ROGERS -- Logan Easley didn't know he would be pitching on his home field until he arrived at Veterans Park on Thursday, July 7.
The rising senior from Rogers Heritage made the most of his homecoming by pitching five shutout innings and going 2 for 3 to power Rawlings Arkansas Prospects-Menard's 9-0 victory against Perfect Timing Red 17 during the first day of pool play action at the Mid-America Super 16 tournament.
Prospects coach Andy Menard normally wouldn't have kept a pitcher in for five innings during a showcase tournament, but Easley was keeping batters off balanced with an 85-87 mph running fastball and sharp-diving breaking ball. He finished with six strikeouts while allowing just two hits, walking two and hitting one. He also picked off a runner at first base.
"He threw the ball extremely well," Menard said. "He was cruising and when guys get into a rhythm, I hate to mess 'em up. We weren't going to let him throw a ton of pitches, but everything was easy for him today, so we just stayed with that."
Easley said pitching at home added to his comfort level. It also didn't hurt that the Wichita State commitment had a defense behind him that featured seven other college pledges, including shortstop Casey Martin, a rising senior from Lonoke who has already committed to Arkansas. It has benefited Easley all summer as he's allowed just one earned run in 25-plus innings pitched for the Prospects.
"I love playing with this team," Easley said. "I have a lot of confidence because if it's hit on the ground or in the air, it's probably going to get caught or the runner will get thrown out at first."
Easley put the Prospects on the board with an RBI triple to deep left-center field during a two-run first inning. They scored in all but one inning the rest of the way, including a two-run homer in the fourth by White Hall's Chase Bryan that did the most damage.
It completed a near-perfect day for the Prospects after they rolled to an 14-1 rout of Sandlot 18U, a team based out of Tulsa, in Thursday's pool play opener at Arvest Ballpark. In the two games combined, Easley was 5 for 8 with 4 RBI and 3 runs while teammate McCall Dail of Conway was 5 for 6 with two doubles, 3 RBI and 3 runs.
"This is a great group," Menard said. "This is the group that won Premier Nationals last year, and we've bounced the rosters back and forth because it balances it out, and our other teams a really good, too, but this is the first weekend where we've put them all back together."
Sports on 07/13/2016