Porter head baseball coach Jared Webster moves into his fourth year as coach of the Pirates and has his first senior class that is all his. Included in that class is senior Mason Plunk who is a four-year starter at shortstop and has also done some pitching along the way. Batting lead-off, he hit .351 in his sophomore year and .375 last year with 35 RBIs.
“Mason is a good leader by example for us,” said Webster. “He’s always one of the first on the field and if he beats me to the cage, starts throwing batting practice and you can depend on him to do what’s asked of him. I think he’s improving on becoming a more vocal team leader. I know as a player that didn’t come naturally to me and I think he’s trying to work on that this year.”
Mason grew up watching his older sister play softball and his dad started a little league in Porter with Mason and some of his friends and then he found a good role model to follow as he got in to high school.
“My sophomore year I looked up to my best friend’s older brother Jackson Cole who was a senior. I’d grown up watching him play and we both played shortstop and pitched some and he set a pattern for me to follow. Now as a senior leader I think setting a good example is important this year because we have a lot of freshmen and if they see what you do and how you do it, they’ll tend to follow in your footsteps like I’ve done with Jackson.”
Mason also plays basketball for the Pirates and scored 30+ points in a couple of games this year which he claims as a highlight of his athletic career at Porter. As far as goals for his last season of baseball, Mason focuses on his defense.
“I really want to keep my errors down more this year and be the team’s defensive player of the year. I’d also like to get some college offers this year for either baseball or basketball and play at the next level.”
Ever humble, Mason is down to earth when it comes to his legacy at Porter.
“I’d just like to be remembered as a kid that played shortstop and was always there for my teammates when they needed me.”
