FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Friday, March 18, 2016 Haley Rowe catches on quickly as beloved backstop for ‘Jackets
In just her second season, Yellowjacket softball senior Haley Rowe has grown into a universally-respected leader as the team’s starting catcher. MSUB SPORTS – There’s something Montana State University Billings softball senior Haley Rowe has always enjoyed about catching. The command entrusted to the catcher as the field general, and ability to handle a team’s pitching staff stick out as the obvious necessities for the position. “It has always felt like an important role to me,” Rowe said. “I’m happy that I stuck with it and it’s what I really get to focus on here.” Rowe is in her second season with the Yellowjackets after transferring from Williston State College in North Dakota, and has been handed crucial responsibility as the team’s senior leader behind the plate. Being one of just three seniors on the team this season has necessitated Rowe breaking out of her shell and becoming a leader, and she has carried the task of guiding the pitching staff and younger players well. Now as Rowe and the ‘Jackets prepare to open their 2016 home season on Saturday at Avitus Group Stadium against Saint Martin’s University, her family’s presence will remind her she’s happy with her decision to transfer to MSUB. A
Great Falls, Mont., native, Rowe’s parents Rhonda and Paul Rowe are Eastern Montana College alumni and have since relocated to Billings in time for their daughter’s final year of college softball. “It’s amazing to be a Montana player at MSUB, because it shows people that you can go on to play college softball if you’re from Montana,” Rowe said. “It’s just great to be a part of the town I grew up in, and on a team that I watched play in the past.” From calling pitches to cutting down potential base stealers, Rowe has lived through catching throughout her career and has set the stage for the next generation of Yellowjacket backstops for years to come. BACK TO BILLINGS Originally growing up in Billings, Rowe became acquainted with the athletic programs at a young age through her exposure to Yellowjacket volleyball and basketball camps from her parents. Learning the ropes in everything from hockey, football, and basketball, Rowe was determined to keep up with her older brother Logan’s exploration of different sports. “I started playing teeball and then after little league I got into ASA softball around age 12,” Rowe remembered referring to her first Amateur Softball Association club travel ball team. “ASA really got me started into being more competitive with it.” Rowe’s father urged her to stick with catching, despite her desire to try pitching and playing shortstop. Paul recognized from a young age that his daughter had a strong arm and was quick with the ball. Most importantly, he knew that she was tough enough to handle the most physically grueling defensive position on the diamond. “His confidence in me really narrowed it down and made me feel like I was good enough to be a catcher,” Rowe said. “When I got to high school and lettered my freshman year, I started to think, ‘hey I’m pretty good at this.’” By her junior season, Rowe was apprehensive in continuing her softball career after high school, when Charles M. Russell High School brought in a new head softball coach in Lindsey Graham. The North Dakota State University alum immediately began shifting the culture of the program, and turned players like Rowe into certified college prospects. Rowe is congratulated by high-school coach Lindsey Graham during her career at CMR.
“She took me aside and told me I could do bigger, greater things if I continued with softball,” Rowe said on Graham. “She told all of us that this could be a future and that if we kept working hard good things could happen. She really believed in me that I could keep playing and that was very influential in my choice to continue playing softball.” Rowe soon garnered an offer to play at Williston State, where she put Graham’s advice into practice and gained two years of valuable college experience. By the time MSUB came calling after her sophomore season, Rowe was ready to get back to her roots and step up to the NCAA Division II level with the Yellowjackets.
ROWE’S THROWS “Softball taught me to be strong and confident in my abilities, and to be very disciplined. It taught me to treat others with respect, and has made me an outgoing, confident, and all-around good person.” – Haley Rowe on how softball has shaped her. Though she was limited in playing time behind 2015 senior Brittney Sanders, Rowe has inherited the starting role as a senior this season. Rowe’s patience and understanding of last year’s situation with Sanders as the regular starter stood out to MSUB head coach Rebekah Gasner, who recognized that Rowe had the maturity and mindset to one day make the position her own. “Although Haley didn’t see as much playing time as she would have liked, she played a crucial role in our success last season,” Gasner said. “She knew and accepted her role at that time and never once complained. At the end of last season, I knew she was more than ready to take over as a senior catcher and leave her stamp on our program.” Not surprisingly, Rowe has adapted quickly and handled the task of becoming a leader well, explaining that her competitive drive pushed her to make the role Rowe’s toughness shows through her old-school as a starter hers. approach at the plate, no batting gloves involved.
