Liam Bowes (Shoreham-Wading River 2022) pic.twitter.com/8RjTaGi7kq
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 3, 2018
(Editor’s Note: This is the second part of our ‘Up Next’ Series which profiles the top middle school and JV players on Long Island. On Sunday night, we profiled Christian Alicea. Now is Shoreham-Wading River 9th grader Liam Bowes, who is a power-hitting catcher that turned some heads down at the USA Complex in Cary, NC)
Controlled aggression.
It’s the phrase that comes to mind when you watch the swing of Shoreham-Wading River catcher Liam Bowes. As I watched swing-after-swing result in thunderous line drives at Gameday Sports in Port Jefferson, it became clear that a bright future lies ahead for Bowes.
From his longtime hitting instructor and coach Ryan Pembroke:
“I have had the pleasure of training and coaching Liam for many years and the one constant thing with Liam is his love for baseball and hard work. Liam’s work ethic is unbelievable he will train with me at least 3 times a week for hours! He also works out with Adam Merone at GameDay Sports Performance 6 times per week. Liam wants to be challenged when we hit–there’s no such thing as your typical Batting Practice, it is throwing hard fastballs, mixing change ups and curveballs without letting him know because he knows in a game you’re not told what’s coming so we want to train that–game-like atmosphere.Liam Bowes is 7 days a week baseball-related. He has one goal and that’s to get better every swing, every block as a catcher and everyday.”
He is very much an example of a baseball player through-and-through. In fact, he doesn’t have many hobbies outside of working on his craft.
“Mainly just working out and hitting,” he said in regards to what his favorite hobbies are.
It is no surprise that he would be in the Shoreham-Wading River school district, a team that has made postseason appearances an annual tradition, since legendary Head Coach Sal Mignano started the program in the late 1970s. Now After 30+ consecutive postseason berths, they will be looking for the next era of SWR baseball–“hardball with class” as they have adopted as their mantra. They won the Suffolk County Class A championship in 2017 and were very close to repeating but lost to Rocky Point this past year.
If they are to win again, it starts with a strong core of young players committed to the game.
Bowes eats, sleeps and breaths baseball and he has not gone unnoticed from major programs. He stated that St. John’s has expressed interest in him already, which is the first step of fulfilling his dream of playing at a “top-25 Division-I program”. With his ability to play behind the plate and hit the ball 330+ feet, that remains a possibility. He opened some eyes when he batted .667 (12-for-18, 5 doubles, 7 RBI) at Perfect Game’s BCS National Championship 13U in Fort Myers in July.
He noted that he is very superstitious, not unlike many baseball players.
“I don’t like to eat a lot before games so that I can clear my head. If I’m doing well, I do a lot of the same things the next day,” he added.
When you swing like he does, you can get away with having as many superstitions as you’d like.
