He’s from a city in Minnesota with just over 62,000 residents — Coon Rapids — an unassuming town with an unassuming player who etched his name into the Florida Gators record books on Friday night with a brilliant complete game shutout.
Logan Shore is quiet, humble and much like his hometown, unassuming. He doesn’t have a fastball that lights up a radar gun or possess a breaking ball that buckles knees, but Friday night he broke a 32-year old school record with his 13th consecutive win dating back to 2015.
The former record holder Russ Kibler didn’t even know he held the record until Shore tied it the week prior and Shore says he didn’t know he had tied Kibler until reporters brought it up after his win.
“I honestly didn’t even know about the record until last week,” he said. “For me it’s just about going out there every weekend and giving us the best chance to win. I just so happened to string together a pretty good run there.”
Shore’s greatest asset is his consistency. When asked if he remembered his last loss, Shore quickly rattled off the answer — Auburn a rare Thursday night start in Florida’s final SEC series of 2015. Shore lasted seven innings that night, surrendering just two runs on 96 pitches, hardly a losing line.
Florida is a perfect 15-0 since that Thursday start, Shore’s only two no-decisions coming this year. In those games Shore allowed just two earned runs to 15 strikeouts.
“There’s only a few guys that I can remember being here that have been so steady like that,” Kevin O’Sullivan, who is in his ninth season as head coach, said. “Hudson Randall was the other one. You just kind of know what you’re going to get.”
There’s a reason the record Shore broke on Friday night was 11 years older than the right-hander. Winning baseball games is hard, winning baseball games in the SEC is harder and winning them consecutively on Friday night, against the best pitcher your opponent has just isn’t supposed to happen. Last season Shore beat Florida State’s Boomer Biegalski, a 14th round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. In the College World Series he beat Miami’s Andrew Suarez, the 61st selection in the 2015 MLB Draft and Virginia’s Nathan Kirby, the 40th overall pick. This season he’s faced Missouri’s Tanner Houck, a projected first rounder, Miami’s Thomas Woodrey and Texas A&M’s Tyler Ivey.
“What Logan’s been able to do against other team’s number ones,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s a heck of an accomplishment no matter where you pitch on the weekend but it’s even more special on Friday nights.”
Shore has assumed the Friday night starter role since his freshman season. Scouts have flocked to Gainesville all season to see potential first overall pick A.J. Puk, Buddy Reed, Shaun Anderson and the slew of draft eligible players on Florida’s roster, Shore included, if possibly an afterthought. He’ll likely be a first round pick when the Draft commences in June, but he’s not a sexy pick.
The right-hander from Coon Rapids doesn’t mind. His team won on Friday night, as they’ve done the last 15 times he’s toed the rubber. That, along with the admiration of the guys he shares a locker room with is enough.
“He’s probably one of the top five, maybe even top-three pitchers in the country,” junior outfielder Buddy Reed said. “He always works hard at his craft.”
Quiet and humble off the field, Shore has built himself into one of the best players in the country, regardless of position and he’s dominating the best league college baseball has to offer.