Outlook

Cole Koonce comes into the 2023 season with his arm at 100 percent and is throwing bullets .. Will be in the starting rotation and expected to win big games this season ... Big time arm with big time stuff … Signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale next year.

Career

Appeared in 28 games, with 25 starts … Had a record of 17-3 with 128 strikeouts in 118.1 innings pitched with an earned run average of 5.25 … His 17 victories tie for third on JCCC’s career chart … Also ranks 17^th in innings pitched, tied for seventh in games started and tied for fifth in games with 10+ strikeouts with three. 

Sophomore Year 2023

Earned All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference honorable mention …  Earned NJCAA All-Academic second-team with a GPA of between 3.80-3.99 ... Selected the KJCCC East Pitcher of the Week three times, earning the honor in weeks six, 10 and 11 … Appeared in 18 games, with 16 starts … Posted a record of 13-2 with 89 strikeouts in 78.2 innings pitched with an earned run average of 4.92 … Led the conference and tied for first in the NJCAA with 13 victories … Ranked eighth in the conference in strikeouts … Had three games with 10+ strikeouts, tying for fifth on JCCC’s season chart … Had a streak of seven straight wins followed by a six-game streak … Earned the win in the season opening 9-7 win over North Arkansas, pitching two inning without allowing a hit or run with two strikeouts (2-5-23) … Struck out six over 5.1 innings with three runs allowed in a 5-3 win over Southwestern (2-19-23) … Allowed just three hits and two unearned run with four strikeouts over five innings in a 14-4 win at Cloud County (3-3-23) … Allowed just one run with eight strikeouts over seven innings in a 5-1 win over Fort Scott and was named the East Pitcher of the Week (3-8-23) … Allowed three runs, two earned while striking out 12 batters over 5.1 innings in a 13-4 win at Coffeyville (3-15-23) … Logged six strong innings in a 13-0 win over Highland, allowing just three hits with 10 strikeouts (4-6-23) … Was the week 10 East Pitcher of the Week following that effort … Earned his third East Pitcher of the Week honor after following with another 10 strikeouts in six innings worked in a 10-3 win a Neosho County (4-13-23) … Pitched three no-hit innings with four strikeouts to pick up the win in a 25-7 victory at Labette (5-3-23) … Logged a season high 8.1 innings allowing one run with six strikeouts in a 6-1 win over Colby in the opening round of the Region 6/Plains District Tournament (5-11-23) … Made two appearances in the JUCO World Series, both in relief … His two appearances tie for the most by a JCCC pitcher in a World Series … In his opening call to the mound, allowed one run off two hits with three strikeouts over 2.1 innings worked in a 6-5 loss to Shelton State (5-27-23) … His three strikeouts tie the fifth most in a game by Cavalier pitcher.

Freshman Year 2022

Made 10 appearances on the year, nine as a starter … Posted a 4-1 record with a 5.90 ERA in 39.2 innings on the bump … Allowed 34 runs, 26 earned, off 47 hits with 17 walks and 39 strikeouts … Earned a victory in collegiate debut allowing two runs off three hits with four strikeouts over 4.0 innings in a 6-3 win over nationally ranked Crowder (2-11-22) … Fanned six in 5.0 innings while allowing three runs of four hits in an 11-4 win over Neosho County (3-20-22) … Mowed down six in 6.0 innings in his next outing, but did not factor in the decision of 7-6 loss to Fort Scott (3-26-22) … Scattered five hits with one run allowed and four strikeouts over 5.0 innings in an. 8-4 win over Pratt (4-2-22).

High School  

Was a three-year starter for coach Jim Daffron at Eureka High School, Eureka, Mo. … Graduated 2021 … Was the No. 12 ranked pitcher in the state of Missouri, and the No. 35 overall player in the state according to Perfect Game … Ranked in the top-10 in the state and top 500 nationally by Prep Baseball Report … Earned All-St. Louis Suburban Conference first-team as a senior … Struck out 13 batters over seven innings in a win over Marquette his senior year … Earned Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association Academic All-State as a senior … Finished 5-1 with an earned run average of 1.30, with 85 strikeouts in 51.2 innings pitched … Had an ERA of 0.60 with 27 innings pitched his sophomore year … Did not play his junior year due to the COVID-19 pandemic … Named to the All-State Academic team. 

Personal  

Born Cole Donovan Koonce on March 6, 2003, in Rolla, Mo. … Son of Ben and Danielle Koonce … Has a sister, Lexi … Majoring in business … Also recruited by the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, St. Louis University, Southern Illinois University, Southeast Missouri State University and Western Illinois University … Favorite foods are Mexican and macaroni and cheese … Favorite fast food restaurant is Chipotle … Favorite restaurant is Camila’s … Favorite TV show is Last Chance U … Favorite movie is The Departed … Favorite sports movie is Major League … Favorite book is The Arm … Favorite music entertainer is Drake … Favorite athlete is Jack Flaherty … Favorite sports team is the St. Louis Cardinals … Best player he has played against is catcher/first baseman Jared Jones, who is committed to LSU for 2022