what’s in a name

Logan. The name at the top of the Jackson State batting stats has a familiar ring. That’s Kendall Logan, a junior outfielder who is ripping up SWAC pitching to the tune of a .386 average with six triples, eight homers, 35 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Kendall Logan is the younger brother of Cameron Logan, who, like Kendall, was a star at Natchez High and Copiah-Lincoln Community College before moving on to the SWAC; Cameron is a senior at Texas Southern. Kendall and Cameron are cousins of another former Natchez/Co-Lin standout, Nook Logan, who played several years in the big leagues. Kendall Logan was drafted by Atlanta last June but elected to attend JSU. His 2011 season began with some turbulence; he was one of two JSU players suspended for three games in the wake of a dustup with Prairie View back in February. This seemed a little out of character for Logan, who was an honor student at Co-Lin and is majoring in civil engineering at JSU. At any rate, he seems to have put the incident behind him and has helped the Tigers stay in the fierce battle for first place in the SWAC East.
P.S. Big news: Jairo Asencio has thrown five scoreless innings for Atlanta in its current series with Los Angeles. If Asencio looks familiar, it’s because he pitched under the assumed name of Luis Valdez when he was with the Mississippi Braves in 2008. He was the closer on the Southern League pennant winner. … Gulf Coast CC product Tony Sipp allowed his first runs of the year for Cleveland on Wednesday night; ex-M-Braves star Jeff Francoeur accounted for two of the three with a home run for Kansas City. The Indians won anyway. … Injuries have given Matt Tolbert more playing time with the Minnesota Twins, but the former Ole Miss star from McComb hasn’t produced much. He’s hitting .188. … Nettleton native Bill Hall suffered a sprained ankle making a great catch for Houston on Wednesday and left the game. Hall was signed for his offensive prowess, but, ironically, it’s been his defense that has stood out thus far. He’s hitting just .197 with one homer and a bunch of strikeouts.