Northwestern University Athletics
Season Recap: The Big Ten Title and Beyond
6/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 15, 2006
Northwestern's Final 2006 Softball Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Where to begin the story of 2006?
We could start the story at the beginning itself, where senior Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake) hit a home run off All-American Brianne McGowan in her first at-bat of the year for a 1-0 Northwestern win over then-No. 15 Oregon State, back where it seemed only those within the program knew what the 2006 Wildcats were capable of.
We could start with the March 26, 3-2 win over No. 1 UCLA at Easton Stadium that gave Northwestern its first win over a No. 1-ranked opponent under head coach Kate Drohan, and started rumblings that these Wildcats were pretty good.
We could start with the first win at Michigan in the Drohan era, a 2-1 victory on April 30 in the first game of a doubleheader that all but sealed Northwestern's fifth Big Ten title and the first in 20 years. Taking the conference over the defending national champions shot the Wildcats to their highest-ever national ranking and helped to earn a program-best No. 4 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament. The committee had taken notice.
We could start with Northwestern's first-ever home NCAA Regional under the 64-team format, where the Wildcats thundered through the field with a 3-0 record, outscoring their opponents 20-4. What followed was a dramatic Super Regional against Massachusetts -- the very team NU defeated in a best two-of-three series in 1986 when it made its last trip to the Women's College World Series. Down to their final five outs in the second game, the Wildcats rallied to outlast the Minutewomen and qualify for their fourth WCWS berth. Serenading the team with chants of "Oklahoma, Oklahoma" at the end of the third game, a large contingent of family and fans followed NU to the Series.
Or we could start at the end, where Northwestern captured the imagination and heart of a softball nation with its resilient and jubilant journey to the championship series in Oklahoma City, inspiring fans across America to "Start Wearing Purple."
Yeah, let's start there.
The Wildcats arrived in Oklahoma City after a 20-year absence from the World Series, and immediately played one of the most classic games of the tournament. In their opening contest against No. 5 seed Alabama, the 'Cats got a three-run home run from junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic), but trailed by one, 5-4, heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Down to NU's final strike in the game, freshman Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) launched a dramatic, game-tying home run to send the contest into extra innings. Dyer's home run trot was more like the 100-meter dash -- in a moment replayed over and over on ESPN, the wide-eyed freshman threw her arms in the air shortly after rounding first and looked back toward her teammates, then sprinted around the bases in less time than it takes most slappers to get to first. It was that boundless enthusiasm that would endear the Wildcats to so many of the Oklahoma City fans.
With senior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) in the circle in relief keeping Alabama from even touching the ball -- she recorded 13 of her 14 outs by strikeout -- Northwestern came out on top in the bottom of the tenth when freshman Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) singled up the middle for a 6-5 (10) win.
The only out Foster got not by the whiff was an unbelievable diving catch by senior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) that made No. 7 on SportsCenter's top plays of the day.
The next day, Northwestern remained in the winner's bracket behind a sparkling pitching performance by junior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise), who threw a one-hit shutout against No. 8 seed Tennessee's top-ranked offense in the nation in a 2-0 NU win. The Lady Vols had not been held under four hits all season prior to the contest. A sixth-inning RBI single by senior Kristen Amegin (West Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) and a seventh-inning home run by sophomore Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) accounted for the Wildcats' runs.
No. 1 UCLA, which had been upset by Tennessee on the tournament's first day, came out of the loser's bracket to face Northwestern for the right to go to the championships series. Senior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) put the Wildcats on top early with a second-inning home run, but the Bruins would tie the game with a seventh-inning, two-out, pinch-hit RBI single.
In the top of the eighth, Williams and Cooper launched back-to-back leadoff home runs to give Northwestern the lead back, and nearly every one of the 5,641 fans in attendance rose and roared as Canney whiffed the final Bruin batter to send the 'Cats to their first-ever WCWS championship series appearance.
There, Northwestern was swept in two games by No. 2 seed Arizona to finish the season No. 2 in the nation. Truly, the Wildcats' WCWS run enthralled the country. The finals did a 1.9 TV rating, outdrawing the Stanley Cup Playoffs and marking a 25 percent increase in viewership over the previous WCWS record.
Canney, Cooper and Williams all were named to the WCWS All-Tournament team, the first such honorees for Northwestern since Lisa Ishikawa was tabbed in 1984.
Both final polls rated the Wildcats No. 2 in the nation, with NU receiving every single second-place vote in the ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches poll. The rankings mark the best-ever for Northwestern in a national poll.
Now, back to the actual beginning. Five years ago. When Drohan was named head coach in 2002, her first move was to bring in her twin sister, Caryl. Together, they put together their first recruiting class consisting of Amegin, Crane, Dotson, Foster and McCorkle. That quintet saw Northwestern improve its record, Big Ten finish and NCAA Tournament performance in all four of their years as Wildcats.
Northwestern's 2006 season kicked off against the same caliber of teams it would conclude with, but on a markedly quieter stage. Facing one of the most grueling schedules in the nation, the Wildcats took on 13 opponents ranked or receiving votes during their nonconference slate, earning a win against No. 8 California to go along with other triumphs over eventual top-10 opponents Oregon State and UCLA.
Along the way, NU took on five of the other seven schools that would advance to the 2006 WCWS, and set a few records as well.
