Bowers tosses out first pitch ahead
of WPBL game
[August 29, 2026]
Jan Bowers tossed out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday
night at Robin Roberts Stadium and it was a success. Was there ever
a doubt? The Lady Railer legend and Lincoln College Sports Hall of
Fame Class of 2013 inductee threw a strike that caught the corner to
New York Heights first base coach Jackson Henley behind the plate.
“I framed it,” Henley joked with Bowers afterwards.
Henley’s mom, Rocky, is the Heights head coach and the only female
head coach in the new league.
Bowers walked to the mound as the PA announcer welcomed her as a
“lifelong athlete, coach and educator who has dedicated more than 40
years to sports and inspiring athletes.”
The crowd gave Bowers a great round of applause.
Afterwards Bowers said, “That was fun. That was special. Very
humbling. I want to thank Tad Powers for setting this up and making
it happen. Everybody make sure you listen to the Lincoln Sandlot
podcast because that’s about our group of sandlot kids that played
in the Holiday Hills area of Lincoln on over to Union Street. A big
thank you to Tad and everybody who has shown support. I truly
appreciate it.”
On the field the game was full of exciting plays and lots of hits
and runs as the New York Heights defeated the Los Angeles Queens
12-4.
After the Queens scored a run in the top of the first inning, the
Heights plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
[to top of second column] |
There was a home run to start the bottom half of the first inning as
Natsuki Yonetani hit a home run to left field for New York. The
clean-up hitter, Kylee Lahners, followed a few batters later with a
two-run shot, also to left field.
After two innings, the Heights were up 8-1.
At the end of the fourth inning the Heights held a commanding 12-3
lead over Los Angeles.
New York pounded out 17 hits to the Queens 11 hits.
Great defense on both sides saved several more hits in the outfield.
Diving catches drew lots of applause from the fans. There were also
a number of terrific plays on the infield that saved a few runs.
Emi Saiki was 4-for-4 for the Heights.
London Studer and Madison Willan each went 3-for-4 for New York.
Ashton Lansdell was 3-for-4 for Los Angeles.
Ayami Sato, who was the second pick of the draft out of Japan, had a
rough outing on the mound for the Queens.
Regular season games continue through September 6th.
The postseason begins September 9th and could run as late as
September 22nd.
[Teena Lowery] |
