The Logan County baseball Cougars had to wait until school started to wrap up the awards after everyone came home because of school starting. The awards dinner was held at New Friendship Baptist Church with the meal provided by the team’s booster club and parents.
The team put together a 24-11 season and finished as both district runner-up and regional runner-up.
Coaches recognized were head coach Ethan Meguiar andassistants Kyle Wall, Ryan Harper and Nick Neiman.
Coach Meguiar had this to say about the awards and award winners:
Mark Thompson Award for our best pitcher Ethan Smock. Smock, a junior lefty, was 10-2 on the year tying a school record 10 wins in a season. He led us in innings pitched with 68, and had a 1.44 ERA, while striking out 101. Some highlights were shutouts over F-S, BG, Russellville, Todd County, and he threw two no-hitters. Smock was chosen all 13th District and to play in the Junior East/West All-Star game this year.
Two other pitching awards went to senior D.J. Beard, who was injured for the first part of the season but went 5-2 with 44 Innings pitched and 1.75 ERA. He finished strong by tossing two postseason shutouts—over Todd Central in the district and Barren County in the first game of the regional tournament. He will be going to Campbellsville University this fall. The other pitching award went to Dylan Penick, a sophomore who had 50 Innings pitched and went 4-2 with a 2.66 ERA, Penick was also the regular second baseman.
Golden Glove Awards for top defense went to the following:
Third Bell, a sophomore outfielder, made only made two errors all year while making some spectacular plays in the outfield.
Junior shortstop Austin Rayno was our best infielder, along with senior catcher Jackson Campbell, who had 9.86 fielding percentage and threw out 12 baserunners and picked off 8. Campbell was a three-year starter behind the plate and will be going to play at Belmont University this fall.
Versatility award went to sophomore Koby Wall, who played LF, RF, 3B, 2B, and pitched for us in varsity.
Rookie of the Year went to Third Bell. To go along with his good defense he hit .360 with 23 RBIs and 36 hits while scoring 27 runs. He was selected all 13th District and to participate in the sophomore all-star game in Louisville by the 4th Region coaches.
Academic Award went to Austin Rayno, who was selected for Governor’s Scholar Program this summer. Austin excels in academics and basketball along with baseball at LCHS, and he was also a captain for us this year. Austin was not chosen on the 13th All District team despite his great season, hitting .350 with 42 hits and only striking out 11 times. Austin also broke a school record by scoring 54 runs this season.
Offense: Kaleb Justice toke home the Triple Crown Award leading us in Home Runs 7, Batting Average .419, and 60 RBIs. He also led us in hits 49 and had 20 doubles. His 60 RBIs was a school record and second in the state this year. Justice was selected to the second team all-state. His season at the plate was one of the best in LCHS history. He was also chosen all 13th District and to play in the Junior East/West All Star Game and selected 2nd team all-state.
Cougar Pride Award went to sophomore Nate Woodall for always working hard, being a great teammate and doing the dirty work of being a backup catcher.
JV Future Star Awards went to sophomore 1B/DH Chandler Silvey, and freshman infielder Braxton Meguiar.
The four Senior Awards went to Ashton Ross OF/P, Jack Wright OF, DJ Beard P/OF, and Jackson Campbell Catcher.
Wright had a great senior year, hitting .306.
Outstanding Offensive Award went to Jackson Campbell. He hit .400, 42 hits, 11 doubles, 2 triples and 5 home runs, and 32 RBIs. Campbell was second to Justice in most all offensive categories and had a fantastic career at LCHS. Arguably one of the best catchers in the state, Jackson was all 13th District, 3rd team all state and a senior all-star for the 4th Region.
Other Varsity players that were not mentioned in the awards were:
Bradley Taylor- junior 3B/Catcher. Bradley, a standout from the 2016 season suffered a knee injury and was not able to finish the year. He was selected all 13th District in 2017.
Price Brown-junior Pitcher
Nick Wooden- junior OF/P
Jagger Hales- junior OF
Tommy Krohn- sophomore pitcher
Jackson Steward- junior OF/P
Jacob Smock- sophomore OF/C
Parker White- freshman INF/OF/P
JV players
John Alan Cherry
Zack Dye
Jayden Hayes
Trevor Scott
Jarett Sears
Despite the great individual year that many of our kids had we were not able to win a championship. We went 6-0 in the regular season district games. We only lost four regional games all year but two of them were to Franklin-Simpson, which was 31-6 and won both the district and regional championships over us, even though we beat them twice in the regular season.
We will return many of our team next year and look forward to another great season in 2018.