13 minute read
MICHAELA RICHBOURG, SHALEE BRANTLEY AND JULES CALLAHAM
THE END OF TRAIL MOTEL SITS AT THE JUNCTION OF U.S. HIGHWAYS 259 AND 70 IN BROKEN BOW, OKLA., BECKONING WEARY TRAVELERS WITH THE LURE OF “COLOR TV” AND “HEAT & AIR.” PINK NEON PROCLAIMS “VACANCY” — AS IF ONE HAD TO ASK.
Less than a mile south of this vintage landmark is Broken Bow High School, which could be described as the end of the recruiting trail.
Broken Bow is a unique place — not so much a hidden treasure. It’s on the map, albeit the edge of it. The locals (all 5,000 of them) are somewhat isolated by geography and topography.
Broken Bow is a destination, not a stop along the way to someplace else. You have to want to go there.
And many people do.
Nestled in McCurtain County in far southeastern Oklahoma, the area boasts the beauty of the Kiamichi Mountains, Ouachita National Forest, Mountain Fork River and Beavers Bend State Park.
Nearby Hochatown (a once-bustling timber town flooded by the creation of Broken Bow Lake in 1970) has reinvented itself along the highway west of the reservoir. The area has since grown into an outdoor tourist mecca, offering luxury cabins, boat rentals, four-wheelers, fly fishing and hunting, along with restaurants and wineries.
Not to mention Bigfoot lore. Sasquatch t-shirts and trinkets are a cottage industry in this neck of the woods.
Oklahoma State head softball coach Kenny Gajewski has become a frequent visitor to the area. He hasn’t spotted the elusive legend, but he did discover a trio of talented studentathletes who now wear orange and black in junior Michaela Richbourg, senior Shalee Brantley and freshman Jules Callaham.
With those three Broken Bow grads currently on the 23-person roster, roughly 13 percent of the Cowgirl squad hails from the same small town. Generally speaking, the chances of an athlete from a 4A school earning a Division I scholarship are slim. The odds of three teammates from the same school doing so are even greater.
MICHAELA RICHBOURG
SHALEE BRANTLEY
JULES CALLAHAM
Kenny Gajewski
BIG MOMENTS
Richbourg was the first Broken Bow player to appear on Gajewski’s radar, thanks to an out-of-the-blue email.
“Her high school coach, Patrick Williams, reached out to me and basically said, ‘I’m sure you get a thousand of these, but we have a kid down in Broken Bow you’ve probably never even heard of. She plays no travel ball, but I think she’s a Division I type kid. She’s all-state basketball, all-state fast pitch and slow pitch … and we’re going to be playing in the state tournament this weekend. If you’re there, we’d love for you to come watch her play and see what you think.’”
Gajewski printed off the email and put it in his notebook, along with various references and notes on a number of potential prospects. He planned to spend the state tournament watching several other in-state recruits compete on the three diamonds at Oklahoma City’s USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.
“I had been on the back fields watching two of our committed kids while Broken Bow was on the main field,” Gajewski says. “As I was leaving through the front, a girl hit a foul ball about 260 feet, and it kind of made me go, ‘Whoa! That ball was hit forever — I need to see who that was.’ I looked through my rosters and saw this name and thought, ‘I think that’s the same girl this guy e-mailed me about’ … So I sat down and flipped through my emails, and sure enough, it was Michaela.”
Now that she had Gajewski’s attention, Richbourg delivered.
“I hit a home run that at bat,” she says, “and then I ended up hitting another one that game.”
“This kid’s not bad,” Gajewski recalls thinking. “You have to keep in mind, it’s still high school. You have to put everything into perspective, but it was a big moment, and this kid’s playing well. She had a couple other hits and made some really good plays at shortstop. I went home that night and emailed the coach back.”
In her first plate appearance the next day, Richbourg crushed another home run. Her hitting impressed the coach, but it was an error that Gajewski remembers most about that state semifinal.
“She got to a ball she probably shouldn’t have gotten to, then made a throw she probably shouldn’t have made — threw it away — and the go-ahead run scored for the other team. What caught my eye was the way she handled the situation, the way she walked toward the circle and told her pitcher, ‘Hey, it’s my bad. I’ve got you. Give me another one.’ I could see it all unfolding. It never fazed her. And I think she could see at that moment it was probably going to cost them the game, because in these tournaments runs are at a premium.”
