McLennan CC Professional Athletes

McLennan CC's Logan Henderson Is Pitching in the NLCS — and Milwaukee Is Up 2-0

A junior college out of Waco, Texas doesn't typically show up in October baseball conversations, but McLennan Community College has a horse on the mound in the National League Championship Series. Logan Henderson, the Brewers' 23-year-old right-hander and a McLennan CC alum, started Game 2 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday — and Milwaukee walked away with a 7-4 victory to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Henderson entered the night with an 11-3 record and a 2.47 ERA on the season, squaring off against Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in what looked on paper like a marquee pitching duel. The result was messier than that billing suggested, but the Brewers came out on top regardless.

Henderson worked four innings, allowing 2 earned runs and striking out 2, finishing with a 3.00 ERA for the outing. The surface numbers tell a straightforward story, but the game itself was anything but clean. Henderson committed two throwing errors on pickoff attempts — one of which directly led to a Tommy Edman run that briefly gave the Dodgers a lead — and was pulled after the fifth inning began to unravel. Still, he did exactly what Milwaukee's formula has demanded of its starters this postseason: eat four solid innings, keep the game close, and hand a capable bullpen a winnable situation.

That formula, described by Defector as almost eerily repeatable, has now held through two straight NLCS games. The Dodgers scored first in Game 2, cashed in again in the third, but couldn't pile on either time — Shohei Ohtani, visibly hampered, made the third out in both innings. Milwaukee answered every punch, including a two-out, two-run single in the third that chased a pitch-count-bloated Yamamoto. After Henderson exited, the Brewers' bullpen slammed the door, and a William Contreras home run helped seal the final margin.

Henderson's two-errors night is the wrinkle in an otherwise encouraging postseason debut. Pitching errors in October get magnified, and the Sportsnet clip of Henderson airmailing a pickoff throw to first — with Edman racing home — will circulate for a while. But the broader ledger is hard to argue with: a rookie-aged starter holding the defending World Series participants to a manageable game, on the road in the NLCS, with Milwaukee now one series win away from the Fall Classic.

No other McLennan CC alumni appeared in notable action during the period. Chris Roller, the Brewers' center fielder and fellow McLennan product, is on the roster but did not surface as a key factor in the Game 2 box score per available reporting.

For a program better known for developing prospects than producing October headliners, having Henderson on this stage — errors and all — is a story worth watching as the series shifts toward Los Angeles.

McLennan Community College has quietly become a pipeline to the majors, and Logan Henderson is the latest proof. The Waco product took center stage Sunday afternoon when the Milwaukee Brewers handed him the ball for Game 2 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres — about as big a moment as a pitcher can be asked to handle.

Henderson delivered.

The right-hander turned in five innings of one-run ball, striking out four and keeping the Padres' lineup in check long enough for the Brewers to take a 4-3 win and go up 2-0 in the series. His ERA on the afternoon stood at 1.80. Henderson squared off against Padres ace Michael King in what was billed as an electric pitching matchup, and he more than held his own.

The Brewers had taken Game 1 with a tight 3-2 victory on Saturday, and the decision to trust Henderson with the follow-up start speaks to how the organization views the 24-year-old. A loss in Game 2 would have flattened Milwaukee's series advantage before it could breathe; instead, the Brewers head into the next round with momentum firmly in hand.

For McLennan CC fans, Henderson's October moment is the kind of thing that gets remembered long after the season ends — a former Highlander standing on a postseason mound in a series that matters, and rising to it.

Henderson isn't the only MCC alum on the Brewers' roster. Center fielder Chris Roller is also in Milwaukee's organization, though no notable stats for Roller surfaced during the October 4–10 window. Elsewhere in the league, Connor Phillips (Reds), Chris Martin (Rangers), and Josh Breaux (White Sox) represent the Waco school's broader footprint across MLB — a testament to the program's track record of developing professional-caliber talent.

But this week belonged to Henderson. When the Brewers needed a Game 2 performance in the NLDS, their McLennan CC alumni answered the bell.

Logan Henderson is making a strong case as one of the best pitching products McLennan CC has ever sent to the big leagues — and a Wednesday night win in Philadelphia only added to that argument.

The Milwaukee Brewers right-hander turned in five innings of one-run ball against the Phillies on September 23, striking out three and keeping his ERA at a gleaming 2.47 on the season. The Brewers scored four runs in the first three innings to stake Henderson to a comfortable lead, and he did the rest, helping Milwaukee clinch their 99th win of the year in a 4-1 final. It was another vintage outing from a pitcher who has been one of the more quietly impressive arms in the National League all season.

At 2.47, Henderson's ERA ranks among the best in his rotation and underscores just how dependable the McLennan CC product has become. The Brewers entered the game at 98-59 — one of the best records in baseball — and Henderson's workmanlike performance against a dangerous Phillies lineup was exactly what the club needed as the postseason push reaches full intensity.

Also Watching: Connor Phillips, Reds

Fellow McLennan alum Connor Phillips had a mixed week out of Cincinnati's bullpen. The right-hander worked 1.1 innings in a 7-6 Reds win over Atlanta on Thursday without allowing a run, then surrendered one earned run in a single inning of work against Toronto on Saturday as the Reds won 5-1. His ERA ticked up slightly to 5.40 on the season, though his September workload suggests Cincinnati continues to trust him in late-game situations. Phillips, like Henderson, is a product of the McLennan pipeline — a testament to the Waco, Texas program's ability to develop MLB-caliber pitching arms.

The Bigger Picture

Two active McLennan CC alumni on MLB rosters deep into a pennant-race September is no small feat for a junior college program. Henderson is doing it at the top of a rotation competing for a World Series, while Phillips is carving out his role in a Reds bullpen still playing meaningful games. Josh Breaux (White Sox, C), Chris Martin (Rangers, P), and Chris Roller (Brewers, CF) round out the McLennan contingent in the majors, giving the Highlanders program five active representatives across the league.

For now, all eyes are on Henderson. With the Brewers barreling toward the postseason at 99 wins and counting, the McLennan product looks every bit like a pitcher who belongs in October.