LOGANVILLE, Ga. -- Emily.

The name leaped at Clint Frazier as he scrolled through his Twitter timeline last April. The Lynchburg Hilltops, a Class A farm club of the Cleveland Indians, had a day off and Frazier, one of baseball's biggest prospects, was killing time.

There were the usual tweets -- sports news and Major League Baseball highlight videos and some pop culture stuff -- but he stopped at the news of a horrific crash back home in Georgia.

Five Georgia Southern nursing students headed for training in Savannah were killed when a tractor trailer crashed head-on into their two SUVs. The truck driver later admitted to texting before the crash. Police said John Wayne Johnson was distracted by naked photos on his phone.

Frazier didn't know any of the victims: Abbie DeLoach, Caitlyn Baggett, Catherine McKay Pittman, Morgan Bass or Emily Clark.

But one of the names stuck with him: Emily.

He had to learn more about Clark, a 20-year-old woman from Powder Springs, Ga., a speck on the map about 60 miles from Frazier's hometown of Loganville. He read about her devastated parents, Craig and Karen, and eventually reached out to Emily's devastated boyfriend, who, in his grief, told the world, "She was the girl I was going to marry."

Frazier emailed his phone number to Neal Hollis and then did what he could to help the Georgia Southern pharmacy major begin to cope with the loss. They became unlikely friends ... all because of his late girlfriend's name.

Emily.

Why did that name stick with him?

It's simple, really: Frazier already had become a surrogate big brother to a teen who is now a senior at Loganville High -- Emily Rutledge.

She lost her big brother in a Thanksgiving weekend car accident in 2015. Ethan, a college freshman, was her best friend and mentor.

Clint barely knew Ethan, even though they graduated Loganville High only a year apart, Clint in 2013 and Ethan the following spring. But Frazier felt compelled to help in any way he could.

The friendship began when Frazier showed up at the Rutledge home not long after Ethan's funeral to offer financial and emotional support.

"Somebody one time told me the word 'Joy' spelled out is Jesus first, others second and you last," said Kim Frazier, Clint's mother. "I always thought that was really cool and I shared that to Clint when he was younger. Clint's always had a big heart and was always sensitive. He's always been generous."

* * *

These acts of kindness have become a trend for Frazier, who, at only 21, has become a remarkable friend to many.

The Yankees, who acquired Frazier in a trade with the Cleveland Indians last month, know all about him the ballplayer. The glowing scouting reports reach back to his high school days: He's a five-tool athlete whom they believe can be the Yankees center fielder of the future.

They Yankees will tell you Frazier has drive and passion.

But people who know Frazier hear that and think: The Yankees have no idea.

"I've been best friends with Clint since I was younger," said Daniel Milligan, a University of Georgia junior who played baseball and graduated with Frazier at Loganville High School. "What the New York Yankees don't know about Clint is he has a big heart and he wants to help people, and not just financially."

This is the story about the secret Clint Frazier.

* * *

Frazier, 21, is the youngest in a strong Christian family of four in Loganville, a town of about 11,000 residents that lies 40 miles east of Atlanta. His dad, Mark, is a salesman for a fencing company. His mother, Kim, is a pre-school teacher. His big sister Taylor works as a pharmacy technician.

His extended family includes 6-year-old Eden, who is no blood relation but is being cared for part-time by the Fraziers because the girl's parents have struggled financially and, for the past few months, her mother has been away in military training.

Clint, who is called Bubba by his father and Bub by his mother, was taught from a young age to be charitable. He learned that from going to church two or three times a month, from watching his parents do things such as open their home in recent years to little Eden, who gets a lot of a love and financial support from the whole family.

The Fraziers were good in shape financially during much of Clint's youth and reside in a beautiful home in an upper-middle class neighborhood, but tough times hit when a bad economy cost Mark his job in 2009 and he didn't find another full-time position for 3 1/2 years.

Retirement funds and side jobs helped pay bills, but keeping up with the mortgage was tough. Times were so hard that the Clint's parents almost didn't get to San Diego in August 2012 to see Clint win the Jackie Robinson Award as the Perfect Game High School Player of the Year.

"We've gone through times of struggling and we've gone through times without struggling," Clint said.

There was some good that came out of the financial struggling ... life lessons that changed the entire family.

"We saw what it can do and how when you go from having everything to having nothing, and it gave us a whole new outlook," said Mark Frazier, who is the most outgoing of his family and speaks with a thick Southern accent. "If we see somebody that's out of work or needs something, let's help them because we've been there. We know how it feels.

"We know how it feels to wonder how you're going to pay your house payment or how you're going to buy groceries. So instead of turning a blind eye on people, I think our family has a bigger heart because we've been there. It really changed us as a family. Right now we're back on our feet. We've doing well. But we're very blessed.

