Confidence is key.
Landen Bowling has found it and is running with it. Or actually throwing with it. The Royals junior hasn’t allowed an earned run in 25 consecutive innings and helped the Mason County baseball team inch closer to the .500 mark.
The streak started back on April 1 against Bourbon County, continued with six scoreless innings against Newport, striking out 11 batters. Bowling then pitched a complete game against Bourbon County, a 2-0 loss in which both runs were unearned while he struck out eight batters. He then put together his most complete performance of the season in a 2-1 win over Russell, a complete game in which one unearned run was scored while he struck out 15.
With his confidence climbing, Bowling’s trust in his teammates has been a key too.
“I pitch a lot better when I have confidence in my teammates to make plays behind me,” Bowling said, who is 2-3 with a 1.64 ERA. “We struggled early with that, but I’ve built my confidence up with them, pitching to contact instead of pitching to missed swings.”
Early on in the season, that wasn’t the case. The errors were racking up and the competitor that Bowling is, wasn’t setting well with him whether he was on the mound or in the field.
“Any time the ball was hit, it was an error it seemed like,” Royals coach Kevin McClanahan said. “We weren’t making the simple plays and I don’t care who the pitcher is, if you’re giving teams four and five outs an inning, you’re going to struggle.”
The fielding mistakes have been more limited, the bats still need some work, but one thing is certain, when Bowling is on the mound the Royals have a shot. His performance has been key, but the leadership qualities Bowling possesses go a long way too for a team with their first-year coach.
“When you look at our team, you look at Carson Brammer and Landen Prather as the leaders. Landen Bowling is our actual leader. He wears a lot of things on his sleeve and isn’t afraid to tell guys if they’re messing around. I don’t care who you are or what you have, you’re silly if you don’t ask for help from Landen (Bowling),” McClanahan said.
For example, when Brammer was on the mound against Fleming County on Monday, he turned to Bowling, who was playing shortstop in the contest for help regarding his fastball. The slight adjustment worked as the Royals came away with a 4-2 victory, Brammer allowing just four hits in the victory.
“I saw where they were behind on his fastball and just told him to switch locations with it, run it in on their hands. Playing infield helps me with the all-around game. If I’m on the bench, I don’t notice things as much compared to playing middle infield. It helps me find ways to improve myself on the mound,” Bowling said.
Another key factor has been pitching coach Mike Tumey. Tumey calls the pitches every game and his sense of the game and the knowledge of each better has helped Bowling start to peak.
“Mike Tumey knows how to call a game. He remembers every batter. He’s a pitching coach that knows the detail and has been there and done that. His trust factor is there for the kids and they have confidence in him because he knows what he’s talking about and they all feed off that,” McClanahan said.
Bowling takes the advice from Tumey and often uses it on others. At times, he’ll call pitches for the JV team during their games, showing his dedication and leadership to the game. That’s something you don’t see often.
“He wants to stay around and help the kids. That shows the character he has,” McClanahan said.
He’s also gaining more confidence in his arsenal of pitches, whether it be his two or four-seam fastball, curveball, slider or the occasional fork ball. An adjustment to his fastball has been his claim to the recent success.
“I’ve been developing ways to make the ball move more,” Bowling said. “Developing grips with my two-seam, just the slightest turn and there’s been a lot more movement on it.”
The team struggled early on with a 2-5 start to the year. They’re 5-4 since, sitting at 7-9 on the season with the McDonald’s/Frank Shoop Harrison County Classic upcoming this weekend on Friday and Saturday. Tests against Scott and Harrison County will give the Royals a good gauge of where they possibly stand in the 10th Region, already having faced Nicholas County, Bourbon County twice and Bracken County, teams expected to be in the 10th Region tournament come late May.
Once the weekend is over, Bowling will shift his focus to the state archery tournament when he goes with the Mason County team Tuesday down to Bowling Green for it.
Bowling won the KHSAA Region 7 Tournament on March 9 to help the Royals program win their second straight title, scoring a 293, hitting 24 10’s and giving him back-to-back individual titles. He’ll look to improve upon his 59th place finish last year at state when he scored a 286. Bowling thinks another year under his belt and his mental approach has improved, just like when he’s on the mound facing an opposing batter.
“Both sports are very mental. More mental than performance-wise,” Bowling said. “Both sports mean a lot to me and I try to do my best in both. It’s hard to do both during the same season and just try to find time to manage it. The key is having a good mentality. If I have a bad mentality, I perform bad. Last year I had one bad round at state and it got into my head. I feel like I’m a lot more stronger mentally this year and come Tuesday I’ll be stronger.”
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