Recent Crawfordsville graduate Caleb Coons is ready to get back on the diamond this fall.
Coons will be continiung his baseball career at Vincennes University — a National Junior College Athletic Association member located in southern Indiana.
When Coons saw former Athenian Trent Johnson’s collegiate career take off at Purdue — he wanted a piece of the pie.
“When I saw my teammate make it big at Purdue, Trent really paved the way for me and my fellow teammate Henry Taylor for the path to college baseball,” Coons said.
And the Crawfordsville baseball program helped afford him the opportunity.
“The reps we got in practice. Crawfordsville’s practice was always a competition, whether it be the Banana drill, Who can have the fastest pop time, or who can hit the ball the hardest/farthest,” Coons added.
As a senior in 2021, Coons was Crawfordsville’s starting catcher and No. 2 pitcher. Coons hit .305 with 13 RBI, and had an ERA of 3.39 in 33 innings pitched, allowing just 16 earned runs on 34 hits, while striking out 44.
Coons hopes to be a two-way player for the Trailblazers, but will focus on pitching if that’s what it comes down to.
The Trailblazers sport the blue and gold much like the Athenians — helping Coons make the choice along with the campus atmosphere, where he will study Kinesiology and Sports Wellness. Coons is most excited about the opportunity to use this as a stepping stone to advancing his baseball career even further.
“I hope I can make it to the next level of College Baseball from here,” he said. “It’s a great starting point for someone starting out in the college side of things. I feel like you can really get your name out there with this program. Our competition starting out is going to be tough this fall. But the bigger they are the harder they fall.”
Vincennes openes a 29-game fall schedule on Saturday against Wabash Valley.
