A red-shirt year at Wingate University may pay big dividends for former Parkwood High School baseball player Logan Plattenburg.
And anchoring the catching staff for the Union County American Legion Baseball team won’t hurt either.
Plattenburg saw limited time at catcher in high school but a year off manning the Wingate bullpen and a summer behind the plate with Post 535 may just lead to time at catcher next season for the Bulldogs.
Plattenburg is a key cog for Union County this summer as Post 535 is off to a 10-0 start and the former Parkwood player said playing summer ball will be a big help come the 2018 college baseball season. Plattenburg is batting .394 with eight RBIs and 12 runs scored the first 10 games for Union County.
“I was never really a catcher in high school,” Plattenburg said. “When I got to college my first year that is mainly what I did, and that is what I am doing for Legion. I like catching because I feel like I am a vocal leader on the field.”
Wingate head baseball coach Jeff Gregory said he is looking for big things out of Plattenburg next spring.
“We converted him to a catcher, but he can play all over the field,” Gregory said. “He can play the infield and he can play the outfield.”
Plattenbhurg said moving behind the plate was a big adjustment.
“College pitchers throw it a lot harder,” Plattenburg said. “The ball has a lot more movement and it was hard to get adjusted to that.”
But being a team player, Plattenburg said he will play wherever the Wingate coaching staff deems is the best fit.
“Hopefully, I will be able to play more positions in college, too,” Plattenburg said. “My first year of college was centered around getting into the swing of things. “Obviously, it is a lot more intense than high school baseball. You have to learn to manage your time, especially with the school work that you have to do. Practice is also a heavy workload.”
Parkwood High School head baseball coach Rocky Richar coached Plattenburg in high school and the Rebels coach said he is not surprised by his former players’ success. Richar is also an assistant coach for the Union County Legion team.
“Logan is one of those kids you don’t have to coach very hard,” Richar said. “Logan has a mentality of team first. He has a great work ethic and he is one of those kids you want on your team. He is a vocal leader and he follows it up by being a physical leader and doing all the things that you need to do. He is a spark plug type of kid that is fun to be around.”
Plattenburg played little behind the plate in high school but Richar said his former player is capable of playing just about any position on the field.
“For me in high school, he played in the outfield and he played on the infield,” Richar said. “He was also a catcher but he didn’t catch much for us in high school. At Wingate, they actually brought him in initially as a catcher. They (Wingate) think moving forward that they are going to utilize all his talents.”