“As a leader and a captain at the time, I knew I couldn’t be upset and pout,” Richbourg recalls. “You’ve just got to take the fault and get ready for the next play, because you can’t dwell on the play before or you’re going to mess up the next one.”
“It’s one of the things we talk to our team about,” Gajewski adds. “You have to own your mistakes, and you have to make sure your teammates know that you’ve still got them and you’re okay.”
The next step in the recruiting process was getting Richbourg to come to a Cowgirl Softball camp for a closer look.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw when we got her to camp,” Gajewski says. “She was this physical kid, and she had this look in her eye that was a little nasty. It was a little tough. And I liked what I saw.”
A multi-sport standout, Richbourg had been recruited by smaller colleges not only for softball, but also basketball, which offers full scholarships.
“I was kind of star struck,” Richbourg admits. “I was dead set on going somewhere for basketball because it was the best offer I had. OSU had never been in my view of my future until then.”
“The dilemma is, how do I convince a kid to come to OSU for less money?” Gajewski says. “I’ve got to sell her on this dream and this opportunity. We were able to do that. She committed and has just been awesome here.”
Michaela Richbourg
BIG STRIDES
Richbourg blossomed during her second season on the big stage. In 2019, she started 60 of 62 games and blasted 14 home runs — the most ever by a Cowgirl sophomore — and helped the Cowgirls reach the Women’s College World Series. She earned all-Big 12 second team and NFCA all-Midwest Region honors, with some big moments along the way.
“A lot of people remember last year at Florida State when she hit the big home run in the ninth to help us win that game,” Gajewski says. “She’s a middle of the order hitter, and I expect her to put up some pretty big numbers this year. She brings a fighter’s mentality. She’s just a tough, hard-nosed kid and a joy to be around.”
Like Highway 259, Brantley’s road to Stillwater was a little more winding.
A year ahead of Richbourg, her first stop after high school was Seminole State College.
“I actually committed to Texas A&M Commerce first, which is Division II, but I decided that I wanted to try and go Division I, so I took the junior college route,” Brantley says.
Seminole State ha s been a reg u la r scrimmage opponent of the Cowgirls in fall ball, and that’s when Brantley set her sights on Stillwater.
After our fall season was over, I was at a game with Jules, and I told her that I wanted to try and come here. She actually laughed at me.”
Undeterred, Brantley transferred to softball powerhouse Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan., for her sophomore season. After helping lead the team to a 53-6 record, she got the opportunity to realize her dream.
“Shalee is kind of a lefthanded triple threat,” Gajewski says. “Hit, slap and bunt. Can run. Can score from first base, which is something that’s a huge thing to have. She came in here as an infielder but primarily plays outfield now. She’s going to pinch run, play some defense, do some pinch hitting and fight for a starting job.”
Gajewski says he’s noticed another element to Brantley’s game this season.
“She’s starting to bring a little different leadership in her senior year here,” he says. “Shalee’s kind of a quiet kid. She doesn’t talk a lot, but when she does, we listen. She’s very observant about what’s going on. Very mature. She’s a kid that works hard, kills it in school and is the type of person we want here.”
Callaham is a true freshman on the squad, reuniting with her former Broken Bow teammates last fall.
“Jules can really run. She’s probably the fastest of all of them,” Gajewski says. “She’s a kid that can steal bases and score from first base. Jules came here as a catcher and outfielder. Lefthanded bunter/slapper first, but is working on her hitting and just continuing to get better every day that she’s here.”
The trio’s lack of softball specialization made their transition to Big 12 Conference softball a little more challenging, but Gajewski says he actually prefers multi-sport athletes.
“I think what we’re finding in our sport is that kids who only play one sport are more prone to over-use injuries and are more prone to injuries in general because their bodies aren’t cross-trained through other sports,” he says. “I like athletic kids that do well in basketball and softball and track or volleyball. We’re a big
proponent of kids who play multiple sports. You need to play other sports and learn how to be a good teammate.
