'I know him better than anyone else': Brothers Braden, Easton Carmichael living out dream as pitcher-catcher duo

Over parts of three decades and what he approximates as over 1,500 games, Darby Carmichael has embodied many roles on the baseball field.

Except this season, he’s experiencing something new.

Darby, who played for the Sooners from 1992-93 has had the privilege of watching both of his sons play on the same team, a feat that never seemed possible as Braden, 22, and Easton, 19, are four years and five grade levels apart.

Braden, a crafty left-handed pitcher, is OU’s midweek pitcher, and usually, once a week, he gets to pitch to Easton, the Sooners’ starting catcher who is third on the team with a .325 batting average. The duo first emerged as a battery against Abilene Christian University on Feb. 22, and since then, have appeared together in seven games.

Two punch outs in the first for Carmichael.🎥 » https://t.co/D6CO233I5P#COMPETE | #CHAOUS pic.twitter.com/ukteS6kh2M

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) February 23, 2023

“When the boys were little, I didn’t set out to build University of Oklahoma athletes or anything like that,” Darby said with a smile.

For Braden and Easton, playing baseball at Oklahoma was a lifelong dream set in motion, but sharing it not only with their father, but also with each other, was something neither ever imagined.

So, when Braden was presented with the choice to stay or go after his senior season, it was simple.

“I came here and was given an extra year because of COVID,” Braden said. “It was pretty easy to not leave and play with Easton. It was the perfect storm.”

The once-in-a-lifetime circumstance allowed them to find common ground in their first and final seasons. For Braden, a redshirt senior, this represents the end of his career at OU, but for Easton, a freshman, it marks the beginning.

The brothers, however, have found it easy to meet in the middle.

“I mean, I’ll end up telling my kids about it one day,” Easton said. “I get to share those moments with Braden. It’s just like after the first game of the season, we just went up to my dad, and to see his face, it has been pretty surreal and pretty special to share this with them.”

After watching the games, Darby goes home to his office and glances at a picture hanging on the wall. The snapshot frames his two sons talking on the mound and wearing the same crimson and cream jersey he did 30 years ago as a player.

“That was the first time I had actually seen them like that together,” Darby said. “That day was pretty special to see them both in uniform and everything.”

Good luck this Spring to these two dudes! @OU_Baseball pretty cool pic here. @dcarmichael_11 @3aston_11 @b_car4 @carmi pic.twitter.com/InxEqlnPvj

— Prosper HS Baseball (@ThePHSBaseball) January 22, 2023

These moments have been 20 years in the making, but for at least 54 games this season, Darby and his sons will embrace the significance of this rare opportunity.

“It is just a really great feeling,” Braden said. “Obviously, for all three of us to play at OU, it is just unbelievable. We have dreamt of it so much, and for it to actually fall into place is just so cool.”

‘I couldn’t pass it up’

Four years separate Braden and Easton in age but the two committed to OU one month apart.

Although both ended up at the same destination, it was Braden who committed a little over a month after his younger brother and inevitably forged his own path.

Despite being recruited by Texas Tech and Houston, he was encouraged by his current coach Skip Johnson, to go to junior college and develop his skills.

“I would come to a lot of camps with (Skip),” said Braden, a Prosper, Texas, native. “He kind of gave me that advice to go junior college. He knew some coaches to look into, and so I fell into Grayson College.”

The left-hander stayed at Grayson for two years, and as a freshman, he was named a 2019 NJCAA Second Team All-American. In his 14 appearances, he went 10-1 and posted an earned run average of 2.59.

Braden experienced the initial exposure to college baseball that Johnson knew he needed. His time at the JUCO level allowed him to play enough games to mold him into a pitcher that was capable of competing for a Division I program.

“He got more innings,” Johnson said. “He got more seasoned because he got to go in and pitch right away, and I think that is a big deal for a lot of kids. I think him getting to play a fall and spring schedule was important, and he was really good at junior college.”

After a successful junior college debut, Braden experienced a shortened sophomore season due to COVID. Luckily, a new chance arose.

Although he only played five games during his second year at Grayson, he was prepared for the opportunity that he had been waiting for since childhood.

This time, instead of pushing him towards another program, Johnson encouraged Braden to come join his own.

“I mean, it was perfect for me, and I was there for a couple of years, but then COVID hit,” Braden said of his time at Grayson. “Luckily, I was given the opportunity to come here. I mean, I couldn’t pass it up. It wasn’t a hard decision.”

His choice to come to OU changed his life, and the decision reflected the hopes he harnessed throughout his childhood and the aspiration he shared with Easton.

The next two years were filled with moments of great success for Braden. He went on to lead the Sooners in wins (6) and ERA (5.03) during 2021. In 2022, he struggled but still played a role in the bullpen, contributing to Oklahoma’s national championship appearance.

This season, Braden has gradually improved and has used his midweek appearances to get into a groove and establish an ERA of 3.00 which sits third among the pitching staff.

“His first year here, he was really good, but last year was a little different year for him,” Johnson said. “He’s kind of getting back to what he was two years ago, and it has been fun to watch. He pitches with his heart, and when you get him in that mode, he’s really tough. “

Even though it was Easton who verbally chose OU first at 15 years old, for the brothers, it was Braden that demonstrated what it meant to be a competitor, a division one athlete and a Sooner.

