FALMOUTH, Mass. – Reliable.

Karson Bowen is reliable. He’s a reliable player, teammate, son, friend, boyfriend and brother. His word is strong and his determination is stronger.

“People can rely on me and they do and I'm just going to be there, I'm always going to show up, I'm going to be that person who never goes away,” Bowen said. “I'm not going to give up. I’m going to keep pushing all the time and I’ll always be there.”

Baseball was Bowen’s first love. His parents put him in other sports growing up, but he kept coming back to baseball. Being the catcher aligned for Bowen when his father, who was the coach, stuck him behind home plate because he didn’t want to make another person’s kid catch.

Bowen has two older brothers, Bryce and Alec, and his parents are Kris and David. Being the youngest of three, his older brothers have guided him through life, teaching him both the good and the bad. Bowen’s parents have been foundational for him as role models and support.

“They've provided me to be able to come here and play,” Bowen said. “They've helped me play travel ball growing up and just do everything I've always wanted to do and follow my dreams. They taught me how to work hard, how to be a good person and they did everything that I could have ever asked for.”

Anaheim Hills California is Bowen’s home base. He played four years of varsity baseball at Orange Lutheran High School. Bowen also went on to play for the USA Youth National Team four times.

“It doesn’t matter what your last name is when you’re on the USA team. It’s just the name in the front, just USA across your chest,” Bowen said. “You’re not just playing for you. You’re playing for the people around you and your whole country.”

Coming out of high school, Bowen knew he wanted to leave California for his collegiate career. Texas Christian University (TCU) grabbed his attention quickly with its people, community and the baseball of course.

While at TCU, he has found the balance between school and baseball. They are held to high standards and with TCU being a private university, academic rigor is high.

“Our standards are very high there, so you're going to go to class every day, you're going to do the right things, you're going to pick up trash on campus and anywhere you're gonna hold doors open for people,” Bowen said. “And then on top, there's baseball too.”

Back in September, Bowen had surgery on his labrum and rotator cuff, then in November he had surgery on his hand after breaking it in his first practice back from his labrum and rotator cuff surgery.

“Now here in Falmouth is the first time I’ve actually felt good and healthy,” Bowen said. “It wasn't a great year for me, but it was definitely an experience and I'm glad it happened because then I get to learn so much from it.”

Recently Bowen was talking with Falmouth pitching coach Mike Landry about the process of baseball and development. They discussed how the process isn’t easy, but neither is baseball.

“Me going through the injuries I went through in the fall were pivotal to my success maybe now and later on because I learned so much of how to struggle,” Bowen said. “Just to learn from that and just know that it’s going to happen and I learned a lot about myself that year, so that was really important to me.”

Being in Falmouth, Bowen has capitalized on the opportunity to learn from his teammates on the Commodores. During batting practice, he will pull guys like Gavin Turley (Oregon State) and Luke Gaffney (Clemson) to the side to ask for advice to continue to grow.

“I think it's so cool just to learn from these guys and I'm trying to take in as much as I can and even the coaches,” Bowen said. “Summer Ball is such a good place to learn, grow and do so much good for yourself and for the team. It’s been awesome and Falmouth has been great.”

Focusing on the process and not the results is something that Bowen and this Falmouth team have focused on. These players are at a point in their careers where they know they can’t have every win and there's going to be lows, Bowen explained.

“If you're not process-based, the game is going to be really hard for you, especially mentally,” Bowen said. “You can only control the things you can control. Just trusting the process and putting in the work every day is all you can do.”

Photo Credit: Nate Gardner