“If you’re a Division I athlete — and there’s not a lot of those that are coming out of Broken Bow — these are the best of the very best. If you’re of that caliber, you need to be able to lead your school in a lot of ways, not just in sports, but be a leader in life. That’s how you leave your mark. And I think that’s what these kids have done where they’ve come from.”
Brantley says she rarely had a day off going from sport to sport in high school.
“We probably had one day off between each sport, and there was no easing into it. It was like zero to 100 from day one. We never got a break all year long until the summer. And then even then we would have maybe a week and we would start working out again and practicing.
“Our team was our friend group at school,” Brantley adds. “We’d all hang out together and then go to practice and hang out after practice. We were always together in every sport because we all did the same things. Personally, my favorite was basketball, I just wasn’t as good at it.”
“I wouldn’t say we’re the smallest school,” Richbourg adds, “but our softball team was the whole basketball team, and the whole basketball team was most of the track team and the slow pitch team.”
Gajewski says he’s seen marked improvement from all three.
“These kids may not be as seasoned from coming from down there and not playing elite travel ball like a lot of our kids have, but I knew once they got here that they were going to really improve.”
“The pitching was really what surprised me more than anything,” Richbourg says. “The speed is definitely a big change from high school. Other than that, I felt like I adjusted and just got out there and went for it.”
That blue collar work ethic is rooted in their in Broken Bow upbringing, she adds.
“We put so much work in, even after games if it didn’t go how we wanted it to. There were times where Shalee and I would stay after games. They’d leave the lights on, and we’d hit with my dad — he’d pitch to us. There were times when we’d go to Jules’ house and hit in the cages. Before a game. After a game. Before practice. At night … we kind of had a mindset that we had to work harder than everybody to get where we wanted to be. It’s just like here, where you have to work harder if you want to play. You have to work if you want to get something.”
Callaham agrees.
“We work hard down there, and I think it correlates up here just how hard you have to work,” she says. “I hadn’t played any travel ball and I knew coming in that I was going to be behind. Coach G. told me when he recruited me, ‘You’re a little behind, but I think we can get you there.’ It’s been going great.”
Gajewski expects Callaham to continue to make strides and compete for playing time this spring.
Jules Callaham
BIG FEATS
The coach has built a lasting friendship with Coach Williams and travels to Broken Bow often. He’s even led team retreats in that corner of Oklahoma. Gajewski says he’s not sure if the pipeline of players from Broken Bow to Stillwater will continue, but he’s glad to have those three on this year’s roster.
“I think it’s unique that they’re from this little town of 5,000 and have become a big part of our program. I’m excited that they’re all here.
“It’s just really cool to see,” he adds. “They’re great people. They come from great families. These kids know what hard work is all about, and it mirrors Stillwater in a lot of ways … in our culture and our blue collar mentality that we have around here. So it just make sense for us.”
By car, Broken Bow is about 250 miles from Stillwater. There are no shortcuts.
“Any way you go, it’s four hours,” Brantley says. “Four solid hours.”
There are no shortcuts in the classroom either.
“Softball doesn’t follow everybody forever, so after you leave this program you have to have something you’re going to be able to continue through life,” says Callaham, who is studying animal science with a pre-vet option. “That’s where the classroom comes in and why it’s so important to me.”
Gajewski calls them “true student-athletes.”
“They are way above average in school. They are elite students. Michaela was first team academic all-Big 12. Shalee wants to work in the medical field. Jules is wanting to be a veterinarian. I think it tells you a little bit about the type of kids they are.”
The coach says he’ll continue to pursue leads on recruits, whether in a major metroplex or in the far corner of the state.
“We’re just continuing to build our contacts with people,” Gajewski says. “If Patrick calls me and says, ‘Hey, there’s a kid down here’ or ‘We ran across a kid we just played,’ I’m going to listen to what he says. I can trust his judgment. He knows the standard here. He knows the expectations here. He knows the type of kids that we want. I want to build more of those relationships.
“We’re going to try and beat the bushes in our state first, so it’s kind of cool to have the southeast part of the state covered up. We can’t cover the entire country every single day, so this all about your relationships and people you know and trust. That’s how these things start.”
Kenny Gajewski
