For the 20th time in the 22 seasons of this century in baseball, the Logan County Cougars and Franklin-Simpson Wildcats will meet in the 13th District Tournament championship game. The 2022 version of baseball déjà vu will be played today at 6 p.m. at Franklin’s Greg Shelton Field.
Ethan Meguiar has been the Cougar coach in all 20 of these district finals.
Although the two regional powerhouses’ annual trip to region is about as sure to happen as anything in Fourth Region high school sports, they still have to win their tournament openers to get there.
They did that last night with F-S eliminating Russellville 17-0 and Logan stopping Todd Central 8-4.
Chance Sweeney and Logan Gidcumb pitched the Cougars to the win over Coach Greg Shelton’s Rebels. Sweeney worked the first six innings, allowing the four runs (only two earned) on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Gidcumb got all three outs on strikeouts, walking one and giving up no hits.
Senior leadoff hitter Wyatt Blake singled, walked twice, drove in a run, scored one and stole a base. Sweeney singled, walked, and added an RBI. Daymon McLean got the only extra base hit, a double.
Harper Butler singled, walked, scored and added an RBI. Connor Binkley singled, walked and drove in a run. Brady Hinton walked, scored and added an RBI. Samuel Hayes scored two runs and Noah Mosley and Caleb McCoy each scored. McCoy walked.
Todd Central and Russellville have not yet posted their statistics from Monday’s games.
Although Logan County (22-9) has a better record than Franklin (19-14) and a higher RPI, Coach Matthew Wilhite’s Wildcats have beaten Logan in both of their meetings this season.
Franklin fields a much more experienced lineup than Logan. Four of the Cats’ top players are fifth-year seniors, thanks to that extra season granted by KHSAA and the Kentucky Board of Education because of COVID’s effects, including eliminating the 2020 season.
Statistics for those four follow:
Dalton Fiveash- Senior P/SS
.472 AVG., 34 Hits, 35 Runs, 30 RBI, 9 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, .931 SLG, 10 SB
4-3, 1.83 ERA, 53.2 IP, 7 BB, 93 K
Cole Wix- Senior P/3B
.321 AVG.,, 27 Hits, 19 Runs, 19 RBI, 6 2B, 1 3B
2-2, 2.26 ERA, 31 IP, 8 BB, 31 K
Justin Jones- Senior 1B
.333 AVG., 28 Hits, 28 RBI, 9 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR
Luke Richardson- Senior C/P
.266 AVG., 21 Hits, 24 RBI, 4 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR
2-4, 2.10 ERA, 30 IP, 18 BB, 35 K
The Cougars also have four seniors, but three of those with the best statistics are sophomores, and top reliever Gidcumb is a junior. Freshman Brady Hinton is an every-game player.
Statistics from some of the top Cougars—according to Coach Meguiar—follow:
Logan County
Through 28 Games
Chance Sweeney #10-Sophomore-OF/P
47.1 IP, 2-3 record, 2.66 ERA, 24 BB, 36 K's
116 PA, .340 avg, 35 hits, 5 2Bs, 1 3B, 23 Runs, 19 RBI , 9 SB
Conner Binkley #23-Senior-1B,C,P
22 IP, 1-2 record, 4.45 ERA, 14 BB, 18 K's
109 PA, .361 avg, 30 hits, 8 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 23 BB. SLG. 759
Davin Yates #7-Sophomore- INF/P
14 IP, 4-0 record, 3.5 ERA, 8BB, 20 K's
115 PA, .341 avg, 30 hits, 8 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 34 Runs, 22 BB,16 SB
Wyatt Blake #1-Senior CF
107 PA, .333 avg, 29 hits, 6 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 29 Runs, 16 BB,15SB
Harper Butler #17-Sophomore LF
97 PA, .361 avg, 26 hits, 4 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 22 Runs, 19 BB