Friday Feature: Bandits Champions Are Now #B1GCats Family
10/9/2015 11:12:00 AM | Softball
By Doug Meffley
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Just weeks removed from winning the Cowles Cup as champions of National Professional Fastpitch, Chicago Bandits Michelle Gascoigne and Megan Blank stood on Ryan Field during a timeout in the action, receiving personalized purple football jerseys from Chicago's Big Ten Team to commemorate the title.
The electric night-game crowd cheered NU's two newest assistant coaches along with general manager Aaron Moore, head coach Mike Steuerwald and 2014 NU double graduate Emily Allard before building to a roar for 2009 graduate and NU Hall of Fame member Tammy Williams, who held the Cup.
For Gascoigne and Blank, it was a moment that illustrated something Allard and Williams have exhorted in the Bandits clubhouse for years: what it means to wear Purple.
"We talk about how amazing it is all the time, and make sure that all of the Bandits know this," Williams said with a laugh.
"Even with teammates from so many different schools, it's so crazy because we are still always talking about Northwestern," Allard added, also with a chuckle. "We know what Northwestern is and what it stands for, and when you are around people who haven't worn Purple they begin to see it, too. As much as they don't want to admit it.
"Then when Northwestern football recognized us two weeks ago, our teammates said 'ok, that was cool.'"
The ties between the best of Chicago softball run deep. Since 2009 when Eileen Canney and Williams joined the Bandits (winning league Pitcher and Rookie of the Year honors, respectively), at least one Northwestern graduate or coach has been on the roster. That list featured Nicole Pauly, Adrienne Monka, Robin Thompson, Emily Allard and former volunteer assistant Jenna Grim before growing by two with the addition of Gascoigne and Blank to the 2016 NU coaching staff.
"With Tammy and Allard, they both play really big roles on our team so their voices are heard," Gascoigne said. "Playing in the NPF, you understand the culture of (the colleges) people come from by the way they play, the way they practice and the way they approach the game. You see how they carry themselves and how well they know the game. (Tammy and Allard) have shown Northwestern has a great culture from the way they work on and off the field."
Gascoigne specifically singled out Williams as the ringleader in the clubhouse, organizing birthday parties and generally making the team into a family.
"Northwestern was such a family atmosphere and over the years it has become something we have wanted to create with the Bandits, especially for the rookies," Williams said. "They arrive and they don't know anyone and they are in a new place, so celebrating the little things about them makes them welcome as part of the team."
"Knowing that culture made me want to be a part of it (at Northwestern)," said Gascoigne.
Something else that Blank noticed was how close the Bandits' Wildcats remain to their college mentors.
"One thing that stood out to me was the awesome relationship they still have with (coaches) Kate and Caryl (Drohan)," Blank said.
Both hail from California. Gascoigne pitched a three-hit shutout for Oklahoma in the 2013 NCAA title game. Blank won four All-Big Ten awards at Iowa. They then came to Chicago to play for the Bandits, with Gascoigne arriving in 2013 and Blank in 2015. In many respects, the Bandits are the model franchise in National Pro Fastpitch. Since relocating to the permanent softball-specific Ballpark at Rosemont in 2011, the Bandits' growing fan base has matched the perennial success on the field.
"What the Bandits have done a really awesome job with is taking players from Big Ten and local schools," Allard said. "The Bandits are comprised of blue collar players who were the glue of their college teams, and you put that together with some of the more nationally known players and it's fun to watch."
The experience of playing in front of more than 1,000 fans every game in the amazing city of Chicago alongside two of the most passionate Wildcats to ever put on Purple helped lead Gascoigne and Blank to extend their stay as coaches in the heart of Big Ten country -- literally. The new Big Ten headquarters with a massive B1G sign is directly across the Tri-State Tollway from the Bandits home ballpark.
"Big Ten fans are the best and the Bandits do a great job turning them into Bandit fans," Blank said. "It's weird being on the same team as your rivals for the last four years, but you look up into the stands and there were a handful of times I saw black and gold or my Senior Day shirt."
"Big Ten softball fans can continue to watch their favorite athletes," Gascoigne said. "I think the Bandits have built the franchise to be very entertaining. Chicago has a good mix of people from all over and there are college fans from everywhere that live in the area. Every time we get on the field, we get those fans."
This coming from an Academic All-America Oklahoma graduate who at one game this summer had a fan club in the stands with home-made shirts and big posters that rivaled Hunter Pence signs in cleverness.
In all, five Big Ten schools had alumni on the 2015 championship roster, with additional local products out of DePaul, UIC and Western Illinois.
