PREP BASEBALL 1992 / FREEWAY LEAGUE : Coon’s Outfield Patrol Keeps Games Safe for Troy High Pitchers : Freeway League: Senior, who hopes to become a police officer, has earned a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton.

Whether he’s roaming the outfield for Troy’s baseball team or the streets of Carson in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s ride-along program, Brent Coon is constantly on patrol.

Coon is an outstanding fielder who says, “I love the feeling of being free in the outfield.”

Coon combines speed with a passion for leaping or diving for any ball hit in his direction. He has a strong arm and good instincts. In short, Coon is a natural.

“If there’s a better outfielder in Orange County, I haven’t seen him,” Troy Coach Dane Ilertsen said. “There’s a reason Brent Coon is so good. He works harder than anyone on the team. The guy’s work ethic is unbelievable.”

Coon’s skills, drive and determination earned him a scholarship at Cal State Fullerton, where he plans to major in criminal justice. Someday, Coon plans to carry a badge rather than a glove.

“A friend in our neighborhood got me interested in becoming a police officer,” Coon said. “It’s always seemed like an interesting job to me. It’s something I’d really like to do.”

Coon’s quest to become a cop began a year ago, when he participated in the county sheriff’s ride-along program on some of the meanest streets of Los Angeles. Coon saw where it all comes down--the drug dealers, the gangs and the turf where home boys hang.

“It was a pretty quiet night, but they showed where the trouble generally starts and where they patrol to try and keep things quiet,” Coon said. “It was a real eye-opener.”

Coon hopes to post some eye-opening numbers this season. Last year, he batted .362 with four home runs, 19 runs batted in and 15 stolen bases and was a first-team, all-league selection.

“Above all, I want to have fun this year,” Coon said. “One of the reasons I signed early was to get it out of the way so that I could concentrate on my senior year. I don’t want any distractions.

“I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on myself. I think we’re going to have a good team, but we’ve got a lot of younger players. It’s going to be up to me and Brent (Lacher) to provide the leadership for this team.”

But privately, Coon would like to bat .400 and continue to improve on his home run production. Coon’s four homers last year were the most he has hit in a season.

“I’d always been the biggest kid on my teams in Little League but never hit home runs,” Coon said. “I’ve always been a contact hitter. I’ve only hit six homers in my whole career.”

Coon started playing baseball as a 6-year-old but at 12 he decided he didn’t want to play any longer. Coon told his dad, Loy, a former football standout at Brea-Olinda High, that he was quitting.

“I was burned out and frustrated,” he said. “But I took a summer off and ever since then, I’ve been playing the game year round.”

Last summer, he played in the Area Code all-star games in Fresno, where he impressed scouts and college coaches with his fielding skills. He received offers from Arizona State and Oklahoma, but a long-time friendship with Cal State Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido was a deciding factor.

“I’ve wanted to go to Fullerton since I was a little kid,” Coon said. “I used to play football with Mike Monday and Augie would take us to the batting cages.”

But at one point, Coon wondered if Garrido was going to call. Arizona State was the first college to contact Coon. When he returned home from a visit to Tempe, Oklahoma sought his services.

“I was impressed with both schools, but I’m a Southern California kid and I didn’t want to leave home. I was beginning to think that Fullerton wasn’t going to call. When Coach (George) Horton, (Fullerton’s associate head coach), finally called, I told him I was coming. Coach (Rick) Vanderhook brought the papers over and I signed on Nov. 18.”

Coon’s only weakness would appear to be consistency as a power hitter. So he decided to attend the Dinger Hitting Clinic at Cal State Long Beach last year to improve his long-ball skills.

“I learned a lot and it must have been good for me . . . I hit four homers last year,” he said.