TAMPA - At long last, Dalton Fowler's big moment finally arrived on Monday afternoon.

With the 273rd overall pick of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft, the former Northwest ace and Arlington, Tenn. native was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the ninth round. The pick marked the end of a long collegiate journey for Fowler, who pitched for the Rangers from 2019-20, later joining the University of Oklahoma (2021) and the University of Memphis (2022-23).

"I am incredibly proud for Dalton and his family," Northwest coach Mark Carson said. "He is a picture of a young man that has worked extremely hard to get to this point. His career took him to different spots and with each stop, he has improved his craft as a pitcher. There is no doubt that his best baseball is ahead of him and I am excited to watch his professional career take off with Tampa Bay."

Though his stellar sophomore season was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Fowler certainly left his mark on Northwest. His freshman season was one for the books, as he finished with a 6-2 record on the mound and 88 strikeouts against 43 walks. He posted a 3.76 ERA and garnered First Team All-MACJC accolades, while helping the Rangers to a 33-14 overall record and an NJCAA Region 23 Tournament.

Fowler's debut during that 2019 campaign was a sight to behold, as he racked up 12 strikeouts in five innings during a February 25 8-5 road win at Copiah-Lincoln. Several of his Northwest teammates went on to the four-year level, including 2021 College World Series champions Tanner Leggett, Brayland Skinner, Parker Stinnett (Mississippi State) and 2022 CWS champions Hayden Leatherwood and Ben Van Cleve (Ole Miss). Other members of the Rangers' loaded 2019 team included Memphis pitchers Reed Harding, Carson Stinnett and catcher Tanner Booth (Murray State/Memphis).

It was that season that helped Fowler catch the eye of MLB scouts, as he was drafted by the New York Mets in the 27th round of the 2019 draft. However, he chose to return to the Rangers for his sophomore campaign, where finished 4-0 with a 1.89 ERA in the shortened 2020 season.

Fowler's brief stint back in Senatobia also resulted in 39 strikeouts against 10 walks, including a career-high 14 strikeouts in a Feb. 28 victory against Olive-Harvey College. The Rangers were off to a program-best 14-1 start and ranked No. 8 in the NJCAA polls before the cancelation of the remainder of the season.

Despite being labeled a Top 200 prospect by MLB.com, Fowler fell victim to the shortened, five-round 2020 MLB Draft. From there, he went on to sign with Oklahoma, before returning home to finish his final two seasons at the U of M.

In 2022, Fowler was the only Memphis pitcher to start every series, tallying 67 strikeouts with a 3-3 record and a 6.25 ERA. His best appearance that season came April 2 in an eight-inning outing against Tulane, where he racked up 13 strikeouts.

Fowler capitalized on the momentum of his junior season to finish with 112 strikeouts this season, leading the American Athletic Conference and tying for the third-most punch-outs in Memphis program history. He worked his ERA down to a 4.24 and collected four starts with 10 or more strikeouts, earning AAC Pitcher of the Year accolades.

Fowler is the first Memphis Tiger drafted since Hunter Goodman in 2021 (4th round; Colorado) and the highest draft pick for a Memphis pitcher since Jonathan Bowlan in 2018 (Second round; Kansas City). For Northwest, Fowler is the first MLB Draft pick since 2019, when Peyton Plumlee was chosen by Houston, and the first left-handed pitcher to be drafted from the Rangers since current pitching coach Domenick Carlini in 2016 (Minnesota).