BOURNE, Mass. — Rhys Bowie made the two-hour drive from Kingston, Rhode Island, on Thursday to Cape Cod — on Friday he got the nod as the Bourne starting pitcher.
"I was told on Thursday that I had to start," Bowie said. "So I had to do all the little things, but I really just had to go out there and compete. That's all I could really ask."
Bowie came to the Cape after appearing in eight games with 18 inning pitched for the Ocean State Waves in the New England College Baseball League, where he tallied a 1.50 ERA with 27 strikeouts tossed.
After a strong summer out in New England, he caught the attention of the Bourne staff, and in his first game as a Brave he delivered, picking up the win in the 14-4 victory.
After walking his first hitter, Bowie was lights out against Falmouth, tossing five shutout innings with zero hits and 11 strikeouts.
"I was able to command my cutter and my fastball and it really helped," Bowie said. "Being able to have the run support behind me was pretty good as well."
Bowie didn't realize he would be thrown into the fire so soon. When he found out he was the opening pitcher, there were some anxiousness.
He knew he needed to settle down. After all, baseball is the game he loves to play and he's out there competing against the best of the best for a reason.
"I mean, there was obviously nerves. Like, I wasn't really kind of expecting to be out here so soon," Bowie said. "I was telling myself that it's just the game we love to play. So being able to just go out there and compete, it just helped me settle in."
A big point of emphasis this summer for Bowie was to work on his control. He was coming off of a freshman campaign at Wake Forest where in his 15 innings pitched, he walked 20 batters. In his 18 inning tossed with the Waves, he walked nine hitters.
On Friday against Falmouth? He walked one and had one Commodore get hit by a pitch.
"For me, a big point of focus was my command," Bowie said. "I struggled in the season with a bunch of walks, so being able to come out here with only one walk and one hit by a pitch, it shows my hard work is paying off."
The win against the Commodores clinched a playoff spot for Bourne — Bowie was a large reason for it. Despite just arriving to the Cape, Bowie is already settling in with his new teammates, and is looking to build off of his strong debut headed into the postseason.
"Just being able to help these guys win — they've been here all summer," Bowie said. "Being able to do my job and help them accomplish what they've been working for all summer is pretty special."
