photo by: John Young

Free State's Zion Bowlin scoops up a ground ball during the Firebirds' game against Lawrence High on Thursday at Hoglund Ballpark. The Firebirds beat the Lions, 7-4, in eight innings.

There’s something about the way Free State High junior Zion Bowlin carries himself off the field that makes his onfield demeanor as a monster at the plate and rock at third base seem difficult to believe.

His smile is kind, warm and welcoming and he speaks softly but with a great deal of confidence.

“I can’t ever recall him having a down day,” said Free State coach Mike Hill of his third baseman “And I think people feed off of his energy. To be perfectly honest with you, I feed off of his energy.”

And he has been for quite some time. Hill first began coaching Bowlin when he was 8 or 9 years old. Both the player and the coach recalled those exact ages when talking about the beginning of their athlete-mentor relationship and both said the depth and quality of that relationship, which has grown substantially since Bowlin started playing for Hill at Free State, made it possible for Hill to lean on Bowlin during last season’s run to the Class 6A state title.

Needing to change things up in the field in order to plug senior third baseman Casey Hearnen into the closer role on the mound, Hill turned to the sophomore Bowlin and said simply, ‘Go get ’em.'”

Bowlin remembers his first appearance like it was yesterday. It was against Shawnee Mission West, in a game the Firebirds won, and, even to this day, he still has a hard time believing it really happened.

“There were definitely nerves,” Bowlin said Tuesday afternoon before the second-to-last practice before fourth-seeded Free State begins its title defense against No. 5 seed Derby at 1:15 p.m. Thursday at KU’s Hoglund Ballpark. “I had only played in a couple of games as a freshman and that was at second base and he put me in at the end of a close game. It was very nerve-racking.”

A few games later, against crosstown rival Lawrence High, an error by Bowlin in the bottom of the sixth inning allowed the Lions to get back in the game and, with the tying run standing on third base mere steps away from him, a hard-hit ball came screaming down the line at Bowlin. Rather than compound the earlier mistake by booting this one, Bowlin cooly picked the ball off the turf and fired a perfect throw to first base to end the game.

“From a confidence standpoint, that was a real important moment for him,” Hill said. “It was sort of that, ‘Hey I can do this,’ moment, and he’s just taken off from there.”

Bowlin finished the 2015 season as the Firebirds’ starting third baseman and has played the role to near perfection this season, as well. Hill said the 5-foot-9 right-handed thrower and hitter has emerged as “a quiet leader” during the team’s 18-4 season and added that Bowlin’s hands at the plate were as good as any player he had coached at Free State.

Earlier this week, Bowlin, who lists Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado as his favorite current Major Leaguer and routinely watches hitting clips of Prince Fielder, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, became one of four Firebirds to earn first-team all-Sunflower League honors.

While that recognition certainly qualifies as a source of personal satisfaction, last year’s experience of winning it all on the diamond has Bowlin, who also plays running back and safety for the FSHS football team, thinking more about school pride and less about himself.

“I know we’re gonna have our hands full with Derby,” he said. “But it would be nice to get a little redemption shot on ’em because they beat us in the semis in football.”

For Bowlin, who still has another year left to leave his stamp on the remarkably successful and consistent Free State baseball program, the chance to be a part of the first group in school history to win back-to-back state baseball titles adds a layer of hunger and excitement to what already has been a memorable season.

“That would be a great accomplishment,” he said. “It would be really nice to have that. But right now, it’s let’s focus on Derby and the next seven innings.”