“I give him crap all the time about how I committed before him,” Easton said. “But now, he has been here for two years. So, seeing him put on the jersey before me and then have some success in it, it’s like I want to do that too.

“It’s somewhat given me an extra motivator to be the best that I can be.”

‘Everything falls together like it’s supposed to’

Within the context of baseball, brotherhood has taken on a new definition for the Carmichaels.

This season, Braden and Easton’s relationship is different from how they’ve grown up. On a campus of over 28,000 students, Braden is not only a familiar face in the masses, but he is also a teammate and mentor.

“When he got to campus, I still wanted to treat him like a brother and fight with him,” Braden said. “Then I realized, I’m one of the older guys on the team. I’m one of the leaders, so I can’t do that.”

The Carmichaels reside in Prosper, Texas, and have deep ties to Oklahoma, which originated 30 years ago after both parents went to OU, and although the brothers spent many weekends in Norman, familiarity only goes so far.

“The nuances of Norman are no big deal, but it is just the nuances of college,” Darby said.

Despite a difficult transition in the fall, Easton has acclimated well, and in his debut season with the Sooners, he has found immense success. From day one of the season, he has been OU’s primary catcher and one of the team’s most reliable sources of offense, he has hit four home runs, collected a team-high 34 RBIs and notched 21 runs.

He has adapted to a new life and a new level of baseball; however, there are still aspects of being a player and a person that a veteran like Braden can teach him.

It is the small parts of being a student-athlete, like not forgetting to bring the laundry bag on road trips or putting his cleats in sacks so his bag doesn’t smell, which reminds Braden of the four years of experience he holds over his sibling.

“We told Easton the first semester, every day here is new to you, but every day to Braden is not, so use that,” Darby said. “I think Braden really started to understand that his role with him was changing.”

His leadership expands beyond his relationship with his younger brother. As a rare returner to a team that lost 11 to the MLB draft, Braden has been able to provide an experienced point of view to a young OU team.

After the Sooners’ three weekend starters were drafted last year, the fifth-year pitcher is one of the few that pitched during OU’s deep run in the postseason in 2022. Johnson has seen how his veteran status has influenced the fresh faces.

“That’s the kind of leadership he has,” Johnson said. “He got the pitching staff together and talked to them, and our pitching staff is a whole new regime, and Braden bringing those guys together has been really fun to watch.”

Now, in his fifth and final season playing college baseball, the oldest Carmichael brother has realized how lucky he is to be in this position and be able to share some advice with his up-and-coming sibling.

“What I wish I could tell him, and what I wish I knew coming into college is just play the game,” Braden said. “It’s such a hard game. You fail, which is part of it. Just like take a step back and remember that this game is hard. Remember you’re blessed to even be in this spot anyways. Everything falls together like it's supposed to.”

‘They’ve become great Sooners’

Being a part of OU’s baseball team was a dream for Braden and Easton.

But making history was something they never expected.

They grew up hearing stories of Darby’s time as a catcher on the 1992 and 1993 teams at OU and his time winning the World Series as an assistant coach in the weight room in 1994, but last season, Darby shared a special moment with Braden when he experienced Omaha for himself.

“I remember winning the last game at Virginia Tech,” Braden said. “There was just a different kind of look in his eyes, and it was just a really cool feeling.”

Darby had the same look in his eyes when his sons etched both of their names in the record book this season. After years of trying to catch up to one another, Braden and Easton finally arrived in the same place.

The Carmichaels’ family, friends and former coaches would make the 45-minute drive from their hometown in Prosper, Texas, to Globe Life Park in Arlington. Little did they know Braden and Easton would become Oklahoma’s first-ever brother battery when they took the field on Feb. 22 against Abilene Christian University.

Easton was more nervous for his first game playing with his brother than he was during his collegiate debut, but all the summers spent catching his older brother's bullpens reminded him that being siblings are each other's greatest weapon.

“I know him better than anyone else on the team, and that will show sometimes during games,” Easton said. “So, obviously, knowing him very well makes everything easier when I catch him, because I know how he works, and he knows how I work.”

The brothers are not the only ones that notice the connection. Johnson sees their relationship on the field and notes the rarity of the situation.

“Well, it’s always special when you can see two siblings,” Johnson said. “It’s been pretty fun to watch because they can read each other’s minds.”

The game at Globe Life Field was special, but for the brothers, it was another moment sharing the same dream.

“It hadn’t really hit me in a sense of just what exactly we’re doing,” Braden said. “It just kind of feels normal to me, but, you know, I’ll take a step back and kind of be like, alright this has been a really cool experience.”

For Darby, seeing both his sons play for his alma mater is more than enough, and as the siblings play together for the first and possibly last time this season, he is reminded of the exceptional baseball players and brothers they have become.

“Norman is a special place to our family, and for them to get to do it this way is special,” Darby said. “Whatever happens after this, they’ve overachieved, they’ve become great Sooners, great student-athletes, and great people.

“We wanted to get them to that platform, so they could jump off of it, and do whatever they wanted to do.”

This story was edited by Austin Curtright and Colton Sulley.