Baseball season and daily practice is in full swing on the diamond at Allan Hancock College.
Pitchers throw balls back and forth to one another, and then toss their mitts on the third baseline and join their teammates for a run around the field to end their two-hour practice.
Ryan Bower—a sophomore starter and four-year varsity player from Lompoc High School—is one of these pitchers. His mentor, Lompoc coach Jim Allen, is who Bower attributes for his success, which includes taking his team to CIF finals during his senior year.
“[Allen] taught me everything I know and showed me a lot,” Bower said. “Everybody he’s ever helped really looks up to him.”
Bower also says his many years on the field and early start as a pitcher have provided him with the necessary knowledge to be the accomplished college athlete he is today.
Chris Stevens, the Hancock’s head baseball coach, agrees that it’s Bower’s experience that makes him such fierce competition.
“He’s out there to compete and win for every pitch he throws,” Stevens said. “He has a good fastball and an even better slider. That’s definitely what makes him most appealing to baseball scouts.”
And Bower is definitely appealing. He’s on the radar of not only collegiate coaches, but also those of professional teams, which would hopefully be drafting him after this year.
“I have six or seven college teams keeping an eye out on me,” Bower said. “I got a letter from the Anaheim Angels a couple of weeks ago. I would love to play for them!”
Unlike four-year schools, where players are normally drafted after their junior year, community colleges allow players to get picked up at any time.
But getting drafted is nothing new for Bower.
“I nearly left [Hancock] to play for University of Minnesota my freshman year,” he said.
All of this attention early on is perhaps why Bower is so relaxed when he steps up to the mound.
“I don’t really get nervous anymore,” he said. “Although sometimes before a big game I do.”
He might be cool and collected on the field, but like most baseball players, Bower still gets a little superstitious.
“I wear the same socks every time I pitch,” he said, “and I never wash them.”
This year, he shaved his head before the first game of the season against College of the Sequoias. Hancock won 10-1, so it only seemed natural that Bower keep shaving his head prior to every game.
He said he also researches the stats of the other team, so he knows what he’s going up against.”
“On game day, I put my headphones in and listen to reggae,” Bower said. “I try to stay as focused as possible.”
During a game, Bower’s mindset is similar: to always keep his mind as clear as possible, even if he’s having a bad day.
“I try to get anything that’s bothering me out of my mind before I even think about going out to pitch,” he said. “I always try to have a blank mind and [to] get the job done.”
This article appears in Feb 20-27, 2014.
