Toledo dedicates Don Bowen Field

Toledo High School will dedicate the high school baseball field by naming it for one of its distinguished alumni - Don Bowen. The event will precede Toledo's home opener against Morton-White Pass. The dedication will begin at 3:15 p.m. on March 16, when Don and family will throw out the first pitch.

After the on-field ceremony, people are invited inside the high school for a few words about Don and an unveiling of the new sign for the baseball field. "Take me out to the ballgame" will conclude the ceremony and a social hour with a ballpark dinner (hot dogs of course!) will be served. The Toledo School District encourages anyone who played with Don in high school, college, or fast pitch, as well as classmates, family, and friends to attend and help us honor Don Bowen.

Don Bowen is a Toledo graduate, class of 1956. He played basketball and baseball at Centralia College (CC Hall of Fame 1995). In 1959 he signed a MLB contract with the Cleveland Indians. After a few years in the pros, Don returned back to Toledo where he continued his love of baseball through coaching Little League and Babe Ruth, but also playing men's fast pitch. He played with a Toledo group for many years, but then played for the best team around, Shamrock, out of Longview.

Don was inducted, along with others, into the Longview Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame in 2007. Whitey Nelmark, who runs the Longveiw Hall of Fame, said "Don was the best left handed hitter I've ever seen."

Toledo's high school gymnasium is named after principal and superintendent George Murdock, and their football field is named after longtime coach Ted Hippi. The Toledo School District and community are pleased to add Don Bowen's name to the facility where kids get to play the game he loves.