Peabody’s Lomasney’s at home on diamond
Logan Lomasney grew up on a baseball field.
Her father, Steve, a football and baseball stalwart at Peabody High, was drafted by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 1995 MLB Draft. As a toddler in 2006, Logan went to her father’s games in Louisville, Ky., and Rochester, N.Y., when he played for the Triple A affiliates of the Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins.
As Steve Lomasney stayed involved with the game and founded Show New England, an AAU program, Logan’s childhood revolved around the diamond.
“When I was 10 years old and listening to him coach his teams, I learned so much from just sitting there,” said Lomasney, now a junior at Peabody High. “I used to go with him at 7 a.m. and we wouldn’t get back until midnight and those were the best days of my life.”
She soaked in all of the knowledge when she was running batting cages as a child.
A 5-foot-10-inch shortstop for the Peabody softball team (3-1), which is ranked 10th in this week’s Globe Top 20, Lomasney boasts a .583 batting average, a .643 on base percentage, four home runs, and eight RBIs through four games.
“She had always been a sports girl,” her father said. “It was never dolls, it was footballs, basketballs, playing catch and ground balls. Me being around it myself, having the career that I had, always being around and watching sports, she’s taken to it. She loves it. Her being around it early and often, it definitely has translated into her career.”
A standout basketball player, Lomasney balances playing the sports that she loves. A two-time Northeastern Conference MVP on the hardwood, she averaged 16.7 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game this past winter.
At age 12, making her second trip to the Little League Softball New England Championships, Lomasney batted .600 after failing to record a hit against the best in a region the year prior.
“That’s probably the best hitting I’ve seen her do,” said Steve. “It’s not like you’re playing local towns, you’re playing the best in the Northeast. I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, she’s really good.’ That was probably my ‘aha’ moment for knowing how good she was.”
Lomasney is a key cog for a Peabody squad headlined by junior Abby Bettencourt, the two-time Northeastern Conference MVP. Lomasney and Bettencourt lead a dedicated and close-knit Tanner team that fell in the Division 1 championship game a season ago.
“To see her mental approach locked in, stronger than ever, and the physical game, her line drive hits are going out [of the park],” said fifthyear Peabody coach Tawny Palmieri.
Palmieri, a 2009 Peabody graduate who played at UMass and Merrimack College, instills a vibrant atmosphere while maintaining lofty ambitions for her team. She frequently attends events of her players in other sports.
“She’s definitely my favorite softball coach that I’ve ever had,” said Lomasney. “When you have a coach that’s positive and teaches you what you need to learn while also making it fun, it makes everyone happy.”
A mature leader with a warm demeanor, she maintains a regimented schedule. Prior to each game, she trains with her father, practicing the same hitting routine before grabbing a strawberry acai lemonade from Starbucks.
“If I’m doing something wrong, he’s going to be critical of that, but it’s always constructive criticism,” said Lomasney. “I look forward to that. When I was younger, I didn’t want to hear that but as I’ve grown older, I love it and I’m happy to have someone that can teach me in a way that I believe is the best way that I can learn.”
Once the game begins, Steve sits beyond the center field fence in a folding chair. Whether he’s chatting with fellow parents or watching intently, he’s doing one of his favorite activities: watching Logan play softball.
“It’s pretty fun and it’s definitely rewarding,” he said. “She’s earned everything she’s gotten because she’s worked really, really hard. It’s a really proud moment.”
Extra bases
R Despite graduating four key seniors last season — catcher Avry Nelson, first baseman Jenny Grelle, and outfielders Mackenna Donovan and Kyra Meuse — Methuen is not slowing down.
Off to a 3-0 start, the fourthranked Rangers have outscored foes, 21-1. Coach Jason Smith credits “the middle of [his] defense,” powered by the Saint Anselm-bound shortstop Brooke Tardugno, second baseman Kiele Coleman, center fielder Thyanais Santiago.
“We did return a really good nucleus,” Smith said. “Those three are amazing on the defensive side of the ball, but are also a huge portion of our offense. They’ve started really, really well this year.”
Filling the holes left by last year’s graduating class could prove to be an arduous task, but Smith is hopeful for the rest of the season.
“We’re off to a good start,” Smith said. “We are young in a couple of spots … but we’re getting it. I can see it as we’ve gone along already in the first three games — we’re getting better with each game, and that’s really all you can ask for.”
R Nia Phillips, a sophomore from Mattapan, has struck out 64 in a 3-2 start for Milton Academy. At the plate, Phillips has 7 runs, 4 RBIs, and 6 walks.
R After two close losses to start the season — falling 8-5 to No. 14 Dighton-Rehoboth and 6-4 to Greater New Bedford — Somerset Berkley earned its first win of the season with a 19-15 victory over New Bedford, followed by victories over Durfee, 16-0, and Fairhaven, 21-7.