JOHN KOVACH | Colleges Talent, persistence help Logar achieve goals at Kent State

KENT -- Tracie Logar was on a team bus heading for Marshall University in Huntington, W. Va., Friday night and in the process of conducting a telephone interview with this newspaper, her cell phone was knocked out several times by the mountainous terrain the trip began to encounter.
But Logar, a senior pitcher and designated player for the Kent State softball team from McDonald High, borrowed a friend's cell phone and eventually managed to complete the interview with the same kind persistence and determination that have brought her athletic and academic acclaim, and a potentially bright future.
"I am missing my commencement this weekend because I am on a bus now heading for Marshall. The commencement is tomorrow [Saturday] so I will have to miss that. There are seven seniors on the team, and three of them will have to miss commencement," said Logar of the trip to the team's final three regular season games Saturday and today.
But although Logar, a three-year letter winner and the daughter of Richard and Karen Logar, will have to miss that great day and wait to get her diploma, she has had plenty of compensation to help to make it all worthwhile.
Won three MAC awards
For example, Logar won three Mid-American Conference weekly awards last week, by sparking KSU to a 4-1 record the week before and to the MAC East Division title for a berth in the upcoming MAC championship tournament.
She swept both the MAC East Division player and pitcher of the week honors to become the first player to take both awards in the same week since the MAC split into divisions in 1998. And she was named the MAC female scholar-athlete of the week.
And she will have a second chance to help KSU win a MAC championship in the league tournament that will begin Thursday at Firestone Park in Akron, after taking the loss against Ball State in the 2001 tournament as a freshman that eliminated the Golden Flashes.
Plus, Logar has achieved an 3.85 grade-point average as a business management major and has been accepted to the University of Toledo Law School, where she will begin studies later this year.
So it is all coming together for her in a fun final year filled with yet more promise.
Team's best year
"This is the most fun that we have had as a team. This has been our best season," said Logar, who has helped KSU to a 25-16 record, including 14-4 in the MAC for coach Karen Linder. "I have been pitching since my freshman year, but this is the first time that I am in the lineup [every game]. I am a designated player for the first season."
Also with KSU is Julie Kemesky, a junior outfielder from Austintown Fitch and a two-year letter winner, who is batting .208 (5-for-24). Kemesky is majoring in biology.
Logar's three-award week began when she pitched and batted KSU to an 8-2 win over Ball State April 28. She pitched a four-hitter for five innings to gain the win and blasted a three-run homer in the first inning and a double and finished with four RBIs.
Then in the opener of a doubleheader against Miami on April 30, she pitched three innings to gain her fourth save of the year, fanning three batters and allowing only two hits.
And in the nightcap, Logar's two-run single sent the game into extra innings, and the Flashes went on to win, 6-2, to clinch the MAC East title and a spot in the MAC tournament. She also got the win by giving up only one hit and an intentional walk over three innings.
Entering the MAC tournament, Logar has a 7-3 record and 1.41 earned run average over 64 2/3 innings with four saves, 37 strikeouts and 18 walks.
She is batting .275 (19-for-69) with 15 RBIs, nine runs and five doubles.
Father coached her
Logar credits her father for launching and nurturing her softball career that began when she was just a young girl.
"My dad's pretty much been my coach whenever I played since I started. He was always coaching me," said Logar, noting that her father served as a coach and assistant coach for her youth teams, and also as a volunteer coach at McDonald High four years when she played for coach Carl Eaton.
She also credits her personal pitching coach, Mike Dahringer of Niles, for her development.
Soon Logar's career will take a new turn to law school. But that doesn't mean she will separate from softball permanently.
"I love the sport and I am sure I will play in some form in the future -- but just for fun," she said.
kovach@vindy.com