Owens Joins Siblings in Athletic Success
4/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Written for Bama Magazine
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? Junior pitcher Chrissy Owens has followed in the footsteps of her older brother and sister with a successful college career. She has been extremely successful since coming to the University of Alabama in 2004.
Owens, a native of Miami, Fla., has had an impact in different ways each year she has played for the Crimson Tide. Even though Chrissy's sister, Jennifer, decided to play closer at home at Florida International so she could play both softball and volleyball, Chrissy wanted to pursue bigger schools and play softball.
"It was pretty much known that I wasn't going to go to FIU," said Owens. "I was definitely looking at bigger schools. I wanted to go to a fairly good school for softball. If I wasn't an athlete I probably would have stayed home but considering that I put all of my time and effort into softball, I wanted to go and doing something with it."
Chrissy first learned about Alabama when head coach Patrick Murphy was recruiting Jackie Wilkins, who played with Chrissy's sister on a summer team. One of Chrissy's former teammates from her summer league team, Dominque Accetturo, was two years ahead of Owens and also signed to play for the Crimson Tide to help her with her decision to sign with Alabama."
In her freshman season, Chrissy came in with two very good starting pitchers already on the team in senior Jennifer Wright and junior Stephanie VanBrakle. Owens' role primarily was to come in to games late and try to shut the door on opponent's comeback attempts. She ended up posting a school record 11 saves, six more than any other pitcher in school history had ever recorded. She appeared in 41 games with nine starts. She was 9-2 with a 1.03 ERA and 146 strikeouts.
"It was awesome coming in and having Jen Wright and Stephanie VanBrakle to look up to and learn from," said Owens. "I have learned so much from both of them. I think it was good for me. I gained experience and came back my sophomore year knowing more about the game. Not only pitching but knowing situations helped out a lot."
As a sophomore, Wright had graduated moving Chrissy into a starting role on the team. It was a role she quickly took advantage of and provided a legitimate threat when VanBrakle was not on the mound. Owens ended up second in the country with a 0.68 ERA, allowing just 15 earned runs in 154 innings. She went 21-5 for the season with seven shutouts and 190 strikeouts.
"I think my freshman year took a lot of pressure off coming in with more mature and experienced players ahead of me," said Owens. "It put me in a better mindset. Then last year was great because I still had Stephanie around. I got to pitch against some of the SEC teams so I knew what that was about. I learned so much the past two years. It helped me prepare for this year in order to come in here and do more."
The experience Owens gained her first two years has prepared her to become the ace of the pitching staff in 2007. She came in to the season ready to go and has put up some terrific numbers again this year to lead the squad. She ranks among the national and SEC leaders in several categories, including ERA, wins and shutouts.
"Working with Vann (Stuedemann) she gets better every day that I see her," said sophomore catcher Ashley Holcombe. "Especially coming back from not catching her all summer and starting fall practice, it seemed like she hadn't missed a beat. She was right where she was at during the World Series and was getting better every day."
Holcombe is one reason why Chrissy continues to improve and pitches with so much confidence. For the majority of her collegiate starts on the mound, Owens has had Holcombe behind the plate.
"I know she is always going to do a good job," said Owens. "I try to do my best job for her. You get used to a certain catcher. You become comfortable and know their capabilities. I think she has helped me get better because the more comfortable we feel as pitchers the better we can perform."
Chrissy had tough acts to follow. Her older sister, Jennifer, was a standout softball and volleyball player at Florida International University while her older brother, Henry Jr., played catcher at Barry University in Florida.
Both of Owens' siblings have gone to play professionally in softball and baseball. Jennifer played one season with the Stratford Brakettes of the Amateur Softball Association. She played last season with the Connecticut Brakettes, an expansion team of the Natioanl Pro Fastpitch League. In college she was a two-sport star in softball and volleyball.
A two-year captain for the Golden Panthers' softball team she was all-time program leader in hits (267), batting average (.327), RBI (136), total bases (340) and doubles (35). She was named to the Sun Belt Conference's All-Time softball team, was the SBC Freshman of the Year and a four-time all-conference selection. In volleyball she holds the school record for block assists (346) and was second in career kills (1,325). She led FIU to the conference championship in 2001.
"She played third base and first a little in college," said Owens. "Last summer I think she played more first than third. She hasn't pitched since high school. She used to be a pitcher. She could hit though. She was a very good hitter."
Henry Jr. was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2003 and has also spent time in the New York Mets minor league system, moving up through the minor leagues before making his Major League Baseball debut last season with the Mets. He is currently on the 40-man roster with the Florida Marlins and is one of the team's top relief pitchers.
"My brother wasn't always a standout baseball player," said Owens. "He did well as a catcher and played well. He had a very good arm and the scouts saw that and wanted him to pitch. They asked him to pitch one day and after that they signed him as a free agent."
Chrissy says that her brother hadn't planned on playing professional baseball and was actually planning on attending medical school before the scouts noticed his strong arm and gave him a chance.
"He has always been more involved in academics and stuff like that," said Owens. "He was a very good student. He was always studying. That is all I can remember from him at college. Barry was a very good school and he was always locked up in his room studying for the MCAT or studying for class. He did very well. He wanted to go to medical school, but decided to put it on hold for professional baseball for a little while at least."
Chrissy and her brother and sister aren't the only members of the family involved in professional sports. Chrissy's aunt, Anna Marti, ran track at the University of Southern California and her uncle, Juan Bustabad, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and is currently the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers' Gulf Coast League (R) affiliate.
"My family is pretty athletic," said Owens. "My mom's side of the family is very athletic. Her sister and her brothers all were athletic. My dad's family is also very athletic. My sister and my brother were very good athletes and still are."
With the remainder of this season and her entire senior year left to play, Owens says she hasn't really considered whether she would like to join her siblings and pursue a professional career after college.
"I have not thought too much about it," said Chrissy. "I don't know if it is something I would want to do. I haven't asked too many questions about it because I have been focusing on this season. I guess next year would be the year to start thinking about it."
One thing is for certain, as Owens continues to finish out her junior campaign and conclude her collegiate career next season, she will remain a force to be reckoned with for opponents. Her abilities on the mound give the Crimson Tide a chance to win every time she draws a start.
