Thursday, July 3, 2003 | 9:57 a.m.
She shot four triumphant fingers above her 6-foot-3 frame, reaching high into the blue afternoon sky, as though no one at the Stephanie Lynn Craig Fields knew what she and her Wooster teammates just did.
Brianne McGowan, architect and chief builder of four state softball championships in her four years as the Colts' anchor, used those four fingers to begin the celebration only she had the authority to start.
"I've been waiting to say this on this day," Colts coach Dick Allen said after Wooster's fourth title win, a 1-0 victory against Centennial. "She's the best softball player in Nevada history."
McGowan, an Oregon State signee and NIAA Scholar-Athlete selection, humbly sidesteps the compliment.
"I don't know about that," McGowan said. "I haven't been in Nevada too long."
That debate can occur someplace else, but this much is unquestionable: McGowan is the centerpiece of one of the most dominant runs in Nevada prep history. By completing her ultimate mission in typically overwhelming fashion, McGowan also earned her third consecutive selection as the Sun All-State Softball Player of the Year.
The numbers to support Allen's claim of McGowan's legacy are staggering:
Yet none of those things carry much meaning for McGowan, who wanted only to hoist that championship trophy for a fourth consecutive time. There were no strikeout dances or anything of the like on that final day, but McGowan and her teammates called upon some braided hair and red dye to summon the victory mojo one last time.
They found it, holding off Centennial for the second consecutive season. McGowan worked her own mojo, combining brute force with pitching savvy and intelligence to baffle the Bulldogs, as she did to so many other teams.
"It's something no one else has ever done, so it means a lot," McGowan said.
Allen, who made good on a promise to McGowan's parents to remain at Wooster until she finished, watched his star pitcher mature from a freshman phenom into a sophomore savior. She developed into the state's dominant force in her final two seasons.
"Her presence on the mound, her ability to handle the big-game situation is unlike anyone I've ever seen," Allen said. "The bigger the game, the better she is."
McGowan recognized the pressure and owned it.
"I've just got to throw my best because everyone wants to come out and beat us," McGowan said. "That's what comes along with winning."
So too do the little thrills. Like a little girl with her favorite raggedy teddy bear, McGowan clutched the state championship trophy all the way back to Reno.
"When I looked across on the airplane and saw her holding that trophy, she was one happy kid," Allen said.
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