As his high school career nears the finish line, senior midfielder Logan Wilkins knows he will leave as the most accomplished soccer player in Beecher’s history.
Wilkins holds program records for career goals with 129, career assists with 77 and single-season assists with 38 in 2023. It’s all still a bit hard for him to believe.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Wilkins said. “I really can’t put it into words, but I’m so grateful for all the teammates that have helped me along the way and also this coaching staff that has supported me every single step of the way.
“I’m glad we were able to turn this program around, and we’re recognizable now. People know where Beecher is on the map, and that might not have been the case before our freshman class came in.”
Wilkins added to his gaudy totals Wednesday afternoon, scoring two goals to lead visiting Beecher to a 5-1 River Valley Conference win over Grant Park.
Wences Baumgartner, Axel Avila and Conor Cochrane added a goal apiece for the Bobcats (17-3, 7-0). Brayden Heldt scored for Grant Park (10-8-2, 7-1).
Wilkins also knows that one of his records likely won’t last very long. Baumgartner has 117 career goals — and he’s just a junior.
No player in Beecher program history had scored 100 career goals until Wilkins hit the milestone on Sept. 3. Just nine days later, Baumgartner joined him.
“It’s a great experience to know that we haven’t had a 100-goal scorer of all-time and I did it, and then Wences gets it right behind me,” Wilkins said. “I’m glad it’s us two that were able to do it.”
Beecher coach Dawn Compton said it was appropriate that both members of the dynamic duo hit the milestone so close together.
“For one player to come through your program and do that is pretty special and to have two do it in the same year is great,” Compton said. “They’re our one-two punch. They work very well together and they feed each other, so it kind of went hand in hand that they’d do it together.”
Wilkins has 35 goals and 22 assists this season, while Baumgartner is up to 33 goals and 12 assists. As a sophomore last year, Baumgartner broke the program record with 54 goals.
Baumgartner said he wouldn’t be nearly as successful without Wilkins.
“He helped tremendously just with little tips here and there at practice,” Baumgartner said. “Just watching him makes me a better player.
“He’s the leader that you want on a team and I look up to him for everything.”
According to Illinois High School Association records, Wilkins ranks eighth in state history in career assists and needs just one more goal to crack the top 10 in career goals.
Wilkins had already surpassed 60 career goals by the time his sophomore season ended, but Compton asked him to move from forward to midfielder last fall.
“We had that talk before my junior year,” Wilkins said. “We were kind of missing that center mid. (Compton) asked me if I could do it and I said I’d do whatever is best for the team.
“Obviously, it’s worked out really well. I was able to get all those assists. The goal scorer usually gets the credit, but I love the feeling of getting someone else the goal, as well.”
The Bobcats broke the program record for wins last season, going 24-5 and reaching a Class 1A sectional final.
If Wilkins is able to lead Beecher to more big things this postseason, the entire town may be grateful that hockey is an expensive sport to play.
“I actually wanted to play hockey when I was little, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to afford that,” Wilkins said. “My parents were looking at different sports and were like, ‘Soccer is kind of similar to hockey, do you want to try it?’
“It’s been my sport ever since.”
