VIDALIA, LA — The Pine Belt has a new baseball kingpin, and his roots trace straight back to Vidalia. Huge congratulations are in order for Coach Jarrett Hoffpauir, who has been named Pine Belt Sports Baseball Coach of the Year after leading Presbyterian Christian School (PCS) to its first-ever state baseball championship.
But to those who’ve followed his journey, from batboy on Vidalia High’s 1996 state title team to Major League infielder to championship-winning coach, this honor feels less like a surprise and more like a crowning moment in a lifelong baseball legacy.
Long before PCS lifted the 6A championship trophy, a seventh-grade Hoffpauir stood in awe on the sidelines in Lafayette, watching his older brother Josh Hoffpauir pitch Vidalia High to a state title. “I was the batboy, and I felt just as important as who was pitching in that state championship,” Jarrett told the Concordia Sentinel in May of 2025.
Though he never got to play for a title as a Viking himself, the hunger was born early. That hunger fueled a career stretching into NCAA record books, the Major Leagues, and the coaching ranks.
After high school, Hoffpauir took his talents to the University of Southern Mississippi, where he left an indelible mark. As a junior, he hit a staggering .405 with 92 RBIs, earning a spot on the All-Conference Tournament Team.
That eye-popping production caught the attention of Major League scouts, and in 2004, he was drafted in the 6th round by the St. Louis Cardinals. He would go on to make his Major League debut, etching his name among the select few from Vidalia to reach the highest level of the game.
Following his playing days, Hoffpauir returned home, not just to Concordia Parish, but to the family business of coaching. Under the guidance of his father, legendary local coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir, Jarrett took on a monumental task: launching the first-ever baseball program at Delta Charter School.
In just two postseason-eligible seasons, he led the Storm to a 29-26 record and a Class 1A state championship appearance in 2018. Though they fell short to Merryville, the moment proved pivotal. “I got a taste of it then,” he told the Concordia Sentinel.
In 2015, when he stepped in as Delta Charter’s football coach just a week before the season began, guiding the team through a daunting LHSAA schedule and still managed to earn All-Parish Coach of the Year honors. In fact, Hoffpauir remains the only person in Concordia Parish history to receive All-Parish Coach of the Year in two different sports.
Since taking over at Presbyterian Christian School, Hoffpauir has transformed the Bobcats into a perennial contender. Before his arrival, PCS had never even reached the state finals. Under his leadership, They have achieved a 20 win season in 2021, they were the runner-up in the championship game in 2023 (losing to Jackson Prep), and culminated that in a state championship in 2024 (defeating Hartfield Academy)
All of this was accomplished in a district many have compared to the SEC West of prep baseball, competing against powerhouses like Jackson Prep, Madison-Ridgeland, Jackson Academy, and others.
“It’s not about me,” Hoffpauir told The Pine Belt News. “It’s huge for the school. It’s about those kids and the school, and the work they’ve put in and things like that. This was such a good group to do it with. We had a lot of guys before then to kind of set a foundation. The guys have continued to follow that. This team is going to get all the credit for it, but there’s some teams in the past as well that have kind of helped us get to this point.”
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