Sixteen years after the University of Washington founded it's women's softball program in 1993, the lady Huskies have brought the national title home.
The team has been a powerhouse since it's inception, reaching title games almost immediately in 1996 and 1999. All the while playing in clearly the most dominant division in the sport, the Pac-10. In fact, since the Women's College World Series has begun play in 1982, a Pac-10 team has won 22 of those 28 tournaments.
This year the girls entered the tournament strong and determined. 2009 marked their sixteenth consecutive trip to the games and they were coming off their first Pac-10 division title in nine years. They were a three seed looking to avenge themselves after falling one short in 2007 with a big 8-1 loss to Arizona, the eventual national champs.
The Huskies were armed with a dynamic cast this year but the nucleus undoubtedly surrounded obvious stand-out Danielle Lawrie. Lawrie, a domineering presence on the mound for the Huskies all year, finished the season as the Pac-10 Player of the Year, the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year, and the Women's College World Series Tournament MVP. The grit and determination she displayed during the regular season carried over into the post-season and played a major role in bringing the girls home.
The battle to the championship was a grueling three week roadtrip. Resulting both from ESPN's desire to broadcast evening games, and the NCAA's decision to support this. This meant foregoing any home games in Seattle as the Huskies home field has never been equipped with adequate outdoor lighting. Luckily, as a result of a flood of donations by contributors already, this off-season will see a $400,000 renovation to the field outfitting it with proper lighting and ensuring future home games during the tournament.
Nevertheless, after tests like their 5 hour 15 inning battle with UMass in the NCAA regionals (longest game in Husky softball history), the girls touched down, in of all places, Oklahoma City to go for their first national title in 9 previous appearances.
It was a best of three series (initiated by the NCAA in 2005), pitting the tournament's lowest scoring team, UW, against the team with the lowest ERA'd pitcher, Florida. Not only were the Florida Gators the top seeded team in the tournament, they were ranked top team in the nation by ESPN, USA Today, and the NCAA Women's Softball RPI. They had finished the season with more wins than any other team in the NCAA, losing only twice at home in thirty-six games and not losing a single game on the road all year. This coupled with a 29 game win streak, the Gators were hitting the series with a full head of steam. Unbeknownst to them, however, the Huskies were eager to put out the fire.
The opening game of the series resulted in an absolute trouncing of the Gators 8-0 by the Huskies. It even resulted in an awkward moment at the bottom of the sixth in which the teams began lining up to exchange hand-shakes in light of the "mercy rule" (game play ends if at any time after 5 innings a team is ahead by 8 runs or more). Even the umpires had left. The groundscrew on hand were busy at work breaking down the field when players, fans, and the like, had to be reminded that the "mercy rule" was not in effect during championship series play.
The second game opened strong for the Gators with two quick runs in the top of the first. The Huskies then fired back with two runs of their own to close out the inning tied at 2-2. The rest of the game played out just as much of the first did. Strong pitching in key situations from Lawrie and tenacious defense by the Huskies. And a slew of unforced errors by the Gators and an uninspired performance from the mound by the usually staunch and stingy Stacy Nelson. In the end the game finished as it should, with Lawrie striking out two of Florida's strongest plate performers in the tournament, Megan Bush and Ali Gardiner, and closing out a 3-2 victory.
The Huskies returned home to a champion's welcome on Wednesday afternoon and they will be honored tomorrow, Friday June 5th, at the Mariner's and Twin's baseball game at Safeco Field. Lawrie is set to throw out the first pitch. The formal reception for the team and fans will be held Sunday, June 7th, at 5pm at the Don James Center at Husky Stadium. Be sure to get out there. Show some love to a team bringing championship tradition home to Seattle.
UW Husky Softball... Mad PROPS.
PROPS Seattle Times
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