By CHRISSY SMITH
Slidell?Sports Editor
SLIDELL — Nico Cuccia is ready to live out his dream of playing baseball at the college level.
Cuccia, a senior at Northshore High?School, signed with Southeastern Louisiana University to play baseball.
The 18-year-old will be playing catcher for the Lions, and he is very excited about it.
“This has been my dream every since I was fives year old. This is what I?have been waiting on,”?Cuccia said.
Southeastern contacted Cuccia at the beginning of summer on the first day college coaches are allowed to contact seniors.
“We stayed in touch all through then. I?made an unofficial visit for the first football game this year, and?I loved it there. It was a lot different than the other schools,”?Cuccia said.
The other schools that were interested in Cuccia were West Florida and Meridian Community College.
“Southeastern is closer to home so that played a big part in it. This way, my parents can come see me play,”?Cuccia said who has one brother (Vincent, almost 16) and one sister (Andrea, 8). “My parents are ecstatic.”
Cuccia’s dad wrestled and played football growing up while his mom played volleyball.
Cuccia has been working on his dream for a long time. He started playing SBBA baseball at age five and then he played travel ball starting at age seven.
The Northshore senior said that playing under the Panthers’ coaching staff helped him achieve his dream.
“As a freshman, they helped me make my dream of playing in college a reality. Just seeing who Northshore has put out in the past six and seven years — it’s a bunch of guys to look up to,” Cuccia said.
The catcher plans on majoring in kinesiology to become a P.E. teacher and a coach.