Coons: Iola’s success no surprise

There was a time that Mason Coons’ favorite sport was dictated by the calendar.
“If it was football season, I liked football,” he said. “Baseball season, it was baseball. Same thing for basketball.”
After a while, that trend shifted.
While Coons became an accomplished athlete on the football field and basketball court, he felt most at home on the baseball diamond.
Part of it was because playing baseball offered an opportunity to continue to hang out with friends. With longer seasons, and more traveling teams, Coons and company spent more time on the base paths than anywhere else.
Just as importantly, Coons found he was rather good at it.
Through high school, Coons became an integral member of the highly successful Iola High Mustang squad that eventually made it in May to the Class 4A state championship game.
Now, he’s a part of Iola’s three-time state-qualifying AA American Legion squad.
Along with Levi Ashmore and Jarred Latta, Coons is one of three Indian starters to be a part of Iola’s unprecedented run of three state tournaments.
He and the Iola squad will be in Pratt starting Wednesday, looking to defend the Indians’ 2012 state crown. Matchups still were being ironed out today.
While he confesses to not knowing much of anything about any of Iola’s upcoming opponents, Coons is optimistic.
“We’ll be the best team out there,” he said.

COONS, LIKE several of his Indian teammates, offers Iola plenty of versatility. Having played every position but center field, he has manned the No. 3 spot in the batting order since the start of the season.
Coons is hitting at a .474 clip, with a staggering .615 on-base percentage, which accounts for walks. He has driven in 41 runs in 38 games.
On the mound, he has compiled a 6-1 record with a 2.46 earned run average, allowing 26 hits in 31 1/3 innings. He also averaged more than a strikeout per inning, while limiting opponents to a .224 batting average.
“I’d say that’s my strength,” he said. “I can play pretty much wherever they need me.”
He doesn’t have a favorite position.
“Probably the infield,” he said. “I would probably want to play second base full time if I could, but I really don’t have the right body size to be a prototypical second baseman.”
So Coons is content to suit up wherever and whenever asked.
He will take his talents across town starting in the fall as a member of the Allen Community College Red Devils. Coons has been signed at ACC with the intention of playing first base.

IOLA HAS been successful in years past at the American Legion level. The Indians won the state title in 1988 and finished runner-up two years later.
But the current three-year run is unprecedented for Post 15.
Even more importantly, Coons notes only three starters have been on all three teams, each of which had distinctive personalities and playing styles.
The 2011 squad had powerful bats in the lineup, Coons noted, with a number of heady players who stressed fundamental discipline.
The 2012 state championship team retained several powerful bats in the lineup, and could usually outscore its opponents.
This year’s team, meanwhile, lost half its starting lineup and had to rely on key younger players from the outset.
“Last year there were a lot of head-strong players,” Coons recalled. “This year, everybody has meshed together so well. And I don’t think anybody can match our pitching.”
Coons attributes that to the added emphasis on playing baseball for younger kids in Iola.
“I can remember looking up to the older players when I was younger, trying to be like them,” he said. “I think we’re doing that today for the younger generation, too. Absolutely, I think we’re building something successful.”