PEABODY — Every once in a while there comes along a special athlete. But when it comes to the Lomasney family, there are at least two of them.
Steve Lomasney, a former football, basketball, and baseball standout and member of the Peabody Athletic Hall of Fame, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox out of Peabody High and spent 12 seasons in professional baseball before his career was cut short due to an injury.
Daughter Logan Lomasney may be on the verge of one-upping the old man. Logan announced this week she is heading to the University of Southern New Hampshire where she intends to play basketball and softball.
“I started out thinking about playing only basketball, but then ran into the softball coach and began talking about playing both,” Logan said. “(Former Tanner softball coach) Tawny Palmieri also reached out to her. I visited the campus and got to meet all the girls and it felt right to me. It was definitely the place I wanted to be. My dad always said, ‘You will know when you know’ and he was right. Making the decision is a breath of fresh air with a lot of stress now off my shoulders. It feels really, really good.”
Logan was recruited by St. Anselm, UMASS Lowell, and Bryant and also considered taking a stab at some NESCAC schools as well as Dartmouth. She decided against them once she visited SNHU where she has the chance to play two sports.
“It will be tough, but I’ve spent my whole life playing multiple sports as well as on club and AAU teams,” she said. “This is something I can do if I work hard and I plan to take full advantage of the opportunity.”
Logan’s list of accomplishments and honors is mind-boggling. She’s never played on a sub-varsity team. She’s never been anything less than a starter. By the time she graduates in June, she will have earned 12 varsity letters. Along the way, she’s earned the respect of coaches and teammates alike, serving as a captain of the girls soccer, basketball, and softball teams.
She earned the Tanners’ soccer team Most Valuable Defensive Player Award as a senior last fall.
In basketball, Lomasney is closing in on 1,000 points, which she could eclipse this week. The two-time NEC Most Valuable Player and Boston Globe and Herald All Scholastic honoree needs just 50 points and, considering she’s averaged nearly 25 points per game the last four games, she’s right on track to hit the number Thursday against Waltham on Senior Night.
Last spring, Logan was a key player on the Tanners’ softball team, which, for a third straight year, made deep runs in the state Division 1 Softball Tournament. In 2021, Peabody advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. In 2022 the team advanced to the final before exiting. Last year’s team made a second straight trip to the Final Four only to come up empty.
Individually, Logan’s numbers were off the charts. Named to the NEC All-Star as a freshman, the two-time NEC All-Conference shortstop batted .550, smashed nine home runs, and drove in 32 runs.
Logan’s not too shabby in the classroom either. A member of the National Honor Society, she ranks 23rd in her class. She served as a Project 351 Ambassador while in the eighth grade at the Higgins School and again as a junior.
Logan said her favorite subject is English. She intends to major in criminal justice and minor in psychology to prepare for a career in behavioral analysis.
For now, Logan is focused on finishing her high school career on a high note.
“Last year we lost to Woburn in the second round in basketball so the goal is to go further than that,” she said. “We want to bring home a state softball title. Losing last year really hurt; it was personal. We have one final shot at it and it’s going to be this year.”
And it will be under the direction of two Lomasneys – Steve, the new head coach, and Logan. She said it’s “very cool” to have her father as her coach.
Logan said she’s been in sports since she was two or three, and not just as a player.
“I grew up watching my dad’s games,” she said. “We’d take a three-hour ride to go to his games and spend all day watching games. I learned from him the value of hard work. I also owe my mother (Ryan) so much for taking me everywhere I needed to go. She is definitely my biggest fan.”
Logan’s favorite sport is “whatever sport I’m playing. Right now, it’s basketball.”
Getting back to one-upping her father, that’s exactly what Logan hopes to do this week when she hits her magic number.
“I don’t think my father was ever even close to 1,000,” she joked. “The one thing I have him beaten in is basketball. My goal has been to hit 1,000 for a long time, so it will be a full-circle moment and an affirmation of my hard work. I couldn’t do it without Coach McKeen, Coach Palazzola, and Coach Wallace so I am so grateful to them.”
Peabody basketball coach Stan McKeen said Logan has been a “dedicated player” at Peabody High.
“She has worked very hard both at practice and games to be the very best player she can be,” he said.
