A big break came Braxton Meguiar’s way this winter, and he has taken advantage of it in an even bigger way.
The 2020 graduate of Logan County High School is not only playing second base for the number one ranked baseball team in NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), but he’s starting and continuing to play well for the defending national champions.
Georgia Gwinnett has won all four weekend series in February and is playing the way you would expect a perennial powerhouse program to perform.
This fall, Meguiar was in his second year at Wabash Valley in Illinois. Wabash is always one of the top teams in junior college baseball. He played sparingly last season and it became obvious he was not going to be a major part of the lineup this year. Even though he hit well in fall practice, it wasn’t enough.
“He went to the coaches afterwards and told them he wanted to go some place where he is needed,” says his dad, Logan County Baseball Coach Ethan Meguiar. “They were not only very understanding, but they helped him to find a new team. He was in the right place at the right time.”
As it turned out, Georgia Gwinnett had an immediate need for a middle infielder. The Grizzlies met with Meguiar, liked what they saw and signed him.
So far, Braxton has not only started every game for the Grizzlies, but he has played every inning. He had the honor of getting the first hit of the season for what is believed to be the nation’s best team.
In 15 games for the 13-2 Grizzlies, he is batting .391 (18 of 46) with 9 runs scored, 5 doubles, 15 RBIs, 12 walks, 5 strikeouts, a .508 on-base percentage, and 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts. He rans first on the team in fewest strikeouts and second in both walks and stolen bases. His batting average is fourth among the starting Grizzlies.
Meguiar is one of the purest natural hitters in Cougar history, being compared to greats like Eric Meguiar, Jimmy Shoulders, Dustin Cartas and Bradley Taylor.
As a junior for the Cougars in 2019, he earned the Triple Crown Award, which is given to the leader in homeruns, batting average and runs batted in. Braxton put together an outstanding season at the plate, leading the Cougars in most all offensive categories. Meguiar hit .484 for the year with seven home runs and drove in 46 runs. Meguiar also got his name in the state record book by hitting safely in the first 15 games of the season and the last 19 games of 2018 for a 34-game hit streak, which is second all-time in Kentucky behind the leader with 38 games. Meguiar abroke the school record for hits in a season with 60 and had 19 doubles. He stole 19 bases in 20 tries, led the Cougars in on-base percentage, and runs scored. He only struck out eight times in his 152 trips to the plate.
Unfortunately for him and many other athletes, he didn’t get to play his senior year because the season was cancelled for COVID.
On the other hand, since 2021 athletes were granted another season because of COVID, he is officially a freshman and has three more college seasons of eligibility after this one.
Braxton played summer ball for the Franklin-based Kentucky Duelers last year. He has accepted former Duelers coach Matty Holem’s offer to play on a summer league college team in North Dakota this year, hopefully after helping the Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies repeat as national champions.