Extra Effort: J.F. Webb's Logan Bowen a home run helper
Logan Bowen steps into the box for batting practice. After a few swings he connects.
"Sometimes just barrel it up and you can barely feel the ball," Bowen said as he took another cut. This time it's a shot deep to left field and over the fence.
"Heyyyyy!" Bowen and his catcher celebrate. The same feeling Bowen gets from hitting home runs, he gets from helping others.
"I just like to put a smile on other people's faces," The J.F. Webb senior said. "It makes me feel like a better person when I'm helping other people."
In a small town like Oxford, NC, how you treat people matters.
"We talk to these kids all the time about their character," J.F. Webb head baseball coach Mike Carroll said. "Our definition is not what you're doing when I'm watching, but what are you doing when I'm not watching? He just uses his actions to get his teammates to follow him."
Whether it's learning how to pitch to fill a team need, playing offense, defense and special teams in football, or volunteering at his church, helping is something that runs in his family.
"We are a close knit family," Logan's mom Connie Bowen said. "My husband's family is close by us, my family is close by us, if anybody needs anything we pitch in and help."
"You can see how gentle he is as big and strong as he is too," Logan's dad Ashley said. "Put him on the football field he's a different person he can bring the hammer, but at the same time he steps off the field he's the nicest person. He cares about everything and everybody."
Watching his grandmother battle and beat breast cancer inspired Logan to make help his career.
"It made me really grateful," Logan said. "It pushed me everyday to do better."
After high school Logan plans to attend college to become a radiation therapist to help people like his grandmother.
"I'm proud of him," Connie said. "For him to know what he wants to do that at this point is a step above."
Logan's unselfishness on and off the field earned him the WRAL Tom Suiter Extra Effort Award.
"Shout out to my mom and dad," Logan said. "They've always been at every game and took me to every game. They pushed me to be a better player and person."
