Sullivan Continues October Dominance

Ashley Crump never imagined the behemoth her softball program would become when she took over in 2007.

2007 was the last time Sullivan ended a season without a district championship. Before that, it was 2002 and before that, 1998.

Over the past 21 seasons, Sullivan has at least played in the championship game. They’ve won 19 titles, advanced to four Final Fours (2003, 2011, 2016 and 2018) and finished runner-up in Class 3 twice (2003, 2016). Twice they took third place (2011, 2018). 

Crump was part of three district championship squads as a player, but the program has blossomed into a bonafide powerhouse since becoming head coach.

“It’s not ever something that was on my mind,” she said on Friday after the team won their 12th straight. Before the tournament, Crump and assistant coach Heidi Blankenship were talking about the 2008 team that started the streak and everything that has followed.

“Those girls had no idea what they were starting,” she said. “If you had told me this is what would happen when there were years we shouldn’t have won, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

The streak has not come without its tense moments. 

In 2014, Sullivan upset Salem and St. James on the same day to win the district championship, their seventh straight at that point. They finished with a 12-13 record.

The next season, Sullivan entered districts 9-16. They were seeded fifth, ousted top-seeded Union in the semifinal and third-seeded Salem in the championship game.

When Sullivan entered the district tournament in 2016, they were seeded third with a healthy group of freshmen and sophomores. Helias and Southern Boone were the top two seeds and both had strong teams.

No matter, Sullivan went through both of them to win another title. 

While other programs have faltered under the pressure, Sullivan has morphed into an October force. When they captured their 10th straight title in 2017, it looked as if they were well on their way to finally winning a state championship. They squeaked out a 2-1 win over Osage in the sectional, then stumbled against Monett in quarterfinals.

Crump said before the 2018 season that their mindset had to change from believing that districts were the end goal. Sullivan got back to state last season, but came up short against Mexico in the semifinal.

The state title is still the ultimate goal, but winning districts is still a priority and if people think it comes easy, Crump has a reality check on that.

“Some people think we win districts because we’re good, but they don’t understand the last couple weeks,” she said, which have been racked with uncertainty. “They don’t see the fight or the road we’ve been on. It’s not been an easy couple of weeks.”

Crump said there has been adversity they’ve overcome to land the title.

“They don’t see it and that’s okay. But I think sometimes people don’t understand that our goals earn it,” she said. “You can’t just show up.”

Sullivan had to go through two difficult tournaments: the Capital City Invitational in Jefferson City in late September and the Crackerjack Shack Invitational in Springfield the first weekend of October. The tournament in Jefferson City featured some of the best teams in the state. The Crackerjack Shack tournament wasn’t much easier.

Four of Sullivan’s six losses this season came in those tournaments. Not only is the level of competition higher, but the games are concentrated in two days and the Lady Eagles don’t have the time to prepare like they would for any other non-conference game.

Sullivan took some lumps in those tournaments, but being tested is what Crump wanted to see.

“It’s good for us,” she said. “They need that. It’s easy to get wrapped up in things when you’re beating up on your conference, so they need to be brought back to real life sometimes.”