As mentioned by a few others, I was also coached by Jim. In my time playing for him on the Slammers, we went to St. Louis for Nationals. Like many of the other girls on the team, that week was one to remember. I’ll never forget blasting “Car Wash” any time we were in the team van. But my favorite thing about Coach Stoner was that he always believed in us. I can remember being up at bat, swinging at a bad pitch and turning to look down at the 3rd base box, dreading the reaction I was about to get. But every time he would point to his head and say with an encouraging smile, “good idea!” He always saw the positive no matter what we did. Although that doesn’t mean he didn’t demand a lot of us. As ten year olds, we learned a lot from Jim. I can remember running multiple laps even before practice had started. He had a vision and he knew how to get there, we just needed to put in the effort. The skills and lessons that I learned from Jim are things I still use today. He taught us that hard work, determination, and sacrifice would get us to where we wanted to go. But most importantly, he brought us together as a unit. Players, coaches, parents, siblings; we were all a part of the Slammers and we need to work together to achieve our goal. Overall, Jim was an amazing coach and played a crucial role in my growth as a softball player, but more importantly, as a person. My heart goes out to DeAnn, Delaney, Jordan, Luke and the rest of the Stoner family. Jim was wonderful person. He was cherished and will be missed by all who knew him.