Playing 17 games behind the plate this season, only one player in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference has thrown out more runners than Rowe’s number of five (Simon Fraser’s Katherine Murnaghan, 8). Coach Gasner credits Rowe’s quick transfer and ability to throw from her knees as key skills that have led to her success in cutting down baserunners. Not many defensive situations have the potential to shift a game’s momentum, and a catcher throwing out a runner ranks towards the top among double plays or an outfielder nailing a speedster trying to advance. It is one of the moments Rowe longs for and plans her entire approach around. “In my mind, I’m just thinking that I have to catch everything, release, and throw if I see her going,” Rowe said regarding situations with a fast runner on base. “You just have to believe in your mind that you can throw out anyone who tries to steal. It is a great feeling when you get that speedy runner out, and you can tell it creates an excitement among your teammates.” Rowe’s leadership characteristics began developing in her time at Williston State, as she was called upon quickly to step up as a freshman on the squad. Being tested right away has helped her naturally fit in with the ‘Jackets, and her teammates have come to fully trust Rowe with calling the shots behind the plate. “Being with this group of girls is nice, and they are a great support system,” Rowe said. “When one of my teammates makes an amazing play I get pretty pumped. It makes me happy that I continued playing softball.”
COACHING THE CATCHING CORE “Haley is extremely personable, so our younger catchers are very comfortable seeking her advice. With any young player, they are looking for someone to show them the ropes, and I think Haley is a positive influence on them.” – MSUB head coach Rebekah Gasner on senior catcher Haley Rowe. Catch a glimpse of one of MSUB’s practices and you’d never guess Rowe is not even two years into her MSUB career. As the players separate into their positional groups to work on defensive exercises, the senior confidently corrals the catching contingency and calls commands out to the group. One of four catchers on the team this season, Rowe is the lone returner as freshmen Madison Kelly and Jackie Preciado, and junior transfer Katie Jackson have looked to Rowe for advice and leadership. “I like having someone older to look up to, and to learn new catching skills that I can use in the future,” Kelly said. “Haley is a really hard worker, and I know I need to work that hard to potentially be a starting catcher.” Rowe’s approach to leading the younger catchers hinges on her open, calm attitude, displaying her commitment to ensuring the program is left in good hands upon her departure at the end of the season. From catching-specific advice to treating all her teammates with respect, Rowe believes she is displaying the traits that her successors will need to possess during their careers as Yellowjackets. While Rowe has gained the trust of her fellow catchers, the fate of MSUB’s pitching staff is often times in her hands as well. No player or coach has quite the impact that Rowe can have in terms of influencing a pitcher’s mindset when she’s in the circle. Particularly, the bond Rowe has fostered with fellow senior and right-handed pitcher Amanda Roark extends well beyond the pitches Rowe calls. “It’s awesome having her there because she knows my pitches so well and she’s very good at helping me fix things,” Roark said. “I love pitching to her because we mesh well. Haley is very down to earth and cares about everyone. She does her best to help the team and support them, and she always stands up for all of her teammates.” Having been a Yellowjacket pitcher herself, Gasner understands the importance of having a reliable catcher who can adapt to a variety of different pitchers. “Haley is a very calm, laid back person and has done a great job building strong relationships with our pitching staff,” Gasner said. “Having a close pitchercatcher relationship is vital to the success of the pitcher and our team as a whole.”
Yellowjacket seniors Amanda Roark (left) and Haley Rowe.
In addition to holding one of the top fielding percentages on the team at .963, Rowe has shown flashes of potential at the plate as well. On Feb. 12 against Cal Baptist, Rowe launched her first career home run with MSUB. SERVING A BIGGER PURPOSE Known to her teammates as ‘Hay Row’, Rowe is determined to help lead the squad towards a return to the GNAC Championships this season. She often reflects on the memory of last season’s tournament title, a run that taught her and her teammates alike volumes about camaraderie and working towards a collective goal. Rowe’s leadership within softball extends beyond her current Yellowjacket teammates, as her younger sisters Kylie and Kendall couldn’t have a better role model. Kendall is 11 and is exploring a variety of sports just as Haley did, while Kylie is a senior softball stud at Billings Senior High School and gets to watch her sister play up the street at MSUB. While Rowe’s short-term focus is on helping the team play to its highest potential, she has already created a strong vision for her career path in life after softball. Rowe will receive her bachelor’s degree in human services this spring, and will enroll into MSUB’s graduate studies program with hopes of pursuing a career as an elementary school counselor. If Rowe has learned anything through her career as a softball player, it’s to dream big and never limit her potential to grow. It is with this mindset that Rowe carries her ambition of one day opening her own adoption agency, her passion for helping others extending far beyond her role as a mentor on the diamond. “My dad was adopted so that really opened my eyes to it,” Rowe said. “I think kids should have the best opportunities possible available to them, and this would be a great way to provide that for them. I would like to give kids a chance to live with great parents and live good lives.” Roark is one teammate who recognizes that the manner in which Rowe carries herself extends into her personal life and is consistent whether she has the catching gear strapped on or is studying for one of her classes. “She’s very selfless, and she always puts other people first, not just in softball,” Roark said. “She just works hard, and is very nurturing and supportive.” Roark and her fellow teammates and coaches alike recognize they are in good hands with Rowe as their senior catcher, as countless others will soon be, in the impactful life she is destined to lead serving others. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--