Centennial’s Crisp sees no obstacles

Adam Candee

Thursday, April 22, 2004 | 10:31 a.m.

The girl who never wanted to be a pitcher is now just about the best one in the state.

Really, if her coach had not been hard up for pitchers on their youth team, Shannon Crisp probably would still be patrolling first base instead of keeping batters from getting there. Why did Crisp, then just 8 years old, first take the ball?

"Nobody wanted to do it," Crisp said.

Nearly a decade later, Crisp still relishes being the right person for the tough job as she anchors the Centennial softball team's quest for a third consecutive state title game. In their past two appearances, Crisp and the Bulldogs ran into Wooster's Brianne McGowan, who won two of her four state championships by shutting out Centennial in both of those games.

McGowan, arguably the best prep softball player in Nevada history, is graduated, which means the mantle of being the best -- and the accompanying pressure to win -- falls to McGowan's friend and former competitor.

Crisp learned from one of the best, falling to McGowan in both of those state championship games. Those were not their first battles, though, as they grew up playing against each other.

"We were like rivals," Crisp said.

The two still keep in touch, reminiscing about their old battles.

"Actually, we laugh about it," Crisp said.

The laughs stop when Crisp talks about finally winning in the state title game. She gave up just one run in both losses to Wooster and cannot wait for the chance to runner-up tag.

"Brianne's been tough all the years we've been at state," Crisp said. "Now she's gone and if we take it, it'd be real nice (in my) senior year."

The pressure of her final season is not hampering Crisp, who sports a 17-3 record with 250 strikeouts and a 0.56 ERA. She also hits .460, with six homers and 27 RBIs on the year. Crisp, a UNLV signee, struck out 389 last season.

Perhaps even more powerful than Crisp's fastball is the reputation that plants itself on top of every batter who steps into the box against her.

"She's intimidating," Centennial senior Tory Healy said. "They just go up there and it's like, 'Oooh, it's Shannon.' She's just got that presence when she's out there pitching."

First-year Bulldogs coach Mike Livreri likes seeing Crisp ride the line between confidence and cockiness.

"She's got a little bit of a swagger," Livreri said. "Nothing cocky or anything like that, but a lot of the girls are backing out of the box as soon as they get in."

Forget the girls -- even the boys don't want anything to do with her.

"There are baseball players who want to try and hit her -- a couple of them," Livreri said. "But most of the other ones are kind of scared."

Centennial is yet to lose against Nevada competition, having fallen only to out-of-state teams at a pair of tournaments. At 22-3, the Bulldogs are armed with a dominating pitcher who truly believes that this is her year.

"I feel that if I'm on top of my game, that they will have to get by me," Crisp said.

Crisp concedes that a chance to go through McGowan for the title might have meant a little bit more, but a state trophy would still be a crowning achievement.

"Winning a state championship is big no matter who you're facing," Crisp said.

This year, it will likely be Crisp who stands in the way of others' hopes.