"I think Clint seeing what we've been there, it's very humbling. That's what I tell him a lot. I say, 'Bubba, you never know what somebody's going through.'"

Mark finally got on his feet again during Clint's senior year by finding work as a salesman for a concrete company, but was laid off again early into the summer of 2013. These tough times started right after Clint was drafted by the Indians fifth overall on June 6, signed for $3.5 million eight days later and then headed to Goodyear, Ariz., to begin his pro career in the Arizona League.

"I think Clint had been gone about a week and it happened," Kim Frazier said. "It was devastating. We had to tell everybody, 'You can't let him know.' He'd just graduated high school in May. Life-changing stuff. He'd never been away from home, then he's far away and he does have a heart for other people. I knew that he would be concerned for us, so we said, 'We can't let him know because he's got to concentrate.'"

Clint didn't find out about his father's job loss and the family's new round of financial hardship until his baseball season, and he was upset about not being told.

"I'm part of this family and I need to know what's going on," he told his mother.

Eighteen-year-old Clint immediately called his financial advisor, then the next day sat down with his mother and announced, "I have made arrangements for a chunk of money to be given to you all."

"No," his mother said.

"It's already done," Clint replied.

His mother was moved to tears.

She still cries when telling the story.

Mark Frazier, father of Yankees prospect Clint Frazier, was gifted this new truck from his son for Christmas in 2014. (Kim Frazier photo)

"People who have been through this know it can take a long time to get back on your feet," Kim Frazier said. "It's very humbling to have your child ... take care of you. His words to me were, 'You all did so much for me growing up.' But as a parent you just do it because that's what you do."

Mark Frazier gets emotional reliving that day, too.

"It's very humbling because I told Clint, 'Daddies are supposed to take care of their sons. Sons ain't supposed to take care of their daddies.' It was probably the most-humbling moment I've ever had, but also the most-proud moment."

His big sister was touched, too.

"I don't think Clint thinks twice about helping any of us out ... ever," Taylor Frazier said. "I just think that's his human nature."

More help would come the next Christmas. Clint's present to his dad was a new pickup truck.

"Money is money," Clint said. "It's not going to determine our household. When one of us is able to help out the other one ... in this case, me being able to help them out was something that I wanted to do. My parents did whatever it took to make sure I got where I am. The littlest thing I could do was help them out when I have the flexibility to do that."

* * *

There's an intersection on Highways 81 and 78 in central Georgia that's named after a 2014 Loganville grad, a handsome young man who, everyone said, looked like a young Elvis.

Ethan Rutledge graduated at Loganville (Ga.) High in 2014, a year after Yankees prospect Clint Frazier. (Photo courtesy Mike McLean)

The oldest of Ron and Charity Rutledge's two children was named Ethan, but his family and friends called him by his nickname, Puddin' -- a senior prom and homecoming king, a football player and a cook at a local pizza joint.

In the fall of 2014, Ethan started college at Columbus State as a biology major on a cheerleading scholarship.

Before December, he was gone.

On Thanksgiving weekend, Clint was vacationing with his family at a beach condo in Panama City, Fla., once again thumbing through his Twitter timeline. Ethan had seriously injured in a horrific one-car crash after failing to negotiate a turn on Highway 81 on a Saturday morning.

No one knows why this happened. He wasn't drinking, wasn't on the phone, wasn't texting.

A day later, Ethan was taken off life support with no brain function.

"Our son was an organ donor, so a lot of good came out of it," said Ron Rutledge, Ethan's father.

A 57-year-old man has Ethan's heart.

"He came to our house in February," Ron said. "He brought a stethoscope."

Frazier got involved about a week after Ethan's funeral.

"I want to talk to the Rutledges," he told his mother. "I want to know about Ethan."

Frazier called to set up a meeting, then knocked on the Rutledges' door early one evening.

He showed up with a book, "What to Do on the Worst Day of Your Life," and presented it to Ethan's mother.

"I wanted to read the book before I recommended it and I remember Charity telling me she's not a big reader, so she downloaded it and played it in her car when she was driving," Clint said. "It's a book that really helps you see what it's like to go through struggles. It's a lot of Christian based things. It's just letting you know that everything happens for a reason and there's a bigger picture behind success, failures and passing away."

He stayed for hours, and before leaving he made a financial donation to a charity in Ethan's name.

"I don't want to make this sound bad, but I have an impact in the Loganville community, so I knew that if I had reached out to them it might mean more to them, if that makes sense," Frazier said. "I didn't just want to donate to their fund. I wanted to hand them a personal check and kind of experience that on a personal level. The emotions were high that day."

Frazier and the Rutledges bonded that night sharing Ethan stories.

