PATIENT JONES MAKING MOST OF OPPORTUNITY

Booneville senior Blazen Jones may be the ultimate poster child for always being ready when your number is called.

These days Jones can be found roaming left field at ballparks across the area but that’s not how it’s always been.

Bearcat head baseball coach Arron Kimes was looking for Jones to make a push for playing time to start the season but an injury prevented that.

“Me and PT (Peyton Tatum) had a collision and I broke two bones (in my hand) and they had to put screws in them and I had to go through therapy,” Jones said.

“We thought he had a chance to start early, He was in the mix and then he broke his hand, and it kind of set him back a little bit,” Kimes said of the preseason. “We were playing a bunt game and you’ve got to catch it and throw it real quick – bang, bang play – and Tatum ran into him.”

Once he was cleared to play, a regular lineup was somewhat set but Kimes still needed Jones in the lineup so he was used as a courtesy runner.

Later Kimes put Jones in the lineup as a designated hitter though results were mixed.

“I had a chance to bat for some games and of course I wasn’t doing good and he took me out and I was running for people again,” said Jones.

To this point in the season Jones (shown getting a lead from second base in a game on April 5) has scored 13 times, which is sixth on the team.

There were still opportunities for an outfielder depending who was on the mound, and that typically meant Jones would come out of the dugout with a glove.

A teammate’s injury changed that, making Jones the everyday left fielder almost two weeks ago.

Jones doesn’t plan on relinquishing the spot. In fact he’s embracing any pressure that comes with a senior leadership role.

“There’s a little bit. I didn’t play a lot my junior year and now I’m playing a lot this year so I don’t have a whole bunch of experience in the field or as a batter, so I don’t know if a lot of them look up to me or not,” said Jones.

Given the youth on the Bearcat squad, Kimes is happy to have the senior in the lineup.

“He’s a hard working kid and always does what you ask him to do,” said Kimes. “Always 'yes sir, no sir.' Never had any problems in the classroom or in school or anything like that. He’s a good leader.”

Teammates were more than glad to have Jones on April 8 in Danville when he made an ESPN Top 10 worthy effort on a sinking fly ball in shallow left.

It wasn’t just the catch, which assistant coach Jake Fennell has said is one of the best he’s ever seen by a high school player, it was the situation.

The game was tied at 7-7. There were two down. It was the bottom of the eighth inning. If the ball is fielded on a hop the winning run may score. If the ball gets away the winning run scores easily.

Off the bat Jones says he was sure he could make the play, then it got dicey.

“For a little bit I did but when I hit the ground by glove twisted and I thought it might come out of my glove but when I pulled it up it was still in the glove,” said Jones.

The glove covering that once injured hand.

“It’s something I won’t forget for sure,” Jones adds.

Jones is also called upon to deliver situational baseball strategy plenty of times, including putting down a bunt like he did to squeeze in a run against Cosssatot River last Friday, or to work pitchers – he’s walked six times and been hit by a pitch three times.

“I do whatever I can do to get on the bags,” said Jones.

Going into today’s game at Mansfield, Jones is hitting .333 with one double and six RBI.

Jones being ever ready for the call is hardly new. While attending school in Booneville his entire life Jones has made himself available to coaches in football, cross country, trap shooting, basketball, and he even tried golf but it was interfering with football.

Jones is also making sure to enjoy every minute as down the stretch of the high school career.

“I’m trying to soak it all in now because before you know it, it’s going to go bye and it’s going to be over and I’m not going to have a college career,” said Jones.

For college Jones plans to earn certification to operate heavy equipment and go to Arkansas Tech University Ozark and finish a welding degree – also aspects of his high school life while in agriculture and FFA classes.

He is also eyeing a criminal justice degree.

Jones is the son of Brad Jones and Jennifer Jones. A middle child, Jones has two sisters, Madalyn, who works in the dental industry, and Jayvin, a 14-year old BJHS cheerleader.