Blake Bowen is crushing it for Wooster, both on the field and in the dugout

The University of Kentucky commit had a pair of hits in Saturday's 7-3 win over Massillon, including a monster 3-run homer

MASSILLON, Ohio – Wooster’s Blake Bowen hasn’t seen many pitches to hit this season. On Saturday in a 7-3 win over Massillon, the senior showed why.

In the top of the first inning with two runners on, the University of Kentucky commit turned on a 3-2 pitch from Massillon pitcher Brock Polilli and hit a majestic homer over the right field fence that was estimated at over 400 feet to give Wooster an early 3-0 lead.

The ball was hit so high and so far that it nearly hit the scoreboard at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, which sits about 50 feet past the outfield fence and 40 feet off the ground.

This is the absolute 💣 hit by @BlakeBowen24 of @Woo_Baseball pic.twitter.com/LhOAmrXYzZ

— Ryan (@Isley23) May 6, 2023

“All I am trying to do is hit a ball as hard as I can,” Bowen said. “I just kind of got lucky there. I hit a ball pretty far.”

It seems like more than luck for Bowen, who was named first-team All-Ohio last season when he hit .568 with seven home runs, 13 doubles, four triples, 45 RBI and 39 runs scored for the Generals.

Despite hitting a home run in his first at-bat of the day, Bowen has a short memory in the batter’s box and just takes each game one at-bat at a time and each at-bat one pitch at a time.

“(You have to) move on, you can’t really hold yourself up on one at-bat, whether it is good or bad,” Bowen said. “It is all about next pitch.”

In his second plate appearance, Bowen was walked - something he has done with regularity this season - and then when he got a pitch to hit in his third appearance, he roped a line drive to left center that ended up as a long single.

“(Seeing Blake for) four years but three seasons because of the Covid year (eliminating the 2020 season), you kind of run out of words,” Wooster head coach Steve Young said. “Everything he does is special.”

It wasn’t just his bat on Saturday, either, as Bowen flashed the leather as well.

Massillon’s Drew Stitt led off the bottom of the sixth inning by hitting a scorching line drive that looked to be over the head of Bowen at shortstop and destined to find the outfield for a hit. But the 6-foot-2 Bowen timed his jump perfectly and snared the liner for the first out of the inning.

“I saw the ball and I just went up and got it,” Bowen said. “I didn’t think too much about it, I just made the natural play.”

His coach poked a little fun at the shortstop after the game about the play.

“I didn’t know he could jump that high, I think he might have cleared a cinder block on that one,” Young said with a laugh as he looked at Bowen.

The Generals have a varsity roster consisting of nine seniors, five juniors and six sophomores, and most have had at least one year of varsity experience before this season, helping them come together and become a team Bowen enjoys playing on.

“We have a little bit of everything on this team,” Bowen said. “We have some pitching, we some hitters, we have some funny guys. All in all, it is a great team to be around. One of my favorite teams I have been a part of.”

But Bowen isn’t just another player on the team, he is a leader. And his leadership has come along just as well as his game. It is what makes Wooster’s head coach smile the most when talking about his star player.

“The thing I am most proud of him for - and he knows this because I have told him this - is his growth in the dugout with the other guys, being more vocal and leading from the front,” Young said. “His play speaks for itself, but the growth and the leadership we have seen, I could not be prouder of (Blake).”