Bowden Barnhart of the Iowa Great Lakes Okoboji’s American Legion Baseball Team is the 2025 Iowa American Legion Baseball Player of the Year and the Recipient of the prestigious Iowa American Legion Baseball Scholarship.
Barnhart was honored on Sunday morning, July 13 at the Milford Post #384 Legion Hall in Milford, Iowa during their monthly omelet breakfast. Aphton Rocha presented this award and scholarship. She is the Baseball Representative for Milford Post #384.
This award and scholarship are facilitated through Iowa American Legion and Programs Director Eric Less and Baseball Commissioner Mike Weber and the Iowa American Legion Baseball Committee. Players are nominated by their team and nominations are submitted to Iowa American Legion Programs along with three letters of recommendation and testimony and also the player’s application that includes, in part, their High School Record, College Plans, Career Interests, and Community Participation Record.
Barnhart is a four-year player, and the only four-year member ever, of the Iowa Great Lakes Okoboji’s American Legion Baseball Team that is sponsored by Milford Post #384. He has been a versatile player over the years playing every position on the field and has been a selfless player and a great teammate. Barnhart settled in at 3rd Base and pitcher the last two years in during the spring season and has been a huge contributor to the success of the Okoboji’s these last four years. The Okoboji’s just finished their fifth spring season as an American Legion Baseball Team, beginning in the spring of 2021.
Barnhart is a 2025 graduate of Harris-Lake Park High School in Lake Park, Iowa and will be attending Iowa Lakes Community College this fall in Estherville, Iowa.
During his recent high school summer season with the Wolves at HLP, Barnhart played shortstop and pitched. In the summer season for HLP Barnhart hit for a .320 average and had an On Base Percentage of .485. On the base paths he had 9 stolen bases. And on the pitching mound for the Wolves, he was at his best as Barnhart had a perfect 5-0 record and very impressive 53 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched. Batters hit only .107 against him and he carried a miniscule 0.67 Earned Run Average giving up only 3 earned runs the entire season.
Harris-Lake Park Head Baseball Coach Jared Rahe says of Barnhart: “I have had the privilege of watching Bowden grow into a remarkable young man who exemplifies the values of leadership, perseverance, and integrity – qualities that align perfectly with the mission of American Legion Baseball.”
Barnhart will now be nominated for the American Legion National Player of the Year. Also, every State Baseball scholarship winner shall be considered for The American Legion All-Academic Team sponsored by Diamond Sports, the official baseball for American Legion national tournaments. Eight players selected by a scholarship selection committee at The American Legion World Series will receive an additional $2,500 scholarship. A ninth player, selected as the most outstanding member of the All-Academic Team, will be awarded an additional $5,000 scholarship.
The Iowa Great Lakes Okoboji’s American Legion Baseball team plays a spring season with tryouts in February and a 22-game schedule on weekends in March and April. The Okoboji’s eighteen player roster this spring of 2025 came from ten different high schools. American Legion teams nationwide are 19U, so all high school players from 8th to 12th grades are eligible.
The O’s have called Spirit Lake High School their home field the last two years. The Okoboji’s dropped their last game of the season in the Area Tournament in Spirit Lake and did not advance to the Iowa American Legion State Baseball Tournament.
In addition to being sponsored by Milford Post #384, the Iowa Great Lakes Okobojis are supported and sponsored by Total Baseball Development. Founded in 2004 in Sioux City, Iowa; Total Baseball Development has provided opportunities now for twenty years to the young players here in northwest Iowa, southern Minnesota, southeast South Dakota, and the greater area of central and eastern Nebraska and is known as Siouxland’s Home for Extra Baseball.