"The only thing we have to hold on to are memories, and Clint shared his memories," Charity said. "When you go through this, you have to make a choice. You can take your situation and grow from it and trust in the plan that God has for all of us, or you can go the opposite way. Clint, I would say, is a big part in us looking at this situation and going, 'OK, we can grow from it.'

"He's a small-town hero."

Frazier is a trusted mentor to the other Rutledge child. Emily, now 17, was a high school sophomore when losing her big brother. She texts more with Frazier than she does with her parents.

"What Clint has done is hard to explain," Charity Rutledge said. "Our daughter has experienced this on another level than us. She's a child who lost a sibling. That was her best friend. And so Clint stepped up as a big brother to her and has been ever since. He contacts her all the time. He's become a support system. He's always there for her when she needs advice. She looks up to him. He's been a big brother hero to her.

"For us to have people looking out for Emily and caring for her and knowing that she's going to need that friend to help keep her on the right path ... Clint is doing that."

* * *

Five months after Ethan Rutledge lost his life, the Georgia Southern nursing students were killed. It was a national story.

"I saw a bunch of tweets and one of the girls who died was named Emily," Clint said. "I saw her picture everywhere and it caught my eye because Ethan's little sister is Emily. Then I kept seeing all these tweets about her boyfriend, Neal Hollis."

In a photo on Hollis' Instagram, he is standing front center with 39 of Emily's sorority sisters. Behind them is a banner that reads, "Someone We Love is in Heaven." Under the photo, Neal wrote, "Don't worry Em, your sisters are taking care of me. Thank you for loving me and being the most beautiful guardian angel I could ever imagine."

That photo moved Frazier.

"I had no idea who the guy was," Clint said. "Again, I thought maybe coming from someone who has made a big impact in Georgia, it might mean a little more to Neal knowing I'm thinking about him."

Clint sent Neal a message through Twitter, and they traded direct messages. Soon a friendship developed.

"I just let him know that I went through a situation with someone else," Clint said. "I wrote, 'If you need anyone to talk to, I'm here.' We did talk, and Neal and I still communicate to this day,"

Clint has helped Neal through tough times ... and vice versa.

As their friendship was forming, Clint's 2015 baseball season got off to a slow start.

"I was struggling a lot in the first half," he said. "Seeing that Neal had just lost his girlfriend, it made me realize that my struggles are nowhere near what Neal's are and what the Rutledges' [struggles] were."

Clint's first-half batting average was just .248, then he rebounded to hit .325 in the second half to finish with a solid .285 mark (with 16 homers and 72 RBIs in 133 games).

"Meeting Neal helped me during my season last year," Clint said. "Neil and I connected in a lot of ways. He would vent to me and I would vent to him."

* * *

Mike McLean and wife Suzanne are franchise owners of John's New York Style Pizza in Loganville.

That's where Ethan Rutledge was a cook. And that's where the Loganville High baseball team and a lot of locals gathered on June 6, 2013, for a draft party for Clint Frazier.

Both are hometown heroes. Many in town can't wait until Clint gets to the big leagues and many still honor Ethan by wearing #EthanStrong shirts.

"It's a parallel," Mike McLean said. "Two young kids from the same town equally big-hearted."

On Aug. 5, Clint's parents were having dinner at McLean's pizza place when a group of people gathered to celebrate would have been Ethan's 21st birthday.

Charity Rutledge and Kim Frazier embraced after making eye contact a few feet away from a restaurant wall that includes an #EthanStrong tribute box complete with his old work hat.

"We'll keep it up there forever," McLean said. "Why not?"

Ron and Charity Rutledge will be rooting for Frazier, watching for the day he gets his first big-league call-up. They'll smile at the star ballplayer they now consider family.

"I hope that someday when I'm not here people will look back and remember that Ethan was nice kid," Charity said. "Clint was able to see that in a way that probably most people will never see. No matter how much money Clint makes in baseball, his heart is bigger than any bank account will ever have."

Her husband nodded, then added, "That's why we love him."

* * *

There are a lot more Clint Frazier acts-of-kindness stories out there, many of which never will be told. He prefers they remain a secret because none are done for publicly or to make himself look good. Even his parents need to be coaxed into sharing what they know because they feel being kind and giving to others is to be expected, not applauded.

"I always tell him to be humble and help people out," Mark Frazier said. "It doesn't have to be financially. It also can be with your time or being a friend. We're no better than anybody else. We just happen to be the parents of a kid who can hit a baseball. And Clint ain't no better than anybody else, either. He's just Bubba."

Clint Frazier, possibly the next great thing for the Yankees, plans on staying just the way he is no matter where his baseball career takes him.

"I have a very big heart for people that are in need of some kind of help, whether that be financial or just being a friend," he said. "I grew up in a Christian environment, so to help other people is a priority that my family told me to put first. It's a big thing for me to help someone if they need it."

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.