Taft catcher Clark gives Roadrunners another local commitment
Logun Clark has never been one to set modest goals for himself.
In two short years playing baseball at Taft High School, Clark, a catcher, infielder and pitcher, has established himself as one of the most feared hitters in the South Sequoia League.
After leading his team in numerous offensive categories — including batting average (.524), hits (44) and RBIs (27) — as a freshman, Clark got off to a blazing start in his sophomore campaign in 2020, batting .545 with six RBIs in five games before the season was shut down by the coronavirus.
So was he expecting to become such an explosive offensive weapon so soon?
“Absolutely,” Clark said. “I don’t mean for that to sound bad, but absolutely, because I’ve been working my tail end off.”
Clark’s desire to improve took him to an unfamiliar place in the summer of 2019, as he traveled more than 2,000 miles to play with Dbacks Elite, a travel team out of Dearborn Heights, Mich.
It was a major change of pace for Clark, who admits it took time for him to adjust to being away from his family for the first time.
“I’m always used to being (in Taft) by my parents and being real close to my family and I had to go away and learn how to do everything on my own,” he said.
Luckily, any discomfort he may have felt soon disappeared, as Clark quickly found solace in his most natural habitat, the baseball field. Clark and his teammates bused all over the midwest and south that summer, playing in tournaments in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Indiana.
Great team and individual success also made it easier to adjust to his new environment. Clark served as a captain on a team that captured a 15U national championship.
“We traveled a ton so that was a blast,” Clark said. “We played a lot of baseball and it was fun and I learned how to grow up real quick.”
With a strong sense of independence already formed, Clark didn’t feel compelled to drift too far from his home base for the next big step in his maturation.
With two years of high school left, Clark wasted no time declaring his intentions for the next level, verbally committing to play catcher at Cal State Bakersfield on Sept. 22.
The decision was an easy one for Clark, who says he loves the way the CSUB program is developing. Playing close to home in one of the premier conferences in California only sweetened the deal.
“Coach ( Jeremy) Beard and all the coaches over there are great people,” he said. “They’re trying to create a winning atmosphere and they’re playing in the Big West. I always liked the program and I’m 20 minutes away from Taft and I’ll be right by my home.”
Clark’s success isn’t a surprise to Taft coach Matt Davis, who first coached him at age 12 with the Taft Longhorns travel team. Coaching at a small school where guys struggle to get D-I looks, Davis believes Clark could open a lot of doors for a lot of players in the future.
“Anytime a community of our size and a school of our size can send a kid to go play at a Division I school is just huge for the morale of everyone involved,” Davis said. “A work ethic like Logun’s is contagious and he just makes everyone around him better.”
With two years of high school remaining, Clark is “really hoping to get bigger, faster, stronger” while developing his skills behind the plate and keeping his batting average above .500.
Known for setting high goals for himself, his ambitions are even greater for the Roadrunners in the future. Not content to merely compete for league titles, Clark seems fully confident CSUB can become a player at the College World Series.
“We want to dogpile in Omaha,” he said. “They’re building a really good winning atmosphere there and we’re surrounding ourselves with some really great guys. We feel that we have a good shot at doing this, so we’re going to work our butts off.”