Burks takes circuitous route in softball to become coach at Caston
Jun. 10—The Caston softball team took the circuitous route home after winning the semi-state title last Saturday, driving through the towns of the entire school district, including Logansport, Metea, Twelve Mile, Grass Creek, Kewanna, Rochester and Fulton.
Jon Burks has taken a circuitous route in softball en route to becoming the Comets' head coach.
Burks, 57, is a 1983 Logansport grad. He said he grew up as one of the best baseball players in town but did not play varsity ball for the Berries.
"I did not play for our local high school. Unfortunately I did not make the team," he said. "I don't really want to get into it because if I want to be honest with you, I was playing as an 8-year-old in Little League, first one drafted as far as Babe Ruth when they had a draft, All-Stars all the time and then for some reason when I get to the high school I just can't play for them up there. But it was always the same old peers that I hung with. I'd rather just stop there.
"But I went on, I went to college, played some baseball at Central Arizona. An injury got me there. I had to come back and then a family started at a young age. So then I went to tryouts, got with the Pirates organization and then played some independent ball and then all of a sudden this softball came around in '92, '93, right there. And it's been a roll from there. I played at the top of the field as far as in that and won a lot. It's been good to me and that's why I love doing it and giving back."
Burks said he got a call back from the Pirates after a tryout.
"Back in the day they had tryouts and the Expos would have it at old Indianapolis Stadium and the Pirates would hold one there. St. Louis, and the Cubs, actually I went to Bloomington once for the Cubs and went over to Muncie once for the Cubs. You've got to impress in three areas and finally I worked hard enough and impressed and got into the Pirates organization, but I'm just in the file cabinet. But they told me to go to Florida, play in independent ball down there. I did that for awhile but family got in the way and I had to have a job. But that softball took off and I was sponsored by Louisville Slugger for a long time, then DeMarini."
Burks was a 10-time national champion in slow pitch softball. He was inducted into the Indiana NSA Hall of Fame as a player in 2016.
"I've been playing and been around it for 40 years," he said. "I've been around some great coaches. I don't read a lot but I watch a lot of documentaries and one especially was Mike Candrea. He was the girls coach when I was at Central Arizona. He won national championships there. We always would go over and watch the girls of course after practice and his structure and his demeanor and way that he coached was how I mimic that. He was a great coach. He went to California and won something there, came back to Central for baseball, won some NAIA championships there and then went off to Arizona and the rest is history. Great guy."
At the time of his retirement in 2021, Candrea was the all-time winningest coach in college softball history with 1,674 wins. He won eight Women's College World Series titles at Arizona in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2007.
Candrea was the head coach of the United States women's national softball team in 2004 when Team USA won a gold medal, and in 2008, bringing home silver.
Burks' day job is as a glazier at Harris Glass in Logansport. He started his coaching career at Pioneer in baseball when his son, Tanner, now 27, was in high school.
"I was an assistant at Pioneer when [Dick] Farrer was over there. My boy played over there for four years. I was just looking to do that, I wanted to coach, I wanted to try to see if I could," Burks said. "I was looking. I came out here and they gave me an opportunity to be an assistant back in 2018. Then the head coach [Don Helmick] went to another school and there was an opening and I put my name in and they chose me and I thank them and I appreciate it and I love it."
Burks is 63-13 (.829) in his three seasons at Caston. He led them to their first HNAC title in softball last year. They repeated that title this year and have won the first sectional, regional and semi-state championships in program history.
"I'm just so proud of them," he said. "They've been everybody's little brother, picking on them all the time and finally they've got something to talk about. It's awesome."
Caston (22-4) plays Tecumseh (24-9) at 4:30 p.m. today in the Class A state championship game at Bittinger Stadium at Purdue.
