Three Rivers' Noah Stone chose SEMO because 'I've always been about loyalty'

The Southeast Missouri State coaches even asked about how Noah Stone’s dog was doing.

“I’ve always been about loyalty and persistence when it comes to recruiting,” Stone said. “It was personal, too. (pitching coach Matthew Kinney) and ( head coach Andy Sawyers) were always checking up on me.”

The Three Rivers sophomore was initially recruited by SEMO when he was at Lutheran South High School in St. Louis. Stone ultimately chose Arkansas State, and following an elbow injury, transferred to Three Rivers for one season, and eventually committed with SEMO shortly before the pandemic cut Three Rivers’ season short after 22 games.

“All three schools I’ve gone to, I’ve slowly and gradually moved closer to home, so my parents like it,” Stone said. “Coach Sawyers has been around the winning aspects for a long time. I just felt like it was a good fit.”

Kinney kept in touch with Stone back in the fall.

There were some medical concerns with the family of Stone’s girlfriend, whom he met at Arkansas State. The Three Rivers coaches gave him the freedom to travel back and forth as needed.

“I couldn’t imagine a better fit for me at the time,” Stone said. “They helped me grow as a person, as a baseball player, and never looked back. I appreciate and I think the coaches there at Three Rivers for all the stuff they’ve done for me and my girlfriend. They are just great people and great coaches.”

The SEMO coaches asked about Stone and school, but also about his girlfriend.

After a tough start to the spring season where Stone allowed three runs over three innings, but still picked up the win, he was dominant in his next three starts.

He had 11 strikeouts with two walks and two hits in a complete-game shutout against North Central Missouri. A week later in his next start, he beat Georgia Highlands 4-3 and had eight strikeouts with four walks and three hits.

Stone followed that with 14 strikeouts, two walks and two hits over six innings in a 2-1 win over North Iowa and was named NJCAA Pitcher of the Week.

Soon after he signed with SEMO.

“It’s a great school, great environment. I love Capaha Park,” Stone said. “They get a lot of turnout in terms of fans, which is great. They have a great fan base here in campus

At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic was getting bad. Stone’s mother was working at the VA hospital in St. Louis, and Stone knew how bad things were.

“I just started to realize it was going to get halted and postponed or canceled. I kind of realized it before it got canceled,” he said.

He had one more start on March 6 against State Fair, which was his first loss of the season. He was scheduled to face Mineral Area the following Friday, on March 12. His start got postponed to Saturday, then Sunday, and then the season was canceled.

Stone was taking all online classes and told the Three Rivers coaches he wanted to go home before any travel restrictions were put in place, and the coaches were understanding.

He worked out at home every day with his little sister, who is going to play softball at Jefferson College.

They’d throw a baseball around, then a softball, keeping each other accountable.

He and his girlfriend and their dog, who the SEMO coaches asked about, moved into an off-campus apartment in Cape Girardeau on May 30.

Stone got a summer job with Budrovich construction. The president of the St. Louis company, Jeff Budrovich, coached Stone in high school, and Stone got a job at the company’s Scott City branch.

His first day, Stone had to climb into a lull, which is a large fork truck, and pull his boss’ truck out of the mud.

“They’ve had me do a whole bunch of things that in my 20 years of life I never thought I’d do,” said Stone, who works for Budrovich from 7 a.m. to noon, then goes to Capaha Park to throw, works out, and has recently added swimming.

Stone plans to study sports management with a minor in business administration while at SEMO. He hopes to get an MBA after and maybe pursue law school.

“I’ve definitely got a lot more school to go,” he said. “But I am looking forward to it.”