Ranging from four seniors who have been teammates ever since they won their first state championship as 10-year-olds to a pair of younger first cousins, key players from the Logan County Cougar baseball team were honored Tuesday.
The Cougars had another excellent season, finishing 24-11 as district runner-up.
The four seniors have been a part of a special era in baseball in the Land of Logan. Tucker Baldwin, Daniel Beaty, Caleb Bruner and Matt Harper were key players on the Logan County Little League All-Star teams which won the Kentucky 10-year-old title in 2007, the 12-year-old state championship two years later, and played in the Little League World Series that year.
In 2013, they were part of the Cougar team which won the region and came within a strike of winning at state. They won three straight district championships before slipping to runner-up this year. Three other seniors, Hunter Britt, Luke Woodall and Jose Arostegui, also contributed greatly.
“This group helped us win 100 games in the past four years,” notes Coach Ethan Meguiar.
Caleb Bruner won the Mark Thompson Award, named for a former Cougar pitcher who became a major leaguer. Bruner had a 7-2 record. Pitching 66 innings, he struck out 105 (putting him over 300 for his career) while walking only 12, a ratio of almost 9-1, with an earned run average of 1.379. The WKU signee was Gatorade Player of the Year in Kentucky, first team all-state, Louisville Slugger first-team All-American, All-USA Kentucky, Fourth Region Player of the year for the second straight year, and a finalist for Mr. Kentucky Baseball.
On offense, Bruner won the Triple Crown with 4 homers, 31 RBIs and a .370 batting average. The infield Gold Glove also went to Bruner, who played a number of positions other than the mound and had a .970 fielding position.
Matt Harper received the Cougar Pride award. A varsity player for five years, he batted .357, played shortstop and pitched. He had five saves, pitching in 13 games, mostly in relief.
“Matt had a great season all around,” Meguiar said. “Matt defines Cougar Pride in his work ethic, humbleness and team first attitude. Harper and Bruner were our team captains.”
Junior Jordan Hendrix also received a pitching award. He was 7-3 with 1.392 ERA throwing 55 1/3 innings. “He had a great year for us on the mound,” Meguiar said.
Junior centerfielder Michael Riley and senior rightfielder Tucker Baldwin earned the Golden Gloves outfield awards. Riley had a .962 fielding percentage and Baldwin a .971. On offense, Baldwin batted .281.
Teammate Award went to sophomore Jack Wright, a reserve outfielder as an underclassman.
Co-Rookie of the Year awards went to cousins Austin Rayno and Jackson Campbell. “Rayno who did a nice job as a freshman at second base, and Jack Campbell was a sophomore who had his first full year behind the plate. They both played big roles this season,” Meguiar said.
Future star JV awards went to freshmen Nick Wooden and Bradley Taylor.
Additionally, senior Hunter Britt “had a great career on the mound for us, starting a lot of games over the past three seasons,” Meguiar notes. “He went 4-2 this year while pitching 40.2 innings with a 2.75 ERA and played first base. Another senior, Luke Woodall, played outfield and designated hitter while doing whatever was asked. Daniel Beaty started every day in left field and hit .305.”
Other varsity players were Ashton Ross, D.J. Beard, Kaleb Justice, Hunter Crafton and Ethan Smock, 19 total.
Coaches were thanked—Kyle Wall, Adam Decker and Nick Neiman, who has moved back to Durango, Col. to teach and coach.
Meguiar says, “Even though we did not accomplish our postseason goals, we still had a very successful season.”