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A crisp fall afternoon on the North Stanly baseball field greeted young baseball players and their families to meet a former North Stanly pitcher who rose through the ranks of minor league baseball last season to the top of the ladder.

Rhett Lowder, who last pitched at Joe D. Kelly Stadium on the North campus in 2020, returned Saturday for a USA Baseball Homegrown camp.

After three stellar seasons as a starting pitcher at Wake Forest, Lowder was drafted seventh in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

Last season, Lowder started in Class A minor league baseball but was promoted three times, finally reaching the Cincinnati 25-man roster in late August. Lowder pitched in six games for the Reds, with a 2-2 win-loss record and a 1.17 earned-run average with 22 strikeouts. He only allowed four earned runs in six starts for Cincinnati.

Lowder said it was cool to be out on the North field Saturday, noting he had been back a couple of times previously.

“It’s pretty cool to see all the young kids come out and have fun, and see the coaches and some of the players now. It’s been a great day,” Lowder said.

Around 135 kids ages 6 through 12 attended the camp and learned hitting, throwing and fielding skills from volunteer coaches and other staff. The camp had two sessions, one for ages 6-9 and the other for the older participants.

“I told the first group, I remember I was sitting in their shoes one day, when I was 7 or 8, sitting at a high school camp just wanting to be one of the players,” Lowder said. “I know exactly what they were feeling.”

The camp was part of the USA Baseball Homegrown program, which senior director Brad Young said “provides families with elementary-aged youth from across the United States with the unique opportunity to learn from current and former USA Baseball national team athletes, as well as current and former Major League Baseball players alike, in a fun and interactive community-based setting. This program will allow these hometown heroes the opportunity to share their experiences playing for glory with the many children who may one day hope to be a part of our pastime’s future.”

“We’ve held events for other athletes, including MLB All-Stars Michael Cuddyer and Adley Rutschman, Olympian Tim Federowicz, Max Clark, Anna Kimbrell, and Aidan and Jackson Miller,” he added.

The camp was one only of two or three baseball camps this season, which Lowder said was a big honor.

“When (USA Baseball) reached out to me, they thought it would be a perfect fit, coming from a smaller town but with a big community. I think we had a great showing today. I think everybody had a lot of fun,” Lowder said.

Regarding his first season with the Reds, Lowder said going from Class A ball to the majors was huge.

“I got off on the right foot, stayed healthy, made some jumps and got to where the ultimate goal was, and I was there, staying healthy.”

Lowder reports for the team’s 2025 spring training camp in Arizona the first week of February.