Former Falcon Christie Robinson had a reputation as a terrific high school softball pitcher.
The legend lived on this year as Robinson led the Metro State College Roadrunners to third place in the College World Series.
Metro State finished the season with a record of 53-6 overall, and reached the semifinals of the Division II College Softball World Series, falling to national champion Hawaii Pacific after winning two straight games at the tournament.
The Roadrunners sat at No. 4 in each of the final three polls and held that spot for a total of five weeks during the season, their highest ranking in school history.
Todd Lubach, Robinson’s softball coach at South Whidbey High, said Robinson was a major force in helping South Whidbey to achieve a 96-8 record before graduating in 2005.
“Christie was determined from a young age to be the best pitcher she could,” Lubach recalled. “We never lost a conference game, won three district titles and placed second, third and fifth at state during her time as a Falcon.”
Now living in Denver, Colo., Robinson was named an All-American, plus Central Region Pitcher of the Year and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year.
“I had a great year, mainly because of my terrific teammates,” Robinson said from her home in Denver last week.
Robinson began her college career at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; in her sophomore year she posted a 15-5 overall record and a 2.26 earned run average.
When she became pregnant, Robinson took a year off, moved to Denver, and then decided to finish her education at Metro State. In May, she graduated with a degree in human performance in sport.
This season, the Roadrunners were on a roll, thanks to Robinson’s efforts on the mound. On March 25, she threw a five-inning shutout, allowing one hit and striking out four against Regis State. She threw another five-inning, one-hit shutout with four strikeouts on April 19 at Nebraska-Kearney, and yet another five-inning shutout on May 2 against Mesa State in a championship game.
Overall, she struck out five or more batters nine times.
“Christie really was the heart and soul of our team this season,” said Metro State athletic spokesman Andy Schlichting. “I think everyone looked up to her, not just on the field, but off it. To be able to raise a child, go to school and play softball —
I think it helped her teammates get through tough situations on and off the field.
“When you see someone work as hard as she does, it pushes you to work harder,” Schlichting said. “Christie was really an inspiration to her teammates, coaches and everyone involved in the program at Metro.”
Today at age 24, Robinson is raising her son Jaden, 2, and works as events manager for the Denver Coliseum and Red Rocks Amphitheatre. As time goes by, she plans to teach her son the mechanics of the game.
Robinson said there really isn’t any secret to doing well, at softball or in any other sport.
“There’s always an opportunity, several different divisions and levels of softball programs that are available, but you’ve got to work hard and don’t sell yourself short,” she said.
Schlichting said Robinson was probably the toughest player mentally on the team.
“It really showed at the World Series, when all of the illegal pitches were called on her the first game,” he noted. “For her to bounce back from that situation and pitch Metro State to the semifinals really showed how determined she was to win.”
Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or jvanderford@whidbeynewsgroup.com.
