MACJC and All-Region 23 honors his final year. Artigues continued his collegiate career at Belhaven College in Jackson where he was an All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference selection.
    He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Belhaven in 1992 and his master’s in athletic administration from the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Ala., in 1993.
    Artigues and his wife, Rachel, are the parents of two sons; Christopher and Casey.