McGowan wowed ‘em

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 9:22 a.m.

What can Brianne McGowan possibly do for an encore?

Coming off consecutive first-team Sun All-State campaigns that saw her go 34-3 and lead her Wooster club to back-to-back 4A state softball titles, expectations ran high for the junior pitcher entering 2002.

Yet McGowan still managed to exceed them. Nevada's most dominant individual talent went 32-2 with a 0.33 ERA and 372 K's in 214 innings. At the same time she produced at the plate, batting .462 with seven homers and 48 RBIs.

When the postseason rolled around, McGowan was once again at her best, tossing four consecutive shutouts -- including a no-hitter and a perfect game -- to lift the Colts to their third consecutive state championship.

In what should come as a surprise to no one, McGowan has been named the Sun's State Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

"She had an incredible year last year, and believe it or not, she was better this year, both at the plate and on the mound," Wooster coach Dick Allen said. "She was phenomenal all year, and down the stretch she picked it up another level."

Indeed, as good as she was during the regular season -- when 41-2 Wooster suffered its only two losses to out-of-state foes at Arizona's competitive Tournament of Champions -- McGowan found a way to lift her game for the state playoffs.

A 12-strikeout no-hitter against Bonanza in round one was followed by a 15-strikeout perfect game versus Silverado to begin day two. Later that day, McGowan fanned another 15 in a shutout victory over McQueen, before finishing the scoreless sweep with 12 strikeouts in a 1-0 triumph over Centennial in the finals.

"I'd always say to my teammates, 'If you get me one run I'll try to shut them out,' " McGowan said. "Those are the types of games I love to pitch in."

Recruited by national powers such as UCLA and Stanford, McGowan's presence was the difference between Wooster and the rest of the pack in 2002, helping the Colts overcome the graduation of six four-year starters from their 2001 squad.

So what can McGowan do next year to cap off one of the greatest prep softball careers Nevada has seen? How about that rarest of high school feats: four titles in four years.

"I didn't expect us to win it again this year, so that made it that much better," McGowan said. "Next year, everybody will really be gunning for us, coming out, so we'll have to play our best again."