By STEVE KRAH
From the inside, expectations for the 2024 University of Saint Francis baseball team were high.
Maybe not at the altitude the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Cougars soared.
USF went 40-19 overall, 24-12 in the Crossroads League and qualified for the NAIA Opening Round for the first time in program history. The previous school record for victories — set in 2021 — was 34.
“When we started out in the fall we knew we had a really good chance to be good,” says Perry Stow, a right-handed pitcher who was a redshirt freshman for Saint Francis this spring. “It exceeded all my expectations.
“It’s probably the best season we’ve ever had. I think we’ll be even better next year.”
Stow, a 2022 graduate of Fort Wayne South Side High School, made 10 mound appearances (nine in relief) and went 0-1 with a 9.31 earned run average, 10 strikeouts and 11 walks in 9 2/3 innings for a Cougars club that went 29-25 and took a redshirt.
After training at PRP Baseball in Noblesville, Ind., in the off-season, the 6-foot, 200-pounder came back in 2024 and started 14 of the 15 games in which he pitched and went 5-4 with one save, a 4.52 ERA, 73 strikeouts and 34 walks in 71 2/3 innings. The save came in the Crossroads League tournament against Marian and clinched USF’s NAIA berth by vaulting them into the championship game against regular-season champion Taylor. The Cougars’ season wrapped with a 3-2 showing in the Williamsburg (Ky.) Bracket.
Saint Francis counts Dustin Butcher as head coach with Connor Lawhead and Kristian Gayday as assistants and Zach Felger as a volunteer.
“I love Butch,” says Stow of Butcher, whose first season in charge of the Cougars was 2019. “He’s the best coach I’ve had in my life.
“Butch is very big on being personable. He loves talking to you and treats you like a grown man and holds you to a standard.”
Stow says the Saint Francis bench boss also has a way of coming up in the dugout and letting the pitcher know everyone has his back.
“It helps you relax,” says Stow. “It allows me to go out and compete.”
Since the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, former Purdue Fort Wayne player and coach Lawhead has been USF’s pitching coach.
“Law is one of the most-intelligent baseball minds I’ve ever been around,” says Stow. “When he speaks, you listen.
“We are very much a team that’s process-oriented. (Lawhead has been) very beneficial to my success and growth as a pitcher and a person. He knows what he has to say to get it in our heads.”
The hurler with three years of remaining eligibility has changed from an over-the-top to a low three-quarter arm angle and mixes a four-seam fastball, change-up, slider, curveball and, just recently, a sweeper.
Stow’s four-seamer topped out at 94 mph last fall and hit 93 in the 2024 Crossroads League tournament.
“It has natural run to it,” says Stow. “It rides when thrown at the top of the zone. At the bottom of the zone, it tails a little bit.”
Thrown with a wide grip, the “circle” change dives at the last moment and travel at 80 to 82 mph.
“It’s really effective to (left-handed hitters),” says Stow. “I throw it as hard as I can and make sure the hitter can’t pick up that it’s a different pitch than the fastball.”
A combination of horizontal and vertical, the slider was clocked as swift as 86 mph in the CL tourney.
Stow says he had command issues with the curve — which breaks straight down when it does what he wants it to do. Many of his team-high 19 hit batsmen came on the pitch. He started using the sweeper in live at-bat situations last week.
Says Stow, “It’s super horizontal with not much vertical.”
While he does show his emotions occasionally on the mound, Stow prefers to keep those in-check most of the time.
“(Lawhead) has always called me a silent assassin,” says. “I’m not big on (‘K’) screaming.
“I walk back to the dugout with my head down.”
Stow, who turns 20 in July, had planned to play in the Northwoods League this summer, but after a few accidents he has opted to work and train while also taking a summer class (History 105).
Elementary Education is Stow’s major. He is also pursuing an Athletic Coaching minor. He says he would like to coach high school or college baseball when his playing days are over.
Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Stow played baseball at Foster Park Little League from the time he started until age 12. From 13U through 17U, he was with the Sean Herberger-coached Fort Wayne TinCaps travel organization.
Perry’s father — Andrew Stow — is a mailman and a Texas native who moved to New Haven, Ind., around age 4.
His son’s favorite baseball team is the Texas Rangers.
“People say — ‘Oh wow, you go on the bandwagon,’” says Stow of the franchise that won the 2023 World Series.
His favorite MLB player?
“I really like them all,” says Stow. “I love watching (Los Angeles Dodgers 6-foot-1, 174-pound right-handed reliever) Joe Kelly pitch. I like the way he moves.”
Stow also has an affinity for New York Yankees right-hander Marcus Stroman for “the energy he brings” and what he gets out of his 5-foot-7, 180-pound frame.
“I’m not the tallest guy out there,” says Stow. “Growing up, (Stroman) was an inspiration.”
www.IndianaRBI.com 