No one can predict the future. If anyone knows that, it’s Mark Percy.
This season was supposed to be Percy’s last at the helm for Iola High baseball, closing out a 16-year career with the class that helped bring him a state championship in 2018.
Aspirations of another title this year were cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the cancelation of the spring sports season. Even though he never received his send-off season, Percy is still calling it quits.
“I know if I coached again, I’d still be fired up,” Percy said. “Maybe this makes it even more of the time than it should have been. Some people say, ‘Oh, well, maybe you should come back,’ but now maybe I shouldn’t, either. I had my mind made up already, and wanted to go out with this class. It wasn’t because they were more special, but it was because it was just the right time.”
Percy arrived at Iola High to coach football in 2000, and planned on taking over the program. While that door never opened, another one did. Iola High was looking to field a baseball team in 2005, garnering Percy’s attention.
Percy played at Allen Community College before finishing up at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo.
Percy also coached at ACC during the 1983 season and into the pre-season of 1984. Although firmly qualified, Percy knew it was going to take patience to build a program.
“You are going into a brand new deal, and you really don’t know what to expect. The first four years were kind of tough because we had (American) Legion ball, but then we didn’t have Legion ball for the last few years leading up to the start of the program. So, most of these kids were overall pretty raw. We had some talent, but they were just raw because they hadn’t played for so many years.”
After four losing seasons, the Mustangs picked up their first winning record in 2009, never dipping below .500 since. Percy’s goal from the outset was to compete with each team in the talented Southeast Kansas League. Some nights the ball bounced Iola’s way, and others not, but the discipline displayed by Percy’s players fueled the foundation.
“I think the players have to buy in, and that is even more important than the x’s and o’s,” Percy said. “The players have to buy in, and commit, or it doesn’t matter what you are running because they are not going to commit. If they are not committed, they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. It is all about the little things.”
A talented group of incoming freshmen in 2009 featuring Jerrik Sigg and Clint Heffern went on to reach the regional championship in 2012, falling short to Ottawa. A year later, Levi Ashmore and Trent Latta led the Mustangs to Iola’s first-ever state appearance. Sitting at 20-0 heading into the state championship, Iola was unable to carve out a victory in the title game.
“In 2014 we had a pretty good team again, but we just weren’t deep enough,” Percy said. “Then in 2015, we made it back to state, and again, we just didn’t have the hitting we needed. We had a bunch of kids who played hard, but we kind of just ran into a buzzsaw there. Baxter Springs had two of the best pitchers in the state, and they were both sophomores, which was crazy. We ended up facing one of them and they one-hit us.”
In 2016, Iola failed to make it back to state, and while the Mustangs reached the tournament again in 2017, they bowed out in the first round. For the 2018 season, Percy set the expectations from the start.
“From day one we talked about being the best team in the state. If we didn’t play very well, we still had the best team in the state, but we can’t play like that because we are not going to get where we want to. That was kind of our mindset the whole year.”
Iola lost its first game, then won 18 straight before ending the season with a loss to Independence. Percy admits he was worried heading into the postseason after a lazy loss to conclude the regular season, but those doubts were soon put to rest. Iola beat Prairie View 4-1 and Girard 1-0 in the to cement its place in the 4A-DII state tournament.
