Rising MLB star handled a lot of pressure on the gridiron at Rocklin High School.
When
Logan Webb takes the mound Thursday at Oracle Park in what is considered the most anticipated Dodgers-Giants game since Bobby Thompson hit the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" 70 years ago, his
high school photos might look unrecognizable.
He actually wore a football helmet and was clad in Dodger blue.
Actually, it was
Rocklin (Calif.) blue but it very much resembles the color worn by Webb's current rival.
The budding San Francisco Giants star, who pitched 7 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts in a 4-0 series-opening win, was the starting quarterback for two seasons for the Thunder in 2012 and 2013.
In 22 games he completed 254 of 466 passes for 3,707 yards, 47 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. In games he started, Rocklin went 12-8.
Solid numbers but not nearly as impressive as Webb's 11-3 record (3.03 ERA) with the Giants in a breakthrough 2021 season.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, Webb was certainly more coveted as a pitcher in high school than at quarterback. He earned Sacramento Bee All-Metro and Cal-Hi Sports All-State honors after posting a 4-3 record and 73 strikeouts in 57.2 innings with a 0.49 ERA his senior season at Rocklin, which is about 20 miles northeast of state capitol Sacramento.
Logan Webb threw for 2,187 yards and 29 touchdowns in just nine games as a junior.
File photo by Gary Jones
He was the toast of the town after being selected in the fourth round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Giants.
But 32-year Sacramento Bee sports writer Joe Davidson said Webb was no one-sport wonder in high school. He looked like a college football prospect, backed up by the highlights featured above during his senior season.
"As impressive as Webb was in high school as a pitcher — he threw gas — he impressed me just as much as a quarterback," Davidson said. "Big, stout, strong armed and personable. Logan loved the position and he was a driving force for a Rocklin playoff team."
Pitching in the Major Leagues was always Webb's dream, Davidson said. He'll have to pinch himself Thursday in the fifth-and-deciding game of the National League Division Series between the longtime rivals.
Football and being a multi-sport athlete helped pave the path to get there, Davidson said. The unrelenting pressure, physically and mentally, of playing quarterback no doubt will help when 41,195 fans wave towels, scream and shout when he takes the mound Thursday.
"He felt a need and obligation to play (football), to be with his teammates, to quarterback winning drives," Davidson said. "No one pressured him to play just football or just baseball. He was encouraged to do it all, and he did, and now a big part of Placer County watches him in these playoffs with a measure of pride."
The current Rocklin football squad, by the way, is off to its first 6-0 start since 2014.
