Bio

Former EMCC and Mississippi College slugger Wesley Sides is in his second year on Brett Kimbrel’s East Mississippi Community College baseball coaching staff after having returned to his junior college alma mater prior to the 2024-25 academic year.

Sides, a former power-hitting infielder for Kimbrel’s 2021 and 2022 EMCC teams, has taken on some additional recruiting and scouting responsibilities in an elevated coaching role for the Lions this coming season.

During his two-year EMCC playing career as a 69-game starter when he posted a .311 career batting average and .593 slugging percentage, including 18 home runs and 14 doubles, Sides also totaled 60 RBIs and 71 runs scored for the Lions. The Southaven native capped his playing days in Scooba by leading the 2022 Lions in average (.346), home runs (13), RBIs (40), runs scored (47), doubles (8), total bases (102), and slugging percentage (.642). Sides’ team-best offensive numbers as a sophomore helped lead the 28-19 Lions to a third-place finish in the final MACCC regular-season standings as they made their first NJCAA Region 23 baseball playoff appearance since 2015.

Sides continued his collegiate playing career at Mississippi College, where he finished third on the team in average (.345), home runs (12), RBIs (40), doubles (10), total bases (98), and slugging percentage (.676) as a 45-game senior starter. Along with leading the 2024 Choctaws with a .495 on-base percentage that included a team-high 39 bases on balls, he ranked second on the club with 42 runs scored.

Along with helping DeSoto Central High School to a 2019 MHSAA Class 6A baseball championship as a junior and serving as team captain during the Jaguars’ pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Sides capped his prep career by receiving the prestigious Bob Patterson Scholarship Award for his impact both on and off the playing field as well as for his involvement with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He also handled play-by-play broadcasting duties during DeSoto Central’s award-winning Jag TV football and basketball livestream broadcasts.