Now Gascoigne and Blank seek to impart their experiences both as standout college players and as champion professionals to the current roster of Wildcats who themselves are part of a storied program. Since the Drohans took the reigns of Northwestern Softball in 2002, NU has won four NCAA Regionals, made two Women's College World Series runs, captured multiple Big Ten titles and appeared in the NCAA Tournament field 10 times.
"I have been really impressed and excited with how coachable they have been," Gascoigne said of her pitching staff. "They understand where they need to improve and they've been open to every suggestion and new idea I have for them. Pitchers can be stubborn -- and I say 'we' when I say that -- but they've been awesome in that area."
"Just in the last three weeks of games, there's been a huge improvement from week-to-week and from game-to-game," Blank said. "It's been fun to watch to the freshmen start to step up and be comfortable with the transition to Division I softball."
Allard and Williams both know their former team is in good hands with their current teammates.
"I've been a huge advocate of Michelle my whole life, we grew up together and played on the same travel ball team," Allard said. "She is one of those players who is fun to play behind, and bringing that mentality to the Northwestern pitching staff is huge and will help them the most moving forward."
"Michelle knows the game so well, but she also knows how to relate to people. That's really important in coaching," Williams said. "She is such a great match for Kate and Caryl's personalities and she knows how to win. So many things are going to make her great at Northwestern."
About Blank, Allard said: "She is a competitor who just puts her head down and goes to work. She came in as a shortstop on a team with Tammy Williams, so she took the bull by the horns and moved to first base. She nailed it and stuck in the lineup every day. It's going to be great to have that personality in the program, no matter how many hits she took away from me in college (and we talk about this all the time!)"
"Megan came in the first week and asked 'what do I need to do, what do I need to learn' and that is so cool from a rookie," Williams said. "She understood she was going to have to work her way in and ultimately, she was too good to keep off the field. She became the best first baseman I've ever thrown to in terms of hands. She's a huge reason we won the championship."
Before they take the field with the Bandits as defending NPF champions in 2016, Gascoigne and Blank have an NCAA title to chase, this time as coaches.
They do so wearing Purple.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Just weeks removed from winning the Cowles Cup as champions of National Professional Fastpitch, Chicago Bandits Michelle Gascoigne and Megan Blank stood on Ryan Field during a timeout in the action, receiving personalized purple football jerseys from Chicago's Big Ten Team to commemorate the title.
The electric night-game crowd cheered NU's two newest assistant coaches along with general manager Aaron Moore, head coach Mike Steuerwald and 2014 NU double graduate Emily Allard before building to a roar for 2009 graduate and NU Hall of Fame member Tammy Williams, who held the Cup.
For Gascoigne and Blank, it was a moment that illustrated something Allard and Williams have exhorted in the Bandits clubhouse for years: what it means to wear Purple.
"We talk about how amazing it is all the time, and make sure that all of the Bandits know this," Williams said with a laugh.
"Even with teammates from so many different schools, it's so crazy because we are still always talking about Northwestern," Allard added, also with a chuckle. "We know what Northwestern is and what it stands for, and when you are around people who haven't worn Purple they begin to see it, too. As much as they don't want to admit it.
"Then when Northwestern football recognized us two weeks ago, our teammates said 'ok, that was cool.'"
The ties between the best of Chicago softball run deep. Since 2009 when Eileen Canney and Williams joined the Bandits (winning league Pitcher and Rookie of the Year honors, respectively), at least one Northwestern graduate or coach has been on the roster. That list featured Nicole Pauly, Adrienne Monka, Robin Thompson, Emily Allard and former volunteer assistant Jenna Grim before growing by two with the addition of Gascoigne and Blank to the 2016 NU coaching staff.
"With Tammy and Allard, they both play really big roles on our team so their voices are heard," Gascoigne said. "Playing in the NPF, you understand the culture of (the colleges) people come from by the way they play, the way they practice and the way they approach the game. You see how they carry themselves and how well they know the game. (Tammy and Allard) have shown Northwestern has a great culture from the way they work on and off the field."
Gascoigne specifically singled out Williams as the ringleader in the clubhouse, organizing birthday parties and generally making the team into a family.
"Northwestern was such a family atmosphere and over the years it has become something we have wanted to create with the Bandits, especially for the rookies," Williams said. "They arrive and they don't know anyone and they are in a new place, so celebrating the little things about them makes them welcome as part of the team."
"Knowing that culture made me want to be a part of it (at Northwestern)," said Gascoigne.
Something else that Blank noticed was how close the Bandits' Wildcats remain to their college mentors.
"One thing that stood out to me was the awesome relationship they still have with (coaches) Kate and Caryl (Drohan)," Blank said.
Both hail from California. Gascoigne pitched a three-hit shutout for Oklahoma in the 2013 NCAA title game. Blank won four All-Big Ten awards at Iowa. They then came to Chicago to play for the Bandits, with Gascoigne arriving in 2013 and Blank in 2015. In many respects, the Bandits are the model franchise in National Pro Fastpitch. Since relocating to the permanent softball-specific Ballpark at Rosemont in 2011, the Bandits' growing fan base has matched the perennial success on the field.
"What the Bandits have done a really awesome job with is taking players from Big Ten and local schools," Allard said. "The Bandits are comprised of blue collar players who were the glue of their college teams, and you put that together with some of the more nationally known players and it's fun to watch."
The experience of playing in front of more than 1,000 fans every game in the amazing city of Chicago alongside two of the most passionate Wildcats to ever put on Purple helped lead Gascoigne and Blank to extend their stay as coaches in the heart of Big Ten country -- literally. The new Big Ten headquarters with a massive B1G sign is directly across the Tri-State Tollway from the Bandits home ballpark.
"Big Ten fans are the best and the Bandits do a great job turning them into Bandit fans," Blank said. "It's weird being on the same team as your rivals for the last four years, but you look up into the stands and there were a handful of times I saw black and gold or my Senior Day shirt."
"Big Ten softball fans can continue to watch their favorite athletes," Gascoigne said. "I think the Bandits have built the franchise to be very entertaining. Chicago has a good mix of people from all over and there are college fans from everywhere that live in the area. Every time we get on the field, we get those fans."
This coming from an Academic All-America Oklahoma graduate who at one game this summer had a fan club in the stands with home-made shirts and big posters that rivaled Hunter Pence signs in cleverness.
In all, five Big Ten schools had alumni on the 2015 championship roster, with additional local products out of DePaul, UIC and Western Illinois.
Now Gascoigne and Blank seek to impart their experiences both as standout college players and as champion professionals to the current roster of Wildcats who themselves are part of a storied program. Since the Drohans took the reigns of Northwestern Softball in 2002, NU has won four NCAA Regionals, made two Women's College World Series runs, captured multiple Big Ten titles and appeared in the NCAA Tournament field 10 times.
"I have been really impressed and excited with how coachable they have been," Gascoigne said of her pitching staff. "They understand where they need to improve and they've been open to every suggestion and new idea I have for them. Pitchers can be stubborn -- and I say 'we' when I say that -- but they've been awesome in that area."
"Just in the last three weeks of games, there's been a huge improvement from week-to-week and from game-to-game," Blank said. "It's been fun to watch to the freshmen start to step up and be comfortable with the transition to Division I softball."
Allard and Williams both know their former team is in good hands with their current teammates.
"I've been a huge advocate of Michelle my whole life, we grew up together and played on the same travel ball team," Allard said. "She is one of those players who is fun to play behind, and bringing that mentality to the Northwestern pitching staff is huge and will help them the most moving forward."
"Michelle knows the game so well, but she also knows how to relate to people. That's really important in coaching," Williams said. "She is such a great match for Kate and Caryl's personalities and she knows how to win. So many things are going to make her great at Northwestern."
About Blank, Allard said: "She is a competitor who just puts her head down and goes to work. She came in as a shortstop on a team with Tammy Williams, so she took the bull by the horns and moved to first base. She nailed it and stuck in the lineup every day. It's going to be great to have that personality in the program, no matter how many hits she took away from me in college (and we talk about this all the time!)"
"Megan came in the first week and asked 'what do I need to do, what do I need to learn' and that is so cool from a rookie," Williams said. "She understood she was going to have to work her way in and ultimately, she was too good to keep off the field. She became the best first baseman I've ever thrown to in terms of hands. She's a huge reason we won the championship."
Before they take the field with the Bandits as defending NPF champions in 2016, Gascoigne and Blank have an NCAA title to chase, this time as coaches.
They do so wearing Purple.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To interact directly with the #B1GCats, visit our Social Media page!
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ SoftballSoftball - Lauren Boyd Tosses Complete Game Shutout, 'Cats Blank Kentucky in NCAA Regional (5/16/25)
Friday, May 16
Softball - 'Cats Storm Back, Secure Series Victory at No. 8 UCLA (5/4/25)
Sunday, May 04
Softball - 'Cats Earn 8-0 Run-Rule Win at No. 8 UCLA (5/2/25)
Saturday, May 03
Softball - Kaylie Avvisato Hits Walk-Off Home Run, 'Cats Take Series vs. Wisconsin (4/27/25)
Sunday, April 27
