Bernhard Muller barely had a chance to stretch his legs after an all-night flight from Beijing two years ago when he climbed into a car bound for Houston.

His eyelids felt heavy and his body exhausted as he made the four-hour trip for one of those rare moments in his life that he will never forget.

Muller got to see his daughter Katya play softball.

Katya Muller

The occasion is one several parents of North Texas players enjoy on a weekly basis. For Muller, an executive chef at the Peninsula Hotel in Beijing, it’s a special occasion, one he will enjoy for the final time sometime this week during the Sun Belt Conference tournament in Troy, Ala.

UNT (25-31) enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed and will face Troy (32-21) in an opening-round game at 3 p.m. today.

Muller flew to Texas a few weeks ago to see a few games at the end of the season, walk his daughter onto the field on Senior Day and attend the team’s annual banquet.

“To see her play has been special,” Muller said. “What sets her apart is not the way she plays, it’s the way she treats other players. Everyone likes not just the way she plays, but what kind of person she is. That’s what I appreciate.”

The combination of Katya Muller’s record-setting performance on the field and the leadership she provides has established her as one of the best players in the five-year history of UNT’s program.

Katya has started at shortstop all four years of her career, holds UNT’s career record for hits with 218, and ranks second in RBIs (88) and home runs (24).

Even though Bernhard is halfway across the world most of the year, he can recite every statistic and recall all of his daughter’s biggest games.

“It’s really nice to have him here to see me play,” Katya said. “Even when he is not here, he is up to date with my career. He is always on meangreensports.com to see how we did and is texting me at odd hours to stay involved.”

Bernhard has followed the Mean Green ever since the family decided to split up just before Katya began her career at UNT. Katya committed to play for the Mean Green during her senior season at Southlake Carroll, when her father was offered an opportunity to advance his career.

Bernhard was working the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas when a colleague approached him about becoming the executive chef at the Peninsula Hotel, where he oversees a staff of 85. The job was too good to pass up, but Bernhard had to leave his wife and two children behind.

“It was hard to leave my family and go across the globe,” Bernhard said. “I try to come back for the important times.”

The last few weeks have been one of those special occasions.

Bernard cooked dinner for UNT’s team banquet after his wife suggested he put the skills that have helped him find work at restaurants and resorts in Switzerland, London, Canada and New York City to work for the Mean Green.

“We had barbecue; he didn’t make anything fancy,” Katya said. “It was fun. I was proud of him. The girls got to see what he does. He wanted to contribute to the team.”

Even though he has been living in China the last four years, Bernhard left a mark on his daughter’s life all the way back to when he gave her a name that stands out in the U.S. Katya is a common name is Russia, but is almost unheard of in Texas.

“Katya’s name was my idea,” Bernhard said. “At first she wasn’t happy about it because no one could pronounce it, but after a while people started to remember her because of it.”

Katya displayed a knack for sports that was almost as unusual as her name growing up. At the age of 10, she was the only girl who made the all-star team in her coach-pitch baseball league in Southlake.

Bernhard struck up a friendship with golf legend Byron Nelson while he was working at the Four Seasons and introduced Katya to golf. Katya improved to the point she could have pursued the game in college, but decided to stick to softball because she enjoyed the team aspect of the game.

Once she decided on playing softball, Muller picked UNT over Texas, which also invited her on a recruiting trip.

The decision paid off for Muller, who has carved out a lasting legacy at UNT, where she became the starting shortstop as a freshman. UNT head coach T.J. Hubbard estimated that Muller has started all but four or five games in her career.

Muller was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference first team for a second straight season on Tuesday.

“Katya is rock steady and is always at the top of the conference statistically,” Hubbard said. “I would rank her right up there with Susan Waters and Stephanie Cranmer as the best three players in the history of the program.”

Hubbard and Muller’s teammates describe her as a focused player who always seems to come through in the clutch.

“We look to her to get something started or finish it up. She has been a leader for us since Day 1,” fellow senior Kristina Fowler said of Muller, who she described as a laid-back and funny person off the field.

The conference tournament will be a highlight of Muller’s experiences in softball that will continue this summer during the Beijing Olympics. Bernhard used his connections in the city to land Katya a job as a liaison for a broadcasting company during the Olympic tournament.

Before Katya heads to China, she will have an opportunity to wrap up her career on a high note in the Sun Belt tournament. If the way Katya played when her father traveled to see her play in Houston is any indication, having Bernhard in the stands bodes well for the Mean Green.

“We made it to the first game of the doubleheader and she hit two home runs,” Bernhard said. “One was a grand slam and she had five hits. I will always cherish that. The rest of the parents told me I should come back more often.”

Muller, Cantler named first-team All-Sun Belt

Muller and freshman first baseman Mallory Cantler were first-team selections on the All-Sun Belt Conference softball team that was released by the league office on Tuesday.

Muller is hitting .300, while Cantler leads the team with a .384 average.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .