Cavan leads Cards
Good luck trying to find another student-athlete in North Idaho College history with a resume or background like softball pitcher Kelcey Cavan’s.
She holds nearly every NIC single-season and career pitching record. She ranked among NJCAA leaders in innings and strikeouts this season. She’s one of a handful of Cardinals ever to participate in three national tournaments.
She was a true three-sport athlete in high school and never played on a club, AAU or summer all-star team.
She’s the first NIC softball player to land a scholarship to a Pac-10 school. She essentially recruited herself to the University of Washington. On her own, she sent a videotape of her highlights that triggered interest from UW coaches. She officially signed Monday with the Huskies.
And she’s not finished yet. Cavan and the Cardinals are returning to the NJCAA tournament in Plant City, Fla., this week, determined to improve on last year’s 0-2 performance.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to get there again, and once we get there to make an impact,” said Cavan, who was 25-12 with a 2.61 earned-run average and 350 strikeouts this season.
Not bad for a converted right-side hitter in volleyball. That sport brought the 5-foot-10 Billings, Mont., native to NIC, where she played on the 2004 team that became the first in program history to qualify for the national tournament.
Cavan’s playing time diminished late in the volleyball season, so one day she stopped by softball coach Don Don Williams’ office. Cavan had been a standout left-handed pitcher at Skyview High in Billings and wanted to give it another shot.
“I told her to throw for a month or so,” Williams said. “She came back and said, ‘I think I’m ready.’ I sent my assistant coach to watch her and pretty soon my phone rings and it’s, ‘You need to come look at her. She just threw a 59 mile-per-hour fastball and she hasn’t pitched in a year and a half.’ “
Cavan’s cousin, Michelle St. John, an NIC outfielder who completed her eligibility in 2006, “had told me she was having so much fun and I loved softball and I missed it so much,” Cavan said.
Cavan set school records with 18 wins and 190 strikeouts last year as NIC earned the program’s first trip to nationals. She shattered those marks this season. Cavan is one of 15 NJCAA Division I players to be selected to represent the U.S. at the World University Games in Thailand in August.
She pitched every inning of NIC’s five regional tournament games. Her throwing arm was tiring in the championship game when she yielded an early grand slam, but she remained in the game and NIC rallied from a 5-0 deficit to thump Southern Idaho 14-5.
“It was amazing,” pitching coach Ron Bradstreet said. “She was throwing harder in the last two innings than in the first game of the tournament.”
Cavan attributes some of her durability on the mound to conditioning, which is boosted by her affinity for running. She hopes to run a marathon some day. She pitched all 14 innings in a 1-0 loss to top-seeded Temple (Texas) at last year’s national tournament.
Under Bradstreet’s tutelage, Cavan’s fastball has reached speeds of 63-64 mph. She throws five pitches, but prefers a riseball or change when in need of a strikeout.
Still, she wasn’t sure where she fit in four-year recruiting circles. “I sent a bunch of videos and my dad told me, ‘You should just send one to a big school, just for the heck of it,’ ” Cavan said.
When Washington called back, Cavan was shocked. “I was like, ‘Seriously?’ ” she said. “They flew me out to look at the school. Then they watched us play in Arizona and they offered me a week or two later.”
While some athletes tend to specialize in one sport in high school, Cavan played basketball, volleyball and softball during the school year. She attended a few summer camps for basketball and volleyball, but nothing for softball.
“I think I’m unique in doing it that way,” Cavan said.
It set the stage for a unique career at NIC.