In the Wildcats' first game back in the continental United States after going a perfect 6-0 in Hawaii over spring break, Canney was knocked out of a loss to Cal State Fullerton in the second inning for her shortest outing of the season. She then came back in the nightcap of the doubleheader to throw the 35th no-hitter in Northwestern history and the second of her career in a 10-0, six-inning Wildcats' win.
After the UCLA win a few days later, Northwestern returned home to Evanston to open up the Big Ten and Sharon J. Drysdale Field schedules. The Wildcats crushed Wisconsin and Iowa to begin what would be a 10-0 regular season record in Evanston. NU outscored its opponents 84-9 with 21 home runs from the offense and just six earned runs in 61 innings from the pitching staff in those games.
On April 23, Northwestern traveled to Minnesota and played one of the most epic games of the 2006 season. For 18 innings, the first game of the doubleheader went on and on...and on. When the dust settled, Canney had struck out 28 Golden Gophers to tie the NCAA Division I single-game record in a 4-3 NU win.
The Michigan win on April 30 left Northwestern's magic number for its first Big Ten title since 1987 at just one, and the Wildcats' took care of business with a sweep of Illinois on the final weekend of conference play to earn the crown -- clinching the championship in the first game of the series after a chance encounter with the real Coach Carter of movie fame at the team's pre-game meal.
NU's dominating run to a 16-3 Big Ten mark earned the club plenty of awards, including 10 conference Player or Pitcher of the Week accolades -- double the amount of the next highest team (Michigan with five). Cooper and Canney also won national player of the week awards during the year.
Cooper won the Big Ten batting title with a .471 average in conference games, the third batting crown in her career. She also finished as the conference champion in slugging percentage (.980) and doubles (9). She repeated as Big Ten Player of the Year, becoming just the third player ever to do so.
In her first season in the Big Ten, Williams was the conference champ in home runs (8), runs scored (20) and total bases (53). Her eight homers tied for the third-most in league history, and she was tabbed as the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year.
Junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) ended up as the Big Ten champion in total hits (29) while Canney won the Big Ten ERA championship with a mark of 0.50. She also was the conference leader in opponent's batting average (.125) and earned Pitcher of the Year accolades.
Cooper, Williams, Canney, Dotson and Logan all were named to the All-Big Ten first team. Canney and Logan were unanimous selections. Foster picked up second-team All-Big Ten accolades.
The title earned the 'Cats the right to host the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in program history. NU shot through the field to the championship game, where it eventually fell to Michigan. Sengewald, Foster and Williams were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Wildcats' ridiculous schedule and performance in the Big Ten earned them the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, their best in program history. From there, Northwestern began its run from the initial field of 64 to the final two.
A season like 2006 does not come without awards and achievements galore. Four Wildcats earned NFCA first-team All-Mideast Region honors: Canney, Cooper, Logan and Williams. Canney went on to earn her first All-America accolade as an at-large member of the second team, while Cooper picked up her second as the first-base selection on the third team.
Just three days from attending a community college to start her collegiate career when Drohan saw her play and brought her to Northwestern, Williams concluded her freshman season as a Division I All-American, earning the shortstop spot on the third team.
Amegin and Cooper were named ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District selections as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), and Cooper went on to become the program's first CoSIDA Academic All-American, earning a third-team berth.
All five of the seniors along with Cooper and sophomore Kristen Salamon (Kent, Ohio/Kent Roosevelt) were named Academic All-Big Ten performers. It was Salamon, incidentally, who introduced the team to Gogol Bordello's song "Start Wearing Purple" on a bus trip home one night -- it quickly became the program's battle cry.
Records broken? There were a few. The team set program single-season records for most wins (50), most strikeouts of opposing batters (626), most complete games (51), most at bats (1,735), most hits (473), most doubles (85), most walks drawn (211) and most putouts (1,344).
Individually, Cooper earned single-season records for doubles (24) and walks (46), while Williams set standards for home runs (14), runs scored (65) and total bases (139). Logan's 221 at-bats also were a Northwestern single-season record.
Career-wise, Cooper now tops the NU lists for batting average (.396), RBIs (137), doubles (51), walks (115), on-base percentage (.517), total bases (355) and slugging percentage (.710). Her 12 intentional walks in 2006 rank ninth in Division I single-season history, and her 20 overall rank her sixth all-time. Remember, she is just a junior.
Amegin concludes her career as Northwestern's home run queen with 34, which ranks her sixth in the history of the Big Ten. She also had 23 hit by pitches, the most in school history.
In the circle, Foster topped the 1,000-strikeout plateau to finish with 1,014. She and Ishikawa are the only two Wildcats ever to reach that number. Foster and Ishikawa also are the only two 'Cats to ever fan at least 200 batters in all four of their years at NU. Foster concludes her career ranked 26th in NCAA Division I history with a 9.1 strikeouts per seven innings ratio.
Canney put together one of the best seasons in the circle in NU history. Her 26 wins and 383 strikeouts rank second and her 17 shutouts rank third in the school's single-season annals. She will begin her senior season third on NU's career strikeouts list with 756.
Drohan's career record after five seasons now stands at 186-90-1, a winning percentage of .674. That ranks her 24th among active NCAA Division I head coaches, with a minimum of five years in DI. Northwestern's 50-15 record in 2006 was the program's first 50-win season, blowing away the old record for wins in a season by seven.
The 'Cats proved this year they belong in any conversation about the nation's elite programs. After the show Northwestern put on in Oklahoma City, a lot of purple-clad people are hoping for an encore performance in 2007. To be sure, the Wildcats are expecting to provide one.
