The magnitude of support the Logan County Little League All-Stars and their families are receiving knows no bounds.
When a WRUS radiothon designed to raise financial assistance for their families to make the trip to the Little League World Series ended Wednesday evening, over $60,000 had been pledged toward that cause. Money that had been dropped into cannisters at area businesses had not yet been counted.
Also ongoing was the sale of grilled foods along Carrico Park Square. The Logan County Chamber of Commerce, the Logan County Cattlemen's Association, and Buddy Woolridge's Backporch Grillin' had been at it all day with lines encircling the perimeters of the park at peak times. Sometimes the wait was over an hour. Some people gave up on getting food but still deposited donations. Over $7,000 had been raised via that project by mid-afternoon.
Volunteers were everywhere. Shane Hayes-- long-time friend of Little League Manager Kevin Gettings-- has been heading up the fund-raising since the team returned from winning the Great Lakes Regional in Indianapolis Saturday night. His dad, Gabby Hayes, was coordianting the volunteer phone bank at Logan Telephone Co-op. Brian Stanley, a former Little League coach himself, was doing the accounting as part of the Logan Tele team.
WRUS' Lon Sosh and Chris McGinnis were in charge of the radiothon with Sosh the lead announcer.
*Logan County Judge-executive Logan Chick was there to proclaim Wednesday Little League All-Stars Day in Logan County. Chick said he had been in Frankfort the day before to discuss governmental business, but most of the talk he heard was about the Logan County team which is representing the commonwealth in Williamsport, Pa..
Russellville Mayor Gene Zick said that in his 26 years of living here he has never seen the community unite with this much excitement about one event. Zick and his wife Jane are among those planning to be in Williamsport to support the team, which begins World Series play Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
*Logan County Little League President Mike Riley has been hard at work for this team all year. A phone call he made from Indy after a meeting with Little League officials Saturday night helped get the fund raising off to a good start. A member of the advisory board for First Southern National Bank, Riley called FSNB official Rusty Clark to explain the magnitude of expenses the families were about to encounter.
Wednesday FSNB Russellville President Alex Keltner announced the bank is contributing $10,000 to the cause.
*Other large contributions included $2,500 by Griffin Industries, $5,400 from a group calling itself "Logan County/Russellville Alumni," and the rental of a recreationl vehicle by Phil and Laurie Holloway to take the team to catch a plane in Indianapolis. Lewisburg Banking Company President Billy Bingham and his wife Mel have been big supporters of the team throughout, and they bought one of Gettings' jerseys for $1,100 at an auction at Logan County High School Sunday evening. That was during a hastily called celebration that attracted hundreds of fans. Logan Aluminum employees gave a substantial donation but asked for the amount to be kept anonymous.
Several teams at Logan County High School took up money in support of the future Cougars and Panthers. Auburn Little League donated $500.
Not all the money came from Logan County. Hitting coach Todd Stinson of Doyle Baseball announced a $750 donation
from Total Fitness Connection in Bowling Green. Youth sports groups from Adair County, Paducah and Adams, Tenn. sent contributions.
*Among those calling in their support were Gov. Steve Beshear, Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo, former Speaker of the House Jody Richards, State Representative Martha Jayne King, State Senator Joey Pendleton, and former University of Kentucky basketball superstar Kenny 'Sky' Walker, who said his friend Roy Morgan of Roy's Bar-B-Q had made him aware of the fund raiser.
Another former UK great, Commissioner of Agriculture Richie Farmer, tried to call in but couldn't get through. He had given the team 200 Kentucky Proud pins to trade with players from other states and countries.
Mark Thompson, the LCHS graduate who pitched for UK and in the major leagues for seven seasons, not only talked on the radiothon but also gave the team an inspiring message during Sunday's celebration. He told the players that major leaguers will be watching them play the next few days and will be envious of them for having made it to Williamsport.
Thompson's former teammate, Eduardo Perez of "Baseball Tonight," talked on ESPN television about Mark's hometown Little League team being impressive on its way to the World Series. "Those guys can really rake," Thompson told the players Perez said, explaining that 'rake' is big-league talk for hitting well.
