Arm strength has never been an issue for Logen Devenport.
So as he geared up for his first season of varsity baseball at Franklin, he figured, Why not put that arm to use in more than one place?
Devenport took his cannon of a right arm and diversified it, spending a good chunk of the offseason working to make it play on the pitcher’s mound as well.
“I’ve always been known for just throwing hard,” he said, “so I got some mechanics with it and put it all together.”
The results have been a revelation. Devenport has been a breakout star in his junior year, making contributions all over the field for the Mid-State Conference champion Grizzly Cubs.
He’s among the team leaders in most offensive categories, including batting average (.388), doubles (10), runs scored (21), RBIs (27) and stolen bases (11) — and has delivered in some of the biggest moments. His first two home runs of the season were both extra-inning game-winners; Devenport hit a walk-off shot in the ninth last Tuesday to beat Decatur Central, then delivered a solo blast in the eighth a night later to help Franklin clinch its first conference title since 2017.
But Devenport’s bat has only been part of the equation. He teams with Max Clark and Jace Fowler to form one of the best offensive and defensive outfields in the state, and his development as a pitcher — he’s 3-1 with a 2.12 ERA and has only allowed one earned run in his last 17 innings — has Franklin feeling pretty confident as it enters sectional play on Wednesday.
The Grizzly Cubs (19-8) face host Mooresville in their first-round game; the teams split their two regular-season meetings.
“We’ve found a piece that we might not have known we had,” Franklin coach Ryan Feyerabend said of Devenport’s pitching success. “We feel really good about the arms we have going into the tournament.”
Devenport’s huge season is all the more impressive given the hurdles he’s had to overcome to make it happen. When he was a sixth-grader, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Managing that has been a challenge ever since, although it’s one that has become more doable with time as he’s grown more in touch with his body.
“It can be difficult,” Devenport said. “Sometimes I’ll be out in the outfield and I’ll feel my sugar dropping a little bit; it’ll start to get a little blurry or whatever. But I always keep Gatorades on me, so I just come in the dugout and sip on some Gatorade, get it back up.”
In addition to having had years to figure out how diabetes impacts him, Devenport has had the added benefit of having a sounding board within his own dugout; Franklin senior Jackson Klem was diagnosed as diabetic when he was in eighth grade.
Each is glad to have the other one there.
“I like that someone else shares it with me,” said Klem, who has also made some big contributions on the mound for the Grizzly Cubs. “It’s a little tough, but it’s something that you’ve got to do.”
“We have different insulin pumps and stuff,” Devenport added, “so we compare what his A1C (glycated hemoglobin) is and what mine is.”
Franklin has a tough road ahead this week, needing to beat the host Pioneers and (most likely) a Center Grove team that has won all three head-to-head meetings this spring just to make it to the sectional final. But they’re heading in as a supremely confident group, and the stellar all-around play of Devenport is a massive reason why.
“He’s had one heck of a year,” Feyerabend said. “He’s managed to throw really well for us and swing the bat for us really well, and be able to move from left to center field and play both at a high level. He’s been a huge part of this season’s success, that’s for sure.”
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Class 4A Mooresville Sectional
Wednesday
Center Grove vs. Martinsville, 6 p.m.
Franklin vs. Mooresville, 8 p.m.
Monday
Wednesday’s winners, 10 a.m.
Whiteland vs. Greenwood, noon
Championship, 7 p.m.
Class 3A Owen Valley Sectional
Wednesday
West Vigo at Owen Valley, 5:30 p.m.
Indian Creek at Edgewood, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday
Wednesday’s winners, 5:30 p.m.
Sullivan vs. Brown County, 7:30 p.m.
Monday
Championship, noon
Class A Morristown Sectional
Wednesday
Southwestern vs. Indianapolis Lutheran, 5:30 p.m.
Edinburgh vs. Greenwood Christian, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Wednesday’s winners, 10 a.m.
Waldron vs. Morristown, noon
Monday
Championship, 10 a.m.
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