The play That Championship Season tells the story on stage of grown men whose existence is based on something that happened much earlier in their lives. They won a sports championship in high school, and few, if any, of them had accomplished anything meaningful since.
That could easily have happened to the 2009 Logan County Little League All-Stars, who became the first-ever team from their area to reach the Little League World Series. Most of them were 12 or had turned 13 during the season. Instead of resting on their fame from that significant achievement, the 10 members of that squad and have continued to excel in high school and summer sports.
At Russellville High School, junior Barrett Croslin has been a varsity starter in baseball for four years, has quarterbacked the football team for two years and has started in basketball as a sophomore and junior. Each of those teams has won at least one district championship. Sophomore Desmon Quarles has started in football for two seasons and has also played football and baseball. Zach Denney is a two-year starter for the baseball team in the outfield and on the mound.
The other seven members of that World Series team attend Logan County High School, and all of them played Saturday night as the Cougars outscored host Henderson County 15-11 to grab a share of the championship of the Northern Spring Break Tournament. The two teams and Evansville Mater Dei all finished with 2-1 records while Meade County went 0-3. Mater Dei had edged the Cougars 9-8 earlier in the day.
Sophomore Caleb Bruner was the winning pitcher. He went seven innings, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out four. None of the seven runs charged to him were earned. He also got a hit on offense.
Sophomore Matt Harper, a three-year starter, had three hits, including a double, scored a pair of runs, added an RBI and pitched the final inning. He made the varsity basketball team as a freshman.
Sophomore Daniel Beaty totaled three each of hits and RBIs while scoring two runs. One of his hits was a double.
Three juniors contributed significantly. Jacob Wood scored a pair of runs on two hits while reaching twice on errors. Joe Holliday had a hit, a walk and an RBI while scoring three runs. Ian Woodall added a hit and a run. Woodall is a three-year starter in football, as well.
A fourth sophomore, Tucker Baldwin, who worked his way into the starting lineup in basketball this year, scored as a pinch runner.
Also contributing for Coach Ethan Meguiar’s team in winning the game and a share of the title were Dustin Cartas with a double and a walk, Gage Hales with a hit, walk and RBI, Cody Hunt with 3 RBIs, a hit and a run, and Luke Woodall, who scored twice as a courtesy runner.
Logan broke the game open by scoring eight runs in the fourth inning. Holliday and Hunt each walked around a Beaty double, Wood reached on a two-base error, Hales singled, Bruner reached on a fielder’s choice, Cartas came aboard on an error and gave way to courtesy runner Baldwin, Harper was hit by a pitch, Holliday reached on a fielder’s choice, Beaty picked up his second hit of the inning, Hunt reached on an error, and Wood got a hit. Logan had sent 15 batters to the plate in the frame.
The Cougars ran their record to 9-4, which ties them with Greenwood and Glasgow for the best record in the Fourth Region. Meguiar’s team, which is 1-0 in the district, will entertain district rival Todd Central Tuesday at 5 p.m. Russellville will play host to Coach Greg Shelton’s former team, Franklin-Simpson, in another district clash at the same time.