PREP SOFTBALL: Beasley’s relationship with Coach Shoup has CHS rolling

She’s quiet but fiery.

He’s just fiery.

They sometimes butt heads but Columbia pitcher Cris’Deona Beasley has a special bond with assistant coach Mitch Shoup. Beasley has been a three-year starter on the mound for the Lady Tigers, thrown into the fire as a freshman when injuries struck the team, and Shoup has been by her side through it all.

From an up-and-down freshman campaign to a heartbreaking regional final loss as a sophomore, Shoup has helped mold Beasley into a dominant ace for Columbia.

Now, as a junior, Beasley has the Class 7A No. 6 Lady Tigers riding an 11-game winning streak heading into this week’s District 3-7A Tournament. She also helped Columbia notch its first 20-win season since 2014 with a 7-0 shutout victory over Atlantic Coast on Thursday.

Sporting a 1.21 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings, Beasley has stifled batters with her wide array of pitches, sending one after another back to their dugouts with shoulders shrugged and heads down, unable to solve her curveball, changeup, screwball and knuckleball.

And that regional final loss to Nease when she was pulled less than two innings in? It no longer bothers Beasley, now armed to the teeth with a confidence that can’t be broken.

“I’ve moved on from it but I’ve learned a lesson. Before I come into a game I have to prepare more and know that I’ve practiced enough before that game,” said Beasley, who has college interest from Santa Fe, SCU, Southeastern, Daytona State. “I have to give it my all and go out there with my best potential and be ready to perform well.”

Beasley has come a long way from when she first put on a Columbia jersey. She’s always been an aggressive, hard-nosed competitor, but her pitching repertoire as a freshman was a bit bare. Her changeup needed work and her curveball was nonexistent, two pitches Shoup knew she needed to have to be successful at the high school level.

So the duo went to work.

“She’s developed into a different type of pitcher,” said Shoup, who was also an assistant coach on Columbia’s 2013 state title team. “She was a power pitcher trying to throw it by everybody, throwing a screwball in their hands and she learned quickly in this league you’re not going to have a lot of strikeouts. You’re going to get more ground balls, pop flies and things like that so we try to keep batters off balance and she bought into that. She still gets her fair share of strikeouts but she’s kind of bought into letting her defense work and throw strikes and change speeds.”

When Beasley wasn’t practicing with Shoup she continued to perfect her craft away from Columbia with her pitching coach Dale Townsend, who she’s worked with since middle school. While Shoup made sure not to mess too much with her arm — developed mostly by Townsend — he made it a goal to develop Beasley into a mound mentalist.

Even if that meant walking a tightrope with her spirited personality.

“I think her and mine relationship is kind of like a love-hate relationship. I can get on her and then I can love her and she responds to both well,” Shoup said. “She knows when she’s not giving her all or she’s not putting forth the effort that I like to see. She knows I’m going to come out there and get on her and she’ll respond. In the past, maybe not quite so much as this year, but this year she responds well and she understands what I’m wanting more. I think through the years it’s just become a better relationship as far as just understanding each other.”

Beasley didn’t really know what to expect from Shoup when she first arrived at Columbia. She didn’t even expect to play right away. But when incumbent starter Ivorie Maltby went down with an injury three games into the season, Beasley was instantly thrust into action, forced to trust Shoup from the get-go of her high school career.

The lineup card hasn’t changed much since then. There’s usually a ‘1’ next to Beasley’s name, and there’s always mutual trust with Coach Shoup.

And that curveball Shoup wanted Beasley to develop it? It’s now one of her best pitches.

“My freshman year I didn’t know him well and he was kind of fiery and he knows my attitude because I’m fiery too so we gelled well,” Beasley said. “I was pumped up to play for him. Now in my junior year we have a good relationship and I just understand him with the pitch calling and I’m comfortable with him calling my pitches.”

Beasley has always been a talented pitcher. She’s played travel ball since she was in elementary school and she recently tried out and earned a spot on the Florida Gold travel team, which she’ll play for this summer.

And she’s managed to pitch from a young age despite having hands smaller than the average pitcher, which she says sometimes forces her to change her grip on the ball.

That’s something Beasley says used to bother her but no longer does. In her words, “I just try to pitch as hard as I can.”

“When I first came here I would say I could pitch my movement pitches but they didn’t move as much,” Beasley said. “My hands are really little so I have to work on my spin and stuff a lot because the ball will get away from because my hands are so little. I would say when I first came here I pitched fast but I didn’t have control. As I’ve grown I think I’ve gained more control and more consistency.”

Beasley has never been more consistent than she’s been during Columbia’s 11-game winning streak. She hasn’t given up more than one earned run in any of the nine games she’s pitched (she was given rest against Buchholz and Vanguard).

It may seem like a lot is riding on Beasley’s shoulders heading into the postseason but she now welcomes it.

So does Shoup.

“I think the team has confidence in her and they know she’s going to go out there every night and give the team what it needs to have an opportunity to win the game,” Shoup said. “I have tremendous confidence in Cris’Deona against the good hitting teams as well. She’s shown it all year. She’s kept the scores down and given us an opportunity to win.”