Sargent set to play ball in Iowa

Sargent set to play ball in Iowa

Marion grad moving on to Mount Mercy University

Sports Editor Joel Sargent is trading in Arkansas farmland for Iowa corn fields this fall.

The 2016 Marion graduate signed a letter of intent to play college baseball for Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“I’m really excited right now,” says Sargent. “I’m ready to go there and give it my best shot.”

Sargent was a four-year player for the Patriots in high school and played all over the diamond, from starting and relieving as a pitcher, to playing the corner outfield spots.

That also seems as though it’ll be in his future once he suits up for the Mustangs. “They asked me to be a reliever and play the outfield when I get there,” said the left-handed Sargent.

Sargent’s high school coach, Daniel Kelley, offered some praise for his senior that transcended what he may have contributed to the Pats on the field.

“Joel is a fantastic kid.

There aren’t many kids better than him as far as work ethic, he’s a highcharacter kid,” Kelley explained. “He’s always been a fantastic teammate first before anything else.

You can’t really ask for anything more than that.”

Mount Mercy was 34-14 overall last season, with a sterling 11-1 mark in conference play. The Mustangs were 2-2 in the A.I.I. Baseball Tournament with wins against College of the Ozarks (8-4) and Talladega College (15-12) and losses to Georgia Gwinnett College (9-1) and Texas A& M University at Texarkana (31).

Sargent says that he’s excited about baseball, but his anticipation for this next chapter of his life goes deeper than that.

“I liked that it was a small campus, but not a big town,” Sargent says. “It seems as though there will be several benefits to my career from going to that particular school.”

By Chuck Livingston