ROCKINGHAM — Playing just three of Richmond Senior High School’s nearly 20 regular-season baseball games this spring wasn’t what Dallas Cowick had in mind.
The senior middle infielder was ready to help the Raiders make a run at a Sandhills Athletic Conference title during his final high school campaign on the diamond, but the coronavirus pandemic shut down any hopes of that.
As disappointing as it was for him, his teammates, and thousands of spring student-athletes across the state, Cowick didn’t let the hiccup end his baseball career. Last week, he officially signed his letter of commitment to play at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg.
“It felt pretty good to sign last week and know I’ll be playing at the next level,” Cowick said. “Especially since we really didn’t get a chance to play our senior year. I knew I wasn’t ready to give up playing baseball.”
Cowick’s relationship with head coach Andy Fox and the Knights started through connection with his dad, Buck Cowick, who is a maintenance technician at the university. Cowick has also spent a lot of time on campus, working football games and also being employed by the grounds crew.
“Coach Fox came out and watched me play a lot when I was a junior,” Cowick explained. “And I’ve practiced with the team a couple of times. I’ve also done some hitting and fielding with just me and the coaches.
“Then Coach Fox offered me to come out here and play, and said he’s going to find a place for me to play,” he added. “I know he’s excited for me to come out and be a part of the program.”
During his junior season in 2019, Cowick was part of a successful middle infield for former head coach Ricky Young. Picking up significant innings at second base, Cowick and Richmond went 19-9 overall and took second in the conference standings with an 11-3 mark, just one game behind Pinecrest High School.
Making 25 appearances, Cowick batted .289 with 15 runs scored, 13 hits and eight runs batted in. He also had a .311 slugging percentage and a .718 on base plus slugging percentage. In the field, Cowick collected a .929 fielding percentage with 21 putouts, 31 assists and helped turn two double plays.
During last year’s summer league season with the Richmond Rattlers, Cowick developed into one of the team’s top pitchers, while also collecting more time at shortstop and second base.
This past spring, Rob Ransom took over as the Raiders’ head baseball coach. Although he didn’t get to spend an entire season with Cowick, Ransom said the now former Raider shows a lot of promise at the next level.
“It says a lot about Dallas and his desire to continue to play baseball,” Ransom said of Cowick’s signing. “As a staff, we are very excited for him to be able to continue to play. He has worked very hard to put himself in this position.
“St. Andrews is getting a very good defensive middle infielder,” he added. “Dallas is a smart player with good baseball instincts. St. Andrews will be a good fit for him.”
When the spring sports season in North Carolina was shut down on March 13, Cowick didn’t expect it to be his final time suiting up for the Raiders. But as the pandemic continued to not allow athletics to be played, he continued to work out and prepare for what he knew he wanted to achieve.
“Not being able to play my entire senior season made me want to work harder for a chance to be in the starting rotation as a freshman,” Cowick said. “It’s exciting to think about getting to face better players, see new pitching styles and travel.”
During the dead period, and after finding out the American Legion summer baseball season was cancelled, Cowick resorted to working out at home “three or four days a week.” He’s spent a lot of time trying to improve his hitting, and worked out with former Raider and current Coker University player Zack Hinson.
Signed to St. Andrews as a middle infielder, Cowick hopes to see his time on the diamond for the Knights transpire into Division I playing time.
“I want to help the team make it to the playoffs and go all the way,” he said. “They made it to the third round last year.”
Some of Cowick’s personal goals are to make the starting lineup, be a key contributor as a freshman and make good grades in the classroom. He’s currently undecided on his major, but is considering engineering should he go Division I.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes and how I connect with my teammates,” Cowick shared. “I know I bring my strong fielding strategies, I can put the ball in play when it’s needed and I can keep everybody up when it’s not going how it’s supposed to.
“I want to thank my parents for pushing me to do my best in everything that I do,” he closed. “And a big thank you to all of my coaches through rec, travel and high school ball for helping me get here.”