P.J. Jones, a graduate of Russellville High School who was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles the same year as Thompson was selected by the Colorado Rockies, tried to get through without success, as did RHS graduates Otis Key and Bubba Wells, who are former Harlem Globetrotters.
Also failing to get through were Bowling Green ESPN commentators Wes Strader and Gary West. The LoJoparticipated in call-in shows on ESPN in Bowling Green and by Todd Hamilton of WHOP in Hopkinsville that same afternoon.
One of those who contributed to the cause was astronaut Terry Wilcutt, a native Logan Countian.
*Sheriff Wallace Whittaker arranged a police escort for the team in a big way. Leaving late Monday night for a Tuesday morning flight, the players were accompanied from their home community by the Logan County Sheriff's Department. Then they became the protectees of the Warren County Sheriff's Department. Next came escorts by state police posts in Bowling Green and Elizabethtown. The team and coaches were convoyed all the way to the Indiana line at Louisville.
After they boarded their plane, the team was introduced by the pilot, who explained where they were headed. The other passengers gave the World Series participants an ovation.
In Williamsport, they were showered with gifts that included several items of baseball equipment and clothing.
They've also enjoyed meeting and interacting with other teams, especially in spirited ping pong matches with the Japanese players.
*Proudly calling in to WRUS from somewhere in West Virginia was Ken Barrett, who coched the Russellville Panthers to three state football championships from 1980 through 1990. Pitcher/shortstop Barrett Croslin is the grandson of Ken and Emily Barrett and the son of Kathy Croslin Barrett.
His dad is Ronnie 'Pee Wee' Croslin, who managed the team to a state championship as 10-year-olds. He now is the other coach on the team besides Gettings.
The Barrett family, including Barrett Croslin's sister Emily, was on the way to Williamsport. Emily was a starter for the Logan County Lady Cougar regional semifinalist softball team this spring. Ronnie Croslin was already with the team in Pennsylvania.
Another football coach planning to head to Williamsport is Russellville High School Principal/Head Football Coach John Meyers. He and his wife plan to head out to Pennsylvania following the Panthers' game at Franklin-Simpson Friday. It's one of the few times in the last 60 years or so that a Russellville-Franklin football game hasn't been the biggest local sports story of the weekend.
They will be accompanied by Roy Morgan and Greg Owens.
*Appearing on the radio program were the local high school baseball coaches, Ethan Meguiar of Logan County and Lou Kendall of Russellville. Kendall said Gettings and his older brother Gary were two of the best defensive players he has ever coached at RHS.
Meguiar joked that his "job could be in jeopardy in three or four years" if the Cougars don't win big with these players. Seven of the 10 team members are currently in the county school system. In fact, six of them are students at Olmstead Middle School. Joe Holliday is an eighth grader while Tucker Baldwin, Daniel Beaty, Caleb Bruner, Matt Harper and Jacob Wood are seventh graders. Ian Woodall is a student at Chandlers. Zach Denney, Desmon Quarles and Croslin attend Russellville.
*Those attending Sunday's celebration organized by LCHS Principal Casey Jaynes and Lady Cougars Basketball Coach Scot MacAllister demonstrated a cross-section of the community. Among them were Logan County Superintendent Marshall Kemp and Russellville School Board Chairman James Milam, Circuit Judge Tyler Gill, Russellville Police Chief Barry Dill, Meguiar and RHS Assistant Baseball Coach Darwin Washington, Judge Chick and Mayor Zick, and principals of both high schools. A number of regional media outlets were represented. Sosh was the master of ceremonies.
*The interest in this team is manifest on the Internet. On the first day that The LoJo carried its story of the regional championship, almost 22,000 'hits' were made at www.loganjournal.com. We've communicated with people in at least a dozen states about the team, and that list most likely would increase considerably if we knew the origin of all those hits.
Over 1,300 people had signed on for a Logan County Little League Regional Champion Fans page on Facebook by Wednesday night, less than two days after it was created.
Keep watching The LoJo for updates about Logan County's team/Kentucky's team in the Little League World Series.