By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The best is still to come with the Logan-Rogersville baseball team.
But the 2025 Wildcats, filled with youth and promising prospects, have emerged as a legit contender again this spring.
Logan-Rogersville earned its third district title in four seasons with a 5-3 victory over Hollister on Wednesday evening in the Class 4 District 12 Tournament championship game on the Wildcats’ home field.
“We felt like we would be pretty darn good at the end of the season and be ready to compete for this district title,” said Logan-Rogersville coach Casey Ledl. “I just think (this group) really matured and really grew up in a lot of areas quicker than we imagined.”
The Wildcats’ starting lineup on Wednesday featured no seniors, three freshmen and three sophomores. Amid the youth movement, Logan-Rogersville’s winning standards haven’t dropped – the Wildcats notched their fifth straight 20-win season in early May.
Plus, baseball popularity has reached a fever pitch at the school. Ledl said Logan-Rogersville (28-7 overall, No. 2 in Class 4 state coaches’ poll) had more players come out for the team this year than at any point in his tenure.
“We’ve always had the next man up, and that just extends to the lower classes,” Ledl said. “Obviously, we have talent. We have a great talent pipeline. When you combine the numbers with the high-quality talent we have, the future is bright. It’s going to be bright for several years.”
Sophomore starting pitcher Nate Eakins, who also batted in the 7-hole, went 5 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and five hits allowed for the Wildcats. He had a substantial two-way role last year on a veteran-laden squad.
“Getting to play with the older guys, it gave me great experience,” Eakins said. “Our team is still so young, about half of us are freshmen or sophomores. Having that experience, you build and help the other pitchers. You just build off each other.”
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The Wildcats will travel to former Big 8 foe Seneca on Tuesday, May 27 for a Class 4 sectional matchup. The Indians (21-9 overall) beat Aurora 7-2 to win the District 11 title.
Wednesday’s district title victory was far from easy for the Wildcats, who faced a resilient Hollister squad coming off a 10-inning win over Forsyth less than 24 hours earlier. The regular season meeting was tight as well, with Logan-Rogersville prevailing 6-5 in eight innings at Hollister.
“Give it up to Hollister. They battled,” Ledl said. “They were out of pitching, and they threw several different guys. They battled their tails off.”
Hollister never led on Wednesday, but did forge a tie on two occasions. Cooper Kauffman’s RBI double in the top of the fifth made it 3-3.
The Tigers went with starter Tyler Carpenter on the mound. He lasted 2 1/3 innings, followed by a bevy of relievers.
“They didn’t have their best guy out there, but they battled,” Eakins said. “After a win like they had (Monday) night, we knew they were going to come out rolling.”
Logan-Rogersville sophomore Jackson Purse delivered what proved to be the winning run with an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth that put Logan-Rogersville ahead 4-3. The Wildcats picked up an insurance run in the sixth with Cash Clark’s RBI groundout.
“Going into it, we really thought we were just going to see one pitcher most of the game,” Purse said. “Seeing a whole bunch of different pitching was definitely a bit of a tough spot for us.”
Purse, part of a deep Logan-Rogersville bullpen, also pitched the final 1 2/3 innings in relief.
“For the first time, I think since I’ve been here, we have a real bullpen,” Ledl said. “We had four other guys that we feel really confident in, sitting over there to be put in if we needed them.”
Logan-Rogersville overcame some missed scoring opportunities on Wednesday. The Wildcats were caught stealing twice and ran into a double play on a fly ball out.
“We make some mistakes, there’s no doubt,” Ledl said. “We’ve been such a veteran club the last few years. You take some things for granted. But I’ll tell you what: they’ve stepped up.
“It’s one of those deals where you take the good with the bad. But it’s been mostly good, that’s for sure.”
