Musketeers on improbable role

High-school sports emphasize the name of the front of the jersey — not the back.

Cheer blocks are created to support various teams. School spirit runs rampant throughout each event. Bragging rights are created with each victory and heartbreak becomes overwhelming after every defeat.

Very few programs have captured the true essence of high-school sports over the last couple of seasons like the Greenup County Musketeer baseball team.

Greenup County is one of the final 16 teams remaining in Kentucky who is vying for a shot at the state title. With a record of 39-1, the Musketeers are currently ranked No. 1 in the state.

As they await their next challenge, Musketeers head coach Greg Logan reflected on his team’s improbable run over the last two seasons.

“We set goals at the beginning of the year. We’ve surpassed, up to this point, a lot of those goals,” Logan said. “In no way did we figure we’d be 39-1 right now. We knew we had a good team. We knew we had a good nucleus coming back. We had no graduates from last year. We knew if we all stayed healthy, we had a very good chance to put 30 wins up.

“But right now, with the competition and the schedule that we played, we thought 30 wins would be a great season and here we are at 39-1, headed into the state tournament.”

The only goal Greenup County hasn’t achieved is well within its grasp.

“We’ve definitely surpassed all of those goals that we set. The only goal that we haven’t reach yet is winning the state tournament,” Logan said. “We’re still on that quest. It’s very much in sight. We’ve got four more. We’ve won 34 ball games in a row. So, we’ve got four more to go.

“They’re going to be four tough ones but we feel like there’s no better team in the state of Kentucky that’s prepared for this. So, we’re going to put our best foot forward and hopefully we’re standing on the promise land.”

The lone loss for the Musketeers came May 14 at a tournament in Lexington. After picking up victories against the No. 8 and No. 2 teams in the state, Logan admitted Greenup County lost its focus against East Jessamine, who finished with a 14-21 record on the season. The Musketeers fell 2-1 to the Jaguars.

However, despite that loss, Greenup County has won 54 out of its last 56 games — dating back to the end of last season.

“It’s very unheard of in baseball,” Logan said. “In basketball, football, softball, you’ve pretty much got the same team out there everyday. You’ve got your same starting squad out there. Baseball is definitely a unique setting. We run our No. 4 or No. 5 pitcher out there against just about everybody’s No. 1. I’m quite confident we have faced everybody’s No. 1 pitching and we’ve had to beat them with our No. 3 guy, our No. 4 guy or our No. 5 guy sometimes. So, that’s an amazing record in the baseball setting.”

Logan admitted he’s team’s accomplishment was astonishing.

“To win that many games, and I don’t care if it’s checkers or marbles, that kind of run is unheard of throughout the United States,” Logan said. “And it’s been a joy.”

Greenup County will continue its quest for the state title on Thursday, June 9. The Musketeers will play the Region 7 winner.

By Chris Slone

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Reach Chris Slone at 740-353-3101, ext 1930, or on Twitter @crslone.

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