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Former South Caldwell High and Caldwell Post 29 Legion star Bryson Bowman is starting a coaching career at Western Carolina, where he was also a college baseball star./WESTERN CAROLINA PHOTO
CULLOWHEE – Bryson Bowman, a former baseball star at South Caldwell High and for Caldwell County Post 29, is starting a coaching career in the sport he loves.
West Carolina has announced Bowman, a college star for the Catamounts, is joining the staff of head coach Bobby Moranda as a volunteer assistant coach.
“I couldn’t be more excited to add Bryson Bowman to our coaching staff,” Moranda in a press release on WCU’s sports website. “Having a two-time All-America selection who had great success on the field want to join our coaching staff is great for our program.
“Bryson is a tremendous addition to our staff. His skills and abilities both as an outfielder and at the plate will greatly benefit our players through the fall workouts and into the spring season.”
BOWMAN
Bowman — voted the Southern Conference Player of the Year award by both the head coaches in the league and on a team selected by the media in his senior season (shared via coaches, outright by media) — will work primarily with outfielders while also assisting with the offensive side of the game.
Bowman came to WCU as a transfer in 2015 from Catawba Valley Community College, and he made an immediate impact for the Catamounts in his first season of eligibility (.326, 35 extra base hits, 13 doubles, three triples and a team-high 19 home runs, second team All-SAC).
After his red-shirt junior season, Bowman was drafted in round No. 3 of the 2016 amateur draft by the New York Yankees but he decided to return for his senior year at WCU.
In 2017, won WCU’s Triple Crown, leading the team with a .381 batting average, in RBIs and in home runs. His 59 RBIs ranked second in the Southern Conference.
He was in the top 10 in 10 different statistical categories in the Southern Conference, starting all 56 games in either right or center field.
Bowman reached base in 55 of 56 games and in WCU’s first 42 last season. He had at least one hit in 49 of his games.
He hit 30 career home runs for the Catamounts and tops their list for career on-base percentage at .456.
WCU went 15-8 in the Southern Conference last season, finishing second behind Mercer, and was knocked out of the conference tournament via back-to-back loses to East Tennessee State and Samford to finish 28-28 overall.
— From information at Western Carolina’s athletic website