BY STEVE KRAH
Paul Jones is teaching baseball as head coach at North Knox Junior-Senior High School in Bicknell, Ind.
But that’s not all.
“We try to teach them some life skills as we go, too,” says Jones, a 1995 North Knox graduate entering his fourth season in charge of the Warriors in 2019. “We are student-athletes first. You have to pass classes first to be eligible. The athlete comes after.
“We show up for practice, work hard and try to improve.”
Jones is a Knox County deputy and resource officer at North Knox Intermediate School. He has been with the county for three years. He served 16 with the city of Bicknell, including eight as chief of police.
North Knox (enrollment around 410) is a member of the Blue Chip Conference (with Barr-Reeve, Loogootee, Northeast Dubois, Shoals, South Knox, Vincennes Rivet, Washington Catholic and Wood Memorial).
Each team plays the other once to determine the conference champion.
Non-conference opponents for the Warriors include Clay City, Eastern Greene, Lawrenceville (Ill.), Linton-Stockton, Mitchell, North Central (Farmersburg), North Daviess, Pike Central, Shakamak, Sullivan, Washington and White River Valley. North Knox is scheduled to play in the March 30 Springs Valley tournament (which also includes Clay City and Loogootee) and the April 27 Evansville Bosse Invitational on historic Bosse Field.
The Warriors are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Eastern Greene, Linton-Stockton, Mitchell, South Knox and Southridge. North Knox has won six sectional crowns — the last in 1998.
Jones is assisted by Damon Yenne, Roger Lemons (statistician), Mike Sheren and Josh Decoursey.
North Knox field a varsity and junior varsity team, but does not have enough players for both to play in separate locations on the same day.
Feeding the high school is a junior high program coached by Ray Clark and Randy Archer. The team plays some games at the high school and some at Vincennes Babe Ruth League.
Youth baseball has been played in Bicknell, Freelandville and Oaktown, but numbers have been low.
“Baseball around here has been dying out,” says Jones. “I’ve been trying to bring it back.”
Jones, a Vincennes University graduate, coached travel baseball in the area before taking over at North Knox. His son, Cole Jones, plays in the summer of the J Cards of Jasper, Ind.
North Knox graduate Brayden Trinkle is now on the baseball team at Vincennes University.
Tragedy hit the community with the death of Jacob Williams. He was one of the top students in his class and a baseball and football player. He drowned in a stripper pit in July 2017, the summer before what would have been his sophomore year at North Knox. The baseball team wore a memorial patch for him last season and is remembered on social media with a hashtag: #livelikejacob.
“He is still missed by his friends and classmates,” says Jones. “I had coached him on other teams (as he was) growing up.”
Paul and Jennifer Jones have been married for 19 years. Jennifer Jones is a teacher’s aide/physical education teacher at North Knox Primary School. Besides 16-year-old Cole, who played soccer and basketball as well as baseball, the couple has seventh grader volleyball, basketball and softball player Reagan (13) and kindergartner Cambrie (6).
Nevin Ashley, a 2003 North Knox graduate, played three seasons at Indiana State University and 11 in professional baseball, including 12 games in the big leagues with the 2015 Milwaukee Brewers.
The 2018 North Knox Warriors (from left): First row — Austin Greubel, Chase Albrecht, Brayten Trinkle, Brant Trinkle and Cole Richter; Second row — Cole Jones, Brayden Thorne, Zach Boyles, Caleb Wise, Ethan Snyder, Ty Crane, David Lamb and Jacob Simison; Third row — head coach Paul Jones, statistician Roger Lemons, Brandon Decoursey, Keagan Thomas, Trey Keller, Dennis Stalcup and assistants Damon Yenne and Josh Decoursey.
Paul Jones, a 1995 North Knox Junior-Senior High School graduate, is head baseball coach at the school. He is also a Knox County deputy and resource officer at North Knox Intermediate School.
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