Rhyne Hughes was a standout first baseman at Picayune High School before his stellar career at PRCC in 2003 and 2004, earning NJCAA All-America honors as a sophomore — the MACJC's only representative that year. In 2004, he led the Wildcats to the MACJC State Tournament championship and a berth in the NJCAA Division 2 World Series.
As a freshman at PRCC, Rhyne Hughes hit .369 with 9 home runs and 49 RBIs and was voted the team's most valuable offensive player. As a sophomore, he hit .401, led the nation in home runs with 18 and 18 doubles, was third in the nation in RBIs with 70, and was named to the AII-MACJC and All-Region XXIII teams for the second straight year. The lefthander showed his incredible versatility as he posted a 4-0 pitching record, while striking out 24 batters in 23 innings in 2004.
The Wildcats were a combined 80-23 during Hughes' time at PRCC, including the 2004 state championship.
"My sophomore year was a blast," said Hughes. "My best friend, Matt Riser, was there with me. That was one of our better years, not only because we won the state, but it was the best group of guys I have ever been around."
He signed a scholarship offer with Ole Miss, but never played for the Rebels after the Tampa Bay Rays selected him in the eighth round of the MLB Amateur Draft.
Hughes spent five seasons in the Rays organization before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles in August 2009. That was the year his career took a big step, as he spent much of that season in Class AAA, with Durham and Norfolk in the International League.
He batted a combined .279 with 25 home runs and 79 RBIs.
The Orioles liked what they saw enough that they promoted him to the majors on April 24, 2010, where he debuted against the Boston Red Sox.
Hughes appeared in 14 games for the Orioles, making 51 plate appearances and batting .213 before being sent back to Triple-A, where he spent the remainder of the 2010 season. He spent three more seasons in pro baseball, finishing his career with Binghamton in the New York Mets organization. Altogether, in nine minor-league seasons, Hughes batted .272 with 107 homers and 451 RBIs.
After finishing his professional career, Hughes still needed two more years of college to obtain his bachelor’s degree, so he enrolled at Southeastern Louisiana, graduating with the Class of 2016. While at SLU, he spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons as a student assistant under longtime friend Matt Riser, with whom he played both at Picayune and PRCC, as well as former Wildcat coach Jay Artigues, now the athletic director at SLU.
Hughes later returned to Pearl River, where he was an assistant under head coach Michael Avalon. The Picayune native played a pivotal role in the Wildcats' 2017 MACJC Championship.