By Cody Stark
Sam Houston State was one win away from advancing to the NCAA softball tournament for the first time in school history when recruits Brandi Crnkovic and Casie Everitt were wrapping up their senior year of high school in 2005.
Crnkovic was a flame-throwing pitcher at Caldwell High School and Everitt was an all-state catcher at Splendora. They didn’t know each other then, but that was about to change.
The Bearkats failed on their bid to make it to the NCAA regionals that spring, dropping two heartbreaking games to McNeese State in the championship round of the Southland Conference Tournament.
But two years later, thanks to that 2005 recruiting class which featured Crnkovic and Everitt and fellow seniors Sarah Parich, Kendra Spivey and Krystal Gay, Sam Houston State got another shot at the NCAA tournament. This time the Bearkats made history.
After struggling through an 18-win season in 2006, something clicked in the spring of ’07. With Crnkovic leading the way in the circle and Everitt calling the pitches, Sam Houston State stormed through the SLC tournament in Huntsville and christened the 2-year-old Bearkat Softball Complex with the school’s first NCAA regional berth.
“It’s been crazy. We went from winning only 18 games and not making the conference tournament as freshmen to winning the whole thing as sophomores,” said Crnkovic, who pitched 23 consecutive scoreless innings in the 2007 SLC tournament. “We went to regionals and won a game and that was exciting. Since we went to regionals, we have been trying to build on that.
“Last year we fell short, and this year we are trying to do whatever we can to go as far as possible.”
The Bearkats (15-12 in SLC play, 26-22 overall) are trying to make their third straight appearance in the SLC tournament. With three games remaining, beginning with a doubleheader today, Sam Houston State controls its own destiny at home against regular-season champion Texas State (21-6 in SLC, 34-15).
It’s simple. Win one more game than seventh-place Nicholls State, which is at second-place McNeese State this weekend, or finish tied with the Colonels, and the Bearkats are in the field of six.
Sam Houston State is going to need Crnkovic, who along with junior Morgan Mikulin give the Kats a formidable one-two punch in the circle, and Everitt to rekindle the magic that was there in the remarkable run of 2007, when the Bearkats went 36-26 and bounced back from an 8-0 run-rule loss to Texas State with a 1-0 victory over the Bobcats in the SLC tournament finale.
“My experience here has been really good and I enjoy catching Brandi,” Everitt said. “I enjoy calling her pitches, especially when we are on the same page, reading each other’s minds. We can go out there and know what to do without even calling it. We all work together well on this team, and I look forward to getting in the tournament because I know we are going to be that team to beat.”
One of the things that has helped Crnkovic and Everitt have a big hand in the success the program has had over the past three years has been the friendship the two have developed.
They were complete strangers as freshmen, but have became close friends and roommates since. That has translated to a chemistry on the field which has led to numerous wins and All-Southland Conference honors for both.
“She’ll come out there and tell me how it is, she doesn’t sugarcoat it or anything,” said Crnkovic, who became SHSU’s all-time strikeout leader this season (519) and has 49 career wins. “If I miss a pitch she will tell me. We have that type of relationship. We are friends, so I don’t have to take it personally when she tells me I did something wrong.”
Everitt pretty much sums up their friendship when she talks about her most memorable moment at Sam Houston State. Sure it has to do with the 2007 season when she hit a solo home run and scored the game-winning run on an unbelievable play at home in the Kats’ 2-1 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in the College Station Regional.
But that’s not it.
“My best memory is our sophomore season, but for a different reason,” said Everitt, who boasts a career fielding percentage of .984. “Brandi being there and getting probably two strikeouts per inning and being able to call those pitches was a great feeling, knowing you got the job done as well.”
This senior class has seen the highs and lows, but it has been a special group for head coach Bob Brock. He knows that if the Kats can get into the SLC tournament, they have the experience to once again be the last team standing.
“I think we are going to be playing really hard to get into the tournament, but we are also going to be playing for our seniors,” Brock said. “Those five have really come along and done a good job. Brandi, Sarah, Kendra, Casie and Krystal have meant a lot to me. I’m so honored to have coached them.
“We went back to the double-elimination format for the tournament this year, and we have a team that people are keeping an eye on. All you have to do is get in and anything can happen.”
