CIRCLEVILLE — A special season for the Logan Elm Braves capped off with another special honor for Kelton Bennington as the senior has been named the winner of the 2026 Don Rowland Award as Pickaway County’s Most Outstanding senior baseball player.
When Bennington wasn’t snagging sharply hit balls at shortstop, he was taking care of business on the mound and swinging a potent bat.
“Athletically, he is a luxury to have up the middle and on the mound — a 90 mile-an-hour arm on the mound — and, probably, can make about just any play at shortstop,” Logan Elm coach Drew McGlone said. “That’s a hard guy to replace in your lineup. But a great guy for the underclassmen to look up to.”
“It was an awesome senior season, especially with that run at the end of the year,” Bennington said. “We just had a great group of guys, especially in the senior class. We all really liked each other, and we all came together this year and just played good team ball together. I couldn’t ask for much better guys to do it with.
“Whenever I was on the mound, I had my guys behind me in the field, they made every play. I couldn’t ask for a much better season, for sure, especially with ending it with a district championship.”
Bennington wrapped up his season hitting over .400 with a .576 slugging percentage. He had 35 hits (nine for extra bases) and 27 RBI.
“I just like to keep it simple — see ball, hit ball,” Bennington said. “There were some struggles this year midway through the season. I got in a little slump, but I just went back to the basics in my swing, in my approach, and I got through it.
“Coach McGlone did a great job with the practices this year with helping a lot of guys go backside, and I felt like that really helped us as the tournament came around, and we got a lot of great hits going backside. I felt like I got better in going to right field as a right-handed hitter as the year went on.”
On the mound, he recorded five wins, struck out 60 and had an ERA under three.
One of his biggest stints on the mound came when he wound up going seven innings in relief against Wheelersburg as the Braves won their first district championship since 2010.
Even though he’d rather play shortstop, Bennington knew this season would require a bigger role on the mound.
“I’ve always liked being a shortstop better, that’s always been my home,” Bennington said. “Last year we had a lot of guys graduate — Grant Cline, Mason Gentry, Dylan Neff — they were big pitchers for us. And so, I had to step into the role.
“I just feel like taking over that role was something different that I enjoyed a lot.
“I still love playing shortstop, but especially in that district championship there at the night game at the Paints Stadium, that was something special there to do it with my guys. That’s a night I’ll remember forever. It was a long night, extra innings, and just grinding it out in the extra innings. So, I’ll remember that for sure.”
Finding the right balance between pitching and playing shortstop was something the Braves’ staff worked on through the season.
“At the beginning of the year, we kind of really leaned on him on the mound, and then as the year went on, we’re like, man, we cannot keep using him like that all year long,” McGlone said. “We noticed that we are such a better defensive team with him up the middle. And if we could use him out of the pen, that’s just another luxury.”
A four-year starter at shortstop, McGlone said Bennington consistently made big plays for the Braves.
“If you had the opportunity to watch us play, you have seen him make web gem after web gem up the middle,” McGlone said.
An injury brought Bennington onto the field his freshman season.
“One of my biggest role models that I look up to is Braylon Baker, and he got injured. He was going to be our shortstop his senior year,” Bennington said. “I had to take over that role my freshman year and Coach (Terry) Holbert was the coach at that time. And there’s a lot of respect for him and his coaching staff for letting me play shortstop. That really helped me as a player to get those reps.
“Braylon Baker was a great role model there, helping me through the whole year. Because, as a freshman, it’s not easy being starting shortstop. As each year came upon, I feel like the position got easier. Coach McGlone and his staff did a great job with helping me as well at that position.”
Along with being a district champion, Bennington also was named First Team All-Mid-State League and First Team All-Southeast District.
Bennington is part of a strong senior class that included Lucas Bialy, Cam Ebert, Dawson Farris, Brady Neff and Zane Seimer.
“They changed the culture and the standard. Those young guys really looked up to them, and they embraced them all year long. They became a family,” McGlone said. “That district championship was electric. The way our fans came out and supported us in that game; it’s something I’ll never forget, and hopefully the kids never forget it, too. I’m just proud that all our guys got to be a part of it.”
Bennington hopes the younger players understand how he and his classmates approached the game and the team.
“The younger guys see how close of a senior group we are, and I think that’s very important. To go far in the tournament, to go far in any sport, you’ve got to be close with your guys and just have to like each other. That was the main thing for us as seniors this year,” Bennington said. “We made sure that the whole team was together and we stuck it out through every part — through the ups and the lows — we stuck it out as a team.
“So I’m hoping that the younger players — the juniors, the sophomores, the freshman coming up — they looked at the senior group this year and saw how it was done and that they can do that when they’re seniors and it starts a good program here.”
A National Honor Society student who graduated with a 3.83 GPA, Bennington will now head to Centralia, Illinois, to join the baseball team at Kaskaskia College (a Division I junior college) where he’ll study business management and join Circleville grad Austin Gray, who’s a catcher on the team.
“It’ll be good having him out there and I’m looking forward to it. The plan is to be there for two years and then go to a four-year program after that,” Bennington said.
• The Don Rowland Award was established by an independent committee in 2000 to recognize Pickaway County’s most outstanding senior baseball player and was presented annually until 2013. The Sporting Pumpkin was able to resurrect the award in 2023 to continue to recognize deserving local athletes.
Don Rowland Award winners include:
2000 — Chris Robinson (Circleville), 2001 — Steve Overholser (Teays Valley), 2002 — Trey Fausnaugh (Westfall), 2003 — Daniel Utts (Circleville), 2004 — Mike Scherer (Circleville), 2005 — Lee Fausnaugh (Westfall), 2006 — Joe Morris (Westfall), 2007 — Greg Mullens (Teays Valley), 2008 — Andrew Cox (Teays Valley), 2009 — Jake Vinkovich (Circleville), 2010 — Eddie Strawser (Circleville), 2011 — Zach Wolfe (Westfall), 2012 — Anthony Vagnier (Logan Elm), 2013 — Alek Stonerock (Westfall), 2014-22 — No winner selected, 2023 — Matt Farmer (Teays Valley), 2024 — Bryce Wickline (Westfall), 2025 — Trent Smith (Circleville), 2026 — Kelton Bennington (Logan Elm).