The slick-fielding shortstop is heading into her senior season having arrived at WOU from just down the road at Eugene where she was a four-time letter winner and Southwest Conference Player of the Year her senior year at South Eugene High School.
Bowers wasn't a come off the bench type of player as a true freshman, instead she worked her way right into the lineup as the everyday shortstop starting all 53 games. Showing her ability on defense right away, Bowers collected 94 putouts and added a team-best 117 assists. She also showed she could hit at the plate, posting a .285 batting average with a pair of home runs, three triples, seven doubles and 20 RBI.
"It was quite exciting, as an incoming freshman, to have the opportunity to compete for my favorite position. I was lucky enough to gain an amazing friend through the process in Ryanne Whitaker, who was the returning second baseman at the time and we had great chemistry on and off the field. This friendship eased my nerves and made me play more relaxed on the field, knowing I was supported by the team. After she graduated, I had two years under my belt and started to be more of a leader on defense taking what I had learned from her and applying to my game," Bowers said.
Heading into her sophomore season, the numbers continued to improve on the defense coming away with 84 putouts and another team-high in assists with 125. Bowers played in 51 games that included 50 starts and she added a .267 batting average, a team-high 13 doubles, three home runs and 16 RBI. It wasn't hard to see why shortstop was her favorite spot on the field. Throughout the seasons, whether it was ranging to her left or to her right, the play was almost seemingly made each time to rob a batter of a base hit and keep the momentum going for the Wolves.
"I love absolutely everything about this position. It's become second nature to me since I have not played anywhere else in my entire softball career. I love making the hard plays look easy. Now getting to that point took years of hard work and repetition, but my favorite compliment is how I seem to make it look effortless. Just thinking about defense puts me in a better mood, as I type, I can envision so many plays and movements. Overall, my favorite part of this position is expecting the unexpected. New plays each game and the chance to get a big stop for the team," Bowers said.
Of course, this past season was strange and unusual in a lot of ways, but especially for this team. The Wolves were beginning to find their stride having moved to 13-10 on the season and were riding a three-game winning streak with a win over Central Washington on the road and a sweep of Montana State-Billings. Then word came out during the middle of the games against MSU-Billings that this would likely be the final games of the season and that had to be all digested in a short amount of time while still preparing to play another game.
"I'm not going to lie, the thing I remember the most is the ending. We were lucky enough to be hosting a doubleheader and the chance to leave everything on the field. We truly embodied "play as if it is your last" and the emotions were so high and we ended our season with a bang, winning both games of the doubleheader," Bowers said.
It's never easy to watch your season come to an end early, but on the flip side of that, Bowers and the rest of the team was just thankful to be able to play the final games of the season and also being at home, a chance to send the seniors out strong.
"Oh, it was brutal to end the season like that. When we got the news in between games, all I could do was cry. My heart goes out to all the seniors, for this is not the way they deserved to end their college careers. We're lucky to have Chandler Bishop join us again, but Nicole Miller, Kennedy Coy and Ayanna Arceneaux will be missed for sure. I'm thankful to have had our last game together and sending them off with a win," Bowers said.
Before the season came to a surprising end due to the COVID shut down, Bowers was on pace for a career season at the plate holding a .353 batting average, along with three home runs, two triples, two doubles and 15 RBI in starting all 23 games. Bowers led the team in home runs, was second on the team in RBI and third in hits. In the field, she recorded 40 putouts and 56 assists, tying for the team lead in assists. Knowing where she was at individually and where the team was, Bowers is certainly ready to get back on the field.
"I'm so ready to be back in action!! I work at a softball complex and have seen so many games this summer that I'm itching to be out on the field again," Bowers said.
A lot of memories have stood out over the years for Bowers, with of course the trip to regionals standing out among them all. There have been other top memories as well, including a trip to Texas when WOU went to Canyon to face nationally-ranked West Texas A&M and showed that could play with some of the best in the nation. On that trip, WOU split a pair of games with the No. 13 Lady Buffs and also swept a pair from Southwestern Oklahoma State to go 3-1 on the trip to Texas.
"There are so many great memories it's difficult to pick. Regionals were a special moment and I'm grateful to have been apart of that. I will never forget my freshman year when we traveled to West Texas A&M to experience top competition. If I remember correctly, they were ranked in the top-15 nationally and we had beat them at their home field. They were a feisty team too and we did not back down from the challenge. Not only was it a battle on the field, our dugouts and even the parents/fans were competing with the cheers. It was such an amazing atmosphere and to experience that as a freshman was almost like a wake-up call to college softball and I loved it," Bowers said.
To think that Bowers, who has been a regular since arriving as a freshman in 2018, playing in 127 games that has included 126 starts, will now be entering her senior season in 2021 takes some time to let it all settle in.
"I honestly can't believe I'm going into my senior year, it goes by too quickly. I've loved playing for the Wolves and for a coaching staff I love and respect. They've not only been there for me as a player and student, but as a young adult and person. As a player, I've seen my offensive game grow immensely this past season. I felt relaxed this year and had confidence knowing I had an advantage from playing at this level for two years already. I've also begun to see my range of defense grow as I've worked on new ways to work more efficiently. I've gotten to more balls in the 5-6 hole than I had in the past," Bowers said.
Not only having the season cut short was an adjustment, but also having to shift learning and workouts to online/remote work took time to get settled in that role which happened almost overnight during the spring term.
"It's been difficult to adjust. Spring term came with a lot of curveballs. I'm still adjusting to this lifestyle and through it all, it's made me realize more, just how important family is and having a strong support system. I'm thankful to have loving teammates who I can lean on, work with and create my own family here in Oregon," Bowers said.
While it's been hard to look ahead at times to the chance of being back on campus and being around teammates, Bowers is looking forward to just being back on the field and getting away from what's been going on over the past few months and just competing once again.
"I'm looking forward to going out there and escaping reality, to have all my thoughts be focused on one game and one play at a time. To go out on the field, surrounded by my team and compete. It would be amazing to come back from this mess with a GNAC title," Bowers said.
Making the wait even harder has been having to watch the constant games over the summer of everyone else playing at the softball complex she's been working at and not getting to play at all.
"I have not (played at all this summer), just been working at the softball complex which has me constantly surrounded by the game. It really gets on my nerves when they complain about wearing a mask, because I know what it's like to have the game taken from me and I would love to be in their shoes getting to play, even with a mask on. At this point, just patiently waiting to be back on the field!" Bowers said.
With WOU moving to mostly online classes this fall, Bowers has adjusted to the online learning and has also enjoyed being back on campus practicing again with her teammates.
"All of my classes will be online again in the fall, but I will continue to be on campus. We've been back practicing a bit so far and it has been great to get back out there again!" Bowers said.
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October 17, 2020 at 06:44PM
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Sydney Bowers makes difficult plays look easy at shortstop to anchor an outstanding Wolves defense - WOU Athletics
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