Why this season is 'a blessing' for OU baseball's Braden and Easton Carmichael

NORMAN — Braden and Easton Carmichael are used to competing against each other.

That’s the way it was growing up for the two brothers, who each wanted to prove they were better at baseball than the other.

Braden was the pitcher, but he swore he could hit better than Easton.

Easton was the catcher, but he swore he could pitch better than Braden.

“We fought a lot,” said Braden, who is the older brother. “We were competitors. … We just always wanted to pick fights with each other. I don’t know why.”

But for the first time, Braden and Easton have had to compete with each other rather than against each other this season.

The two brothers now play together on the OU baseball team, which begins Big 12 play with a three-game home series against TCU that starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

This season has been a unique opportunity for Braden and Easton, who always had a five-year academic gap despite only having a four-year age gap. But Braden used his COVID year of eligibility to return for Easton’s freshman season, and the duo has now learned how to work together.

“To see him more now as a teammate than a brother is pretty cool," Easton said. "Getting into arguments and what not is part of having a brother.

"But now, it's more he's your teammate and your friend. You've got to root for him a little more and pick him up. It's special, for sure."

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How Braden ended up at OU

Braden took the long way to get to OU.

Born on May 23, 2000, Braden was always the youngest person in his grade level. His parents thought about making him take the fifth grade a second time when the family moved from Bixby to Prosper, Texas, but that plan never materialized.

This left Braden at a disadvantage on the diamond. He wasn’t as big or as strong as his opponents, which is partially why he didn’t have many offers by the time he graduated.

Braden ultimately took the junior college route and committed to Grayson County College in Denison, Texas. It was only about 40 miles away from his home in Prosper, but it was still a different world.

“Junior college will either make you fall in love or fall out of love with baseball,” Braden's father, Darby, said.

That question got answered in Braden’s first ever start.

Grayson traveled to Houston to face San Jacinto College-North on Feb. 8, 2019. It was a cold, windy day, and Braden had spent the previous night sharing a single hotel room with three of his teammates.

San Jacinto started Jackson Rutledge, a right-handed pitcher who went on to get selected by the Washington Nationals with the 17th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. Rutledge was a star in the making, and he showed that by throwing an opening pitch that clocked in at about 94 miles per hour.

It was a step up in competition for Braden, but he didn’t shy away from the challenge.

The then-freshman pitcher threw six innings, and the score was tied 2-2 when he stepped off the mound. He finished with nine strikeouts.

San Jacinto ultimately earned a 6-2 win, but Braden held his own. And as his team made the five-hour drive back to Grayson, he got a call from his dad.

“Did you love it?” Darby asked his son.

“I did,” Braden replied.

That’s when Darby knew Braden had a chance to make it in the sport, and that intuition was proven right.

Braden ultimately posted a 10-1 record with a 2.59 ERA that season, which earned him a NJCAA Second Team All-American selection.

“It was perfect for me,” Braden said of his time at Grayson. “You basically have to figure it out (in junior college). You’ve got to work hard and perfect your craft. … I don’t regret a thing. I’ll still promote a junior college route for any sort of high school player now.”

Braden began to gain interest from numerous Division I programs heading into his second season with Grayson, but none of them stood out more to him than OU.

One unofficial visit to Norman in November 2019 was all it took. Braden committed to OU the next day.

“Growing up, we went to a lot of football and baseball games in Norman,” Braden said. “I’d always kind of wanted to wear the OU (jersey). … It was a pretty easy decision.“

It was a dream come true for Braden, although he actually wasn’t the first of the Carmichael brothers to commit to OU.

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How Easton ended up at OU

Despite being just under four years younger than Braden, Easton committed to OU before his brother.

Size wasn’t an issue growing up for Easton, who grew up playing first base. But he made the move to catcher when he was about 12 years old, and he had a good mentor.

Easton learned a lot from Darby, who played catcher for the Sooners from 1992-93. He was a part of the 1992 OU team that made the College World Series.

Darby went on to become an assistant coach at Ole Miss from 1996-2000, but he ultimately left the sport to get into marketing and sales. And while his days on the diamond were over, he passed his baseball knowledge down to Easton.

“He would just talk me through how games went and how I could get better,” Easton said of his father. “I tell people this all the time. I ended up learning how to play the game before talent came. I had to learn the ins and outs.”

But that talent came soon afterwards.

Easton hit his stride at the age of 15 in 2019. After playing well in various tournaments, the young catcher landed on the radar of numerous programs.

The first team that took an interest in Easton was TCU, and it didn’t take long for others to follow suit.

“We were like, ‘Dude, you’re 15 years old,’” Darby said. “It happened really fast.”

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Easton received interest from OU, which invited him to attend a camp that summer.

And after playing well there, Easton received an offer from the Sooners.

“It was kind of surreal,” Easton said. “Obviously I grew up Sooner born and Sooner bred. Whenever it became an opportunity for me, it didn’t me long.”

It took less than 24 hours, to be exact.

Easton committed to OU in August 2019, just over a month before Braden. It was a point for Easton in the ongoing competition with his older brother.

“I still kind of mess with him a little bit that I committed before him,” Easton said with a chuckle.

But Easton couldn’t celebrate too early.

The incoming sophomore at Prosper High School still had three more years until he could suit up for OU, and he couldn’t afford to lose focus.

“You’re in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship (with OU) now,” Darby remembers telling Easton. “If you want that to continue, you’re going to have to do your part.”

That wasn’t a problem for Easton.

After getting his sophomore season shortened due to COVID-19, Easton batted .358 as a junior and racked up 31 RBIs. The strong showing helped him earn a spot on the Texas High School all-state first team.

Easton then batted .375 as a senior and tallied 23 RBIs, which earned him Texas High School Elite All-State Catcher honors.

Easton joined Braden in Norman this past offseason, and the brother duo made history during OU's fifth game of the season.

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Teaming up at OU

OU played Abilene Christian at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 22.

Braden got the start on the mound, and Easton got the start behind the plate. They became the first brothers to form a pitcher-catcher duo in OU program history.

It was a dream scenario for Braden and Easton, whose family made the one-hour drive from Prosper to watch the game.

“I was more nervous for that game than opening day,” Easton said. “I was like, I can’t let a ball go between my legs. He might not show it in game, but I’ll get an earful after the game. But it was a pretty special moment.”

Braden took to the mound in the bottom of the first inning.

After forcing a fly-out against the first batter he faced, the redshirt junior pitcher got Abilene Christian’s Grayson Tatrow to an 0-2 count.

Braden zipped a ball toward the plate and watched as it it found the strike zone.

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Easton didn’t let it get past him. The ball fell snuggly into the freshman’s glove for a strikeout as the Carmichael family erupted from the stands.

Abilene Christian ultimately earned a 4-3 win that day, but it was still a moment the Carmichaels cherished.

“We had a lot of friends who came in town for it,” Darby said. “It was remarkable.”

OU boasts an 11-6 record as it prepares for the start of conference play.

The reigning Big 12 Tournament champs and College World Series runner-ups are hoping to make another strong run, and Braden and Easton will play a large role in it.

But regardless of how the rest of this season plays out for the Sooners, it’s one the Carmichael brothers are grateful for.

“It’s really cool,” Braden said. “It’s been a blessing. … I’m just trying to soak it all up.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU baseball: How Braden, Easton Carmichael reunited with Sooners