McGowan carries on Holmes County reputation at NWF

Yahoo

26-02-2025

NICEVILLE, Fla. (WMBB) – Following in her father's and cousin's footsteps, Northwest Florida State freshman Karson McGowan is living up to the reputation of star Raiders from Holmes County.
Less than a year after leading her high school softball team to the Final Four, McGowan is making a name for herself at the Northwest Florida State.
Through 28 games, McGowan has a .421 batting average, 32 hits, 33 runs, 23 RBI and 4 HR.
The freshman earned her way into the Raider's starting lineup and even she was a bit surprised by her early collegiate success.
'I don't want to say surprised, because I do believe in myself, but at the same time, I definitely was a little bit shocked,' McGowan said.
Northwest Florida State Head Softball Coach Andy Lee said he knew he had recruited a talented player but he was impressed with McGowan's quick adaptation to NJCAA softball.
'Karson was a big surprise this year,' Lee said 'You know, in the fall she split time, and in the spring I gave her an opportunity, and she's putting up probably some of the best numbers on the team right now.'
While McGowan is exceeding expectations, she did have a bit of pressure hanging over her head when she arrived in Niceville.
She is following behind the wildly successful two seasons of her cousin, Colby Jones, a star player on the NWF baseball team who was drafted by the Atlanta Braves last summer.
'I'm actually known as Colby Jones's cousin here,' McGowan laughed. 'So, it's definitely big footsteps to fill, because he made such an impact, not only on the field but off the field as well. And so, I think it was more of motivation instead of pressure.'
Coach Lee said he had the opportunity to teach Jones in one of his classes when he was on campus and that he sees similarities between him and his younger cousin.
'Colby was just a straight-up competitor,' Lee said. 'I mean, the guy was a dog. He worked so hard. And you can see genetically that it kind of runs in the family. Karson's a little quieter and doesn't talk about it as much as Colby would. But, you know, that bloodline runs very deep athletically, and they've learned from each other how to compete and how to win.'
Karson said that her cousin Colby is not the only reason she decided to play at Northwest Florida State.
'Actually, it's not just him that came here,' McGowan said. 'My dad played here as well when he was in college.'
Through half of her freshman season, McGowan has done well to carry on the torch from her family members and she is hoping to continue proving that small-town softball players can compete with the best in college.
'It is a big transition, me and Sister (Arnold) talk about all the time, coming from a 1A school,' McGowan said. Coming here, it gave me a lot of confidence in the fact that it doesn't matter where you come from, as long as you put in that hard work, you can pretty much do anything.'
The Northwest Florida State softball team is 28-2 on the season and ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA.
The Raiders will host Snead State for a doubleheader on Friday, February 28.
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