Leaving Her Options Open : Teams Are Lining Up in Pursuit of Softball Phenom Bustos

Decisions, decisions.

What’s a talented female athlete to do these days? Play for money, or play for an education?

Five years ago, softball phenom Crystl Bustos wouldn’t have been in this quandary. Her future in the sport was, well, crystal clear.

But because she is one of the nation’s best players, and because there are more athletic opportunities for women than ever before, Bustos has a difficult decision for a 19-year-old.

At stake is money, amateur status and possibly an expenses-paid trip to Sydney, Australia for the 2000 Olympics.

“I’ve got so many options,” said Bustos, who after graduating from Canyon High in 1995 played junior college softball because she failed to meet NCAA academic requirements. “But right now I’m just trying to get through what I’m doing here.”

Academically ineligible for half of her senior season at Canyon, Bustos signed a letter of intent with Palm Beach Community College in Lake Worth, Fla.

Last year, she batted .614 with 110 runs, 102 runs batted in and 23 home runs for the Panthers, who won the national title.

Little has changed. Palm Beach (36-2), which forfeited two games because of an ineligible player, seems poised to repeat as national champion.

Bustos, the 1996 national junior college player of the year, is batting .661 with 87 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. Yet she complains of a recent slump.

“I’ve always got stuff to fix,” she said.

Bustos is a coach’s dream: a team player with superior athletic ability. She possesses speed on the basepaths, power at the plate and defensive range. Ever see a softball player steal home? Bustos has done it three times this season.

“I’ve always told people that I think she’s one of the top five players in the world,” said Palm Beach Coach JoAnn Ferrieri, who played at Cal State Fullerton from 1983-86. “There’s nobody who compares to her athletically.”

That’s why Bustos has a choice to make. She’s so good, everyone wants her--now.

Bustos, who got her start in T-ball at 5 before playing Canyon Country Little League baseball, is being heavily recruited to play baseball for the Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-female team which competes against men’s semi-professional and college-level teams.

“I would like to do the Silver Bullet thing, but I heard rumors that they weren’t supposed to be around too much longer,” Bustos said.

Bruce Crabbe, a scout for the Silver Bullets, dismisses Bustos’ fears.

“As strong as women’s sports are now, it’s silly to think they’re not going to be around,” Crabbe said. “There’s no sense in it not being around a few more years, minimum.”

Although Bustos would have to try out for the Bullets, Crabbe said she has the tools to play baseball.

“She’s strong, runs extremely well, swings the bat very well and has a great arm,” he said. “The fact that she is better than most of her peers makes her a good candidate.”

The thought of playing professional baseball with the Silver Bullets, who are entering their fourth season, has captured most of Bustos’ attention.

“I love softball, but baseball’s always had that extra challenge for me,” said Bustos, who in her youth advanced to the finals of the Triple Threat (run, hit, throw) baseball competition at Dodger Stadium. “It’s just totally different.”

Like many of her male counterparts, Bustos finds it tough to say, ‘No, thanks,’ to money she is unaccustomed to having. Bustos, like all first-year players, would earn $20,000 for a three-month season with the Silver Bullets, Crabbe said.

Not a lot of money, but enough to make her think long and hard.

“When I was [her age], I thought it was a lot of money, too,” Ferrieri said.

Bustos also is being courted by the Women’s Professional Fastpitch League, which begins its inaugural three-month season with a six-team, 72-game schedule May 30. A WPF gig would probably draw a top salary of about $3,500 a month for Bustos.

A women’s professional team from the Netherlands also has inquired about Bustos.

If she chooses a professional contract, she can bid farewell to college competition and the Olympics because her amateur status would expire.

Because Bustos had her phone disconnected, college coaches hound Diana Bustos, Crystl’s mother, weekly.

“They even know my work number,” Diana Bustos said.

Bustos has been invited to the national Team USA tryouts in Oklahoma City, where from May 30-June 1 hundreds of players will be pared down to a pool of 64 Olympic hopefuls.

While most softball players dream of playing in the Olympics, Bustos is undecided if she will try out, believing that the process is political and talent alone should dictate selection.

That kind of thinking has kept Bustos from becoming softball’s darling. Ferrieri compares her to Dennis Rodman.

“But when you’re that good, you can say those things,” Ferrieri said.

Softball purists, like Ferrieri, would like to see Bustos stay on the academic path.

“She really knows the game inside and out,” Ferrieri said. “I’d like to see her [play in college] and get her degree.

“In the long run, I’d like to see her coach [softball]. She’ll be a great coach. But if she goes to the Silver Bullets, she will cut her [softball] ties.”

Cal State Northridge softball Coach Janet Sherman also hopes Bustos chooses college, and for good reason: the Matadors would be one of the front-runners to sign her.

Jamie Moore, Bustos’ former Palm Beach teammate and an Alemany High graduate, will join the Matadors in the fall. Moore caught last season for Palm Beach, but opted to return home and work on her Associate of Arts degree at College of the Canyons. Moore has three years of college eligibility.

Bustos, who has two years of eligibility, hasn’t ruled out the possibility of playing for Northridge. But she will be several units short of an AA degree after the spring semester and would have to earn her degree by December or January in order to be eligible for the 1998 season.

“I would like to go home and play in front of my parents, but I want to do what’s right for me,” Bustos said.

Diana Bustos would love for her daughter to come home and play, but most importantly she wants her to finish her education. She has even tried to bribe Crystl by allowing her to bring home her dog Hennessey--a pit bull, Rottweiler mix--even though the family already has two dogs.

“We’ll back her up whatever she decides,” said Diana Bustos, who speaks to Crystl at least twice a week. “We’re just really proud of her. She’s come a long way in her academics.”

College classes haven’t been easy for Bustos, who had to take two courses at Canyons last summer in order to maintain a minimum grade-point average for competition.

Ferrieri said poor study habits keep Bustos from being a B student.

“It’s been a big accomplishment for me just to get her through school,” she said.

Bustos acknowledges her academic shortcomings, but said it’s getting easier.

“I wasn’t ready for a Division I school [after high school],” she said. “Even if I was able to go, I wasn’t ready.”

Ferrieri suggests that Bustos has avoided immediately choosing to stay in college over the money of a professional contract because she fears failure in the classroom.

“Somebody like her is not used to failing,” Ferrieri said.

Making keen decisions as a shortstop is part of what makes Bustos so valuable as a player. But deciding on her future has presented her with a playable ground ball she isn’t sure how to field.