How Konner Bowden is continuing the connection between Columbia Central baseball and MTSU
SPRING HILL – This fall Konner Bowden will make the short drive from Columbia to Murfreesboro to start his college baseball career at Middle Tennessee State, joining a long line of Blue Raiders with baseball connections to Columbia Central.
And make no mistake. Bowden has plenty of connections to MTSU baseball — from family members to former coaches and former teammates who have played for the Blue Raiders.
Bowden’s great uncle, Jonathan Weathers, played at MTSU in the late 1970s while former Columbia Central baseball coach Mark Pickle also played at the school.
“You know, my great uncle went to play baseball there and this is kind of like keeping it in the family in a way. And they have great facilities, things like that,” Bowden said. “(Friends and family) played definitely a big role helping me just navigate that whole, you know, the whole landscape of recruiting.”
Bowden is hitting .424 with an on-base percentage of .513. He’s hit four doubles, a triple and a home run helping lead the Lions to a 9-3 record to start the season.
First-year Columbia coach Devin Symlar was one who guided Bowden through the recruiting process.
Symlar and his younger brother, Bryce, both played for Pickle at Columbia. Bryce then went on to play at MTSU where he’s currently in his fourth season.
“Recruiting now is all about who you know, it's the relationships and stuff," said Symlar, who played college baseball at Reinhardt University. "So you know, with Pickle knowing the guys up there, along with him knowing some former Columbia Central athletes up there and stuff, it's definitely the connections that kind of get you seen up there.”
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Symlar said Pickle was able to help his brother relay the attention Bowden was getting on the field to connections with coaches at MTSU.
While Bowden never played at Columbia with Bryce, he’s excited to have another Lion there to help his adjustment to college baseball. He’s also stayed in touch with former summer ball teammate, Grant Snider, who’s in his freshman season at Middle Tennessee State and has been giving Bowden an idea of what to expect next season.
“Yeah it’ll be nice to have someone like coach Symlar’s brother up there,” Bowden said. “I've been around him all my life and he'll help me navigate just like the difference in everything.
"Like maybe the workload with college classes on top of baseball. It's not quite as hard as I imagined during high school ... but, you know, he'll help me manage my time well.”
Right now, though, Bowden is focused on finishing his high school baseball season strong.
“We're going to make it as far as we can. We all love each other, we're super competitive and we got a good squad here and a great group of guys," Bowden said. "I think we play really well with each other. We've played with each other our whole lives and I think we really could do some damage later in the year.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: How Konner Bowden is continuing the Columbia baseball to MTSU connection
