For many years, he wore the hat of Kennett Indians assistant (and later interim head) baseball coach, and now he wears the hat of head baseball coach at North Pemiscot High School.

Stone also wears another hat -- that of scout for the Philadelphia Phillies.

It's not a new hat for Stone, who first got into scouting back in the mid-1980s after playing in the minors for the Phillies and scouted for the team for eight seasons before getting back into it recently.

Stone does a lot of his scouting in the summer because of his high school coaching duties, but he has a lot of autonomy with the job, too.

"The supervisor sometimes calls you wanting you to go to a certain place and watch players," Stone said. "Or you can go out on your own and watch players to see who is up and coming."

Stone looks a lot for five-tool players -- those who hit for average, hit for power, have speed and skill on the basepaths, throw well and field well.

While it is easy to be wowed by a player who can do one thing great, Stone believes in looking at the bigger picture.

"You've got to know really what you look at and what the teams wants in players," said Stone. "You can't just look at one dimension -- you have to look at all five tools...and their knowledge of the game."

When Stone scouts, he tries to get to a game early enough to watch a player during warmups where he can grade their throwing ability.

"Usually when you scout, you want to get to the game early so you can watch them take infield," Stone said. "Usually that's when the scout grades the arm...because they may never get a ball hit in their direction (during the game)."

During Stone's tenure, he has seen several talented players, including Cliff Politte and former Cardinals reliever Ray King. Stone recommended both of them to the Phillies' organization back in the 1990s before other teams grabbed them up. However, the Phillies later acquired Politte in a trade.

"I wrote those two up (on a prospect form) as prospects, but we didn't get them -- they went to other places," said Stone.

However, there is more to it than helping big-league teams find the next All-Star.

"It's fun to go out and look at kids (that) you can talk to and encourage them get better ..." Stone said. "But a kid's got to want it. They have to have that drive and that passion to want it."

Stone's experience in the scouting ranks also helps him with the high school kids he coaches and works with.

"I've been there and I know what it takes," said Stone. "I can relate that to a bunch of kids."

Stone used that talent to help Kennett win its first district title in nine years in 2006, then as the interim coach, took a young, injury-plagued squad last season to the district finals.

"Being a scout, I can help a lot of kids," said Stone. "They may not get to the professional level but I can at least encourage them to get to college and get an education."

Does Stone have any advice for future prospects?

"Hustle all the time and give 110 percent because you never know who is watching," Stone said.