Crisp totes Centennial to 4A title

Adam Candee

Monday, May 24, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.

Three months of dominance bought Centennial just three hours of cushion at the state softball tournament in Carson City. And because Shannon Crisp was suffering through arguably her worst day in three years, the Bulldogs had just three outs left to avoid a stunning exit from the playoffs that were supposed to serve as their victory march.

"It was like, hey, this wasn't supposed to happen to us," Centennial coach Mike Livreri said.

That's when Centennial, losers of the past two state tournament finals, proved that the third time really is a charm.

Freshman Kylie Kearns belted a game-ending grand slam to save the Bulldogs against Silverado in a Friday elimination game and Crisp took advantage of the reprieve, coming back Saturday to lead Centennial to three consecutive wins and a state title in most improbable fashion.

"We battled," Crisp said. "All the years we've been at state, we always take it the hard way."

They found the hardest way this year. McQueen hammered the Bulldogs, 4-0, to open state play and Silverado took a 3-2 lead against them into the bottom of the seventh inning before Jessika Wetzler and Tory Healy singled, and Crisp reached on an infield error to allow to Kearns play the hero.

"Hopefully, people will understand now that it wasn't just a Shannon thing," Livreri said.

The Bulldogs certainly supported Crisp, but without her pitching and hitting, Centennial would be nowhere at all.

Even after throwing 14 innings Friday, Crisp came back Saturday to strike out 25 batters in another 20 innings to close her illustrious high school career with the championship denied to her by Wooster and Brianne McGowan in 2002 and 2003. Even the euphoria of a state title could not dim the physical pain of such an overwhelming task.

"I'm still sore," Crisp said Sunday. "I'm still feeling it."

She added four homers and nine RBIs at the plate, pacing the Bulldogs to a 5-0 win to eliminate McQueen and a 13-2 beating of Douglas that led to a winner-take-all title game. And although Crisp appeared tapped out after falling behind 4-2 in the second game with Douglas, she gutted through without her overpowering fastball.

"She was fooling them," Livreri said. "She was pitching on guts, heart and craftiness."

Livreri contemplated pulling his starter. Crisp would not hear of it.

"She wasn't coming out," Livreri said. "I would have had to drag her out. She wanted it bad."

The Bulldogs eventually tied the game and then pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, as Stefanie Lentz scored from third on a ball put into play by Kearns.

"It's exciting to leave my high school career with a state championship," Crisp, a UNLV signee, said. "We deserved it with how we played."