From small-town legend
to first-place S.F. Giants
By Misty Volaski

Sept. 1 is a day that will go down in history for Noah Lowry as the day he finally made it - to the major leagues, that is. The San Francisco Giants purchased Lowry's contract from their Triple A affiliate, Fresno Grizzlies, Monday, making him an offical Major League Baseball player.

"I was shocked. I'd only been playing AAA for a few weeks when they called me up," the left-handed pitcher said.

Lowry started playing baseball at the age of 4. Several years later, he played at Nordhoff High School, where he's still known as one of the best pitchers to come out of the baseball program.
Still, he wasn't offered much in the way of scholarships when he graduated

"I was terrible out of high school," Lowry, now 22, said. "Wel,l at least I thought I was terrible."

He decided to join the Ventura College baseball team, where he "worked his butt off," he laughed. But it all paid off a year later when he was offered a full-ride scholarship to Pepperdine College.

"I didn't want to get stuck paying off any loans," he said. "I thought if I worked hard enough, baseball would take care of school. Luckily, it did."

After majoring in communications at Pepperdine, and being named to the 2001 All-American team, the Giants had their eyes on him. As the parent club's No. 1 draft pick, he started out with the San Jose Giants, where he pitched for a full year before being moved up to the Norwich, Conn. Navigators.

With the Navigators, Lowry recorded nine wins against six losses and had a 4.72 ERA in 23 starts. Lowry's arsenal of pitches helped the Navigators to become one of the top Eastern League squads. He played AA ball with the 'Gators until the beginning of August, when he was promoted to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies. There, Lowry was 1-0 with a 2.37 ERA in the four games he started.

"I got in a couple of good starts," Lowry noted.

But it wasn't easy being away from his family and friends. It's especially hard, he said, being away from his wife, Clare.
'It was really hard in Norwich," he said of being apart from his loved ones. "But San Francisco's not that far away. You just have to learn to deal" with being apart, Lowry added.

He will be sitting in the Giants' dugout tonight - along with baseball legend and single-season home run champ Barry Bonds - when they play at PacBell Park against Arizona.
Though he probably won't get to pitch tonight, Lowry said he's always got to be ready.

"I have to stay focused every day, because I don't know when they'll call me up to pitch. We're in the playoff race right now," Lowry said.

Lowry, whose fastball averages in the low-90s, said that the caliber of his teammates' play is inspiring.

"The level of play is definitely a lot better as far as practice goes," Lowry said. "At this level guys pretty much know what they have to do, and they go out there and do it at practice."
© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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