Former Georgetown High School teammates, freshman pitcher Cambree Creager, and sophomore catcher and utility player Samantha Swan have been reunited this season playing for ASU softball.
Since high school in Georgetown, Texas, Creager and Swan have been learning and growing together; a huge component of this growth has been their ability to openly communicate with each other.
"Cambree and I had an interesting situation because she pitched and I played second base in high school," Swan said. "And it was funny; during some games, she would turn around and ask me questions about pitches or pitch calling. It was pretty cool."
The pair's time playing together at Georgetown ended with Swan's senior season in the spring of 2023. During this season, Swan helped take the team to the Texas 5A Regional Finals. As a high school athlete, Swan made the All-State Second Team and was a two-time Academic All-District team recipient.
The following spring was Creager's senior season, in which she made All-State, was named 2024 5A/6A Softball Athlete of the Year, and received back-to-back Pitcher of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024 from The Texas High School Coaches Association.
In addition to playing together at Georgetown, Creager and Swan also played on the same club softball team. From the time and dedication the two put into softball together, they were able to build a bond that went beyond teammates. ASU head coach, Megan Bartlett, described their relationship to be more like family.
Both athletes have found value in their familial-like bond as they moved nearly 1,000 miles from Texas to Arizona to make the transition from high school to collegiate softball.
"I think it's been good; Cambree and I have known each other so long," Swan said. "We played high school together, we played select together. It's the best friend in the dugout you can lean on during tough situations."
Throughout this season Bartlett has seen how strong the connection between Creager and Swan is; as athletes, they rely on and build off of each other. Bartlett has seen Swan do a good job of keeping Creager mentally steady.
"Pitchers have a tendency to go high, go low, and react to what's going on in the game," Bartlett said. "But Sammy, she can tell when (Creager's) timing's off a little bit, or her tempo gets off, or she starts to get a little sped up. She can tell by the way she's reacting to her, reacting to coach Jeremy, and what the pitches are doing. So she can certainly help go out to the mound and try and keep her calm and get ahead of those things."
Bartlett has enjoyed watching the two play together; she sees close friends who enjoy and trust each other a ton. There is a transparency between the two that benefits them on and off the field.
The honesty within what Creager calls a sisterly bond has enabled Creager and Swan to challenge each other from beyond the barriers of a teammate.
"For sure we are much harder on each other than we are on our other teammates," Creager said.
As they continue their time with ASU softball, Swan expects them to develop and learn from the opportunity they have to play again on the same squad.
"We're definitely going to grow and get older, and it'll be hard to have to say goodbye when I graduate," Swan said. "I think we're going to expand from this experience, and it will be good."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at cjoneil6@asu.edu and follow @cjojournalism on X.
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Char is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also reported for AZPreps365, Blaze Radio and Phoenix College Basketball.
