With former Kosciusko baseball coach Jonathan Jones' departure for Neshoba Central, the longtime Whippets' coach leaves behind more than just hundreds of wins.
In the more than a decade Jones spent as Kosciusko's skipper, he impacted the lives of countless numbers of his players. Some played the game beyond high school, while others ended their prep careers with graduation. Despite their different paths, each carried with them life lessons gleaned from their high school coach.
The Star Herald caught up with a handful of Jones' former players, who shared what he taught each of them about baseball and life.
— Logan Fancher, Class of 2018, first baseman and pitcher, played for one season at Mississippi Delta Community College:
"Never give up in anything you do, whether you face adversity or not," Fancher said. "Play with your full potential and give it your best effort. There have been so many games that I've played in when we were down by a lot of runs and came back. He would constantly say throughout the game, even if we were down to the last two innings or so, don't stop fighting. Usually, we'd come back and tie the game or win the game."
— Wesley Chunn, Class of 2008, shortstop and pitcher, played for Kosciusko in Jones' first two seasons as head coach:
"Never quit," Chunn said. "It doesn't matter what's thrown your way, or what's going on in the game or at home or wherever. Never quit going at it. I know I'm grateful for the impact that he's had in my life, as well as the community. He gave 200 percent whether it was off-season, regular season, playoffs, every day that he was here. He never gave us anything short of his best, and I have much respect for him, for sure."
— Brodie Threet, Class of 2014, catcher, played at Holmes Community College and the University of Arkansas at Monticello:
"He definitely gets you prepared for life," Threet said. "He does a good job of toughening you up. He's not scared to do things a different way. He's a great coach, but he'll do off-the-wall stuff to get you prepared — in game, it doesn't matter. He's willing to do whatever it takes."
— Ty McGee, Class of 2015, first baseman, played football at Millsaps College:
"He did an awesome job of teaching us as high school kids that lessons we learned in baseball can go on to life, and what it means to be a potentially good husband one day, and hopefully a good father one day, as well," McGee said. "And also, Coach Jones always emphasized, 'Do your job.' That's one of the things he says a lot to all of his baseball players -- the job you may have may not be the one that always seems the most glamorous or the most fun or gets the glory, but if you're doing your job, and someone else is doing their job, the team can be successful. I think he did a really good job of not only coaching us up as high school kids but coaching us (about) what it should be like to be good men one day."
