Ethan Lindow’s schedule lately has consisted of long days working in the hot summer sun and long bus rides at night, with fairly small paychecks every couple of weeks. But the 20-year-old Locust Grove native is living the dream.

  He is in his third year as a pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, and already on his fourth stop moving up the ladder. Since early August he has been a member of the Clearwater Threshers, a Class A team in the Florida State League, after being called up from another squad in Lakewood, N.J., where he started the season.

  “It’s been awesome to get to travel and be a part of different teams,” the left-hander said in an August 27 interview at Clearwater’s Spectrum Field shortly before that night’s game.

  He had three solid outings with the Threshers, all as a starter, to close out his 2019 season. He was scheduled to pitch August  31 in Fort Myers, but the looming presence of Hurricane Dorian led FSL officials to cancel the final weekend of the regular season as well as the playoffs.

  Barring a trade, he will be back in Clearwater in February of 2020 for spring training with the Phillies’ other minor-leaguers. He spent considerable time there in the summer of 2017 for rookie league right after entering the professional ranks, along with extended spring training in 2018 before reporting to Williamsport, Penn., for a short-season stint.

  Lindow was not an obvious blue-chip prospect when he arrived at Locust Grove as a freshman. In fact, pitcher was not yet his primary position.

  “After working that first year and then in travel ball, when I came in as a sophomore I knew I was going to be a pitcher,” he said. “I still played a little bit of first base or in the outfield, but I kept working to get bigger and stronger because I knew this was going to be my position.”

  During his final two years in high school he was dominant on the mound, with an earned-run average below 1.00. As a senior he averaged five strikeouts and one walk every three innings. The Wildcats won the AAAA state championship his junior year and reached the AAAAA state semifinals when he was a senior. His last few games in high school included a 16-strikeout performance in one postseason game and a one-hitter in another.

  Interestingly, Lindow garnered little notice from major colleges during the recruiting process.

  “I was a bit under the radar, a late bloomer,” he said. “Some of the schools said their recruiting classes were full and it didn’t work out, but that just made me work harder.”

  It paid off. While he committed to the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the college question became moot when the Phillies drafted him in the fifth round in June of 2017, a few weeks after high school graduation. A draft position that high typically brings with it a signing bonus in the mid-six figures.

  “I didn’t know until the day of the draft where I was actually getting drafted,” he said. “It was like rolling dice; you never know. There were a couple of teams I knew were serious, but anything can happen on draft day. But I was blessed to be picked in the fifth round. It was far better than I ever could have imagined.”

  After a few years of mostly dominating his opponents, he arrived at his rookie league assignment in Clearwater (the Phillies’ spring training home) and realized that he was now in a situation where everyone has had tremendous teenage success.

  “It’s almost a slap in the face to wake you up as soon as you get here,” he said. “Everybody is really good if not better than me, so I’m just competing and trying to win a spot. It’s awesome. The competition is great and it just makes me want to be better.”

  He has crossed paths with players he played with and against on the travel ball and showcase circuits when he was younger. Living the minor-league lifestyle in which players often room together and share those long bus rides, relationships are formed that last well beyond the clubhouse.

  “It’s definitely a brotherhood, no matter where you’re playing,” he said. “ Baseball is just that kind of sport, where you connect with guys and are around them every day.”

  Now that the season is over, Lindow plans to be back home in Henry County until spring training. He is open to opportunities where he can instruct some youngsters and pass along the baseball knowledge he has gained. He’ll have plenty of fans in his hometown cheering him on next year.

  “I’ve got a huge support system back in Locust Grove,” he said. “My friends and family are always checking on me, and that is awesome.”