Kate Drohan hears it all the time.

“You’ve got to check out this girl.”

It was 10 p.m. in early August and Drohan was filling out her brackets for the next day at the Amateur Softball Association National Championship.

She hesitated.

But Pat Rice, a coach who had attended a clinic at Northwestern several years ago, insisted Drohan watch Tammy Williams play.

“Just trust me,” he said.

Drohan relented, and watched Williams from the stands for 14 innings. Williams did not get a single hit.

But Drohan had a good feeling.

“She was aggressive, athletic,” Drohan remembers. “Her timing was great at the plate. She’s got a natural talent and natural ability.”

Two weeks later, Williams packed up and left her small hometown of El Dorado Springs, Mo., where the she said cows outnumber the 3,775 residents.

For the first time in her life, WIlliams boarded a plane and flew to Chicago with her mother and step-father to visit NU.

“Lots of stuff was going through my head,” Williams said. “I was nervous.”

A former high school pitcher, Williams had dreams of attending a major college program. But recruiters were less than enamored with her pitching abilities.

In order to pursue her ambition of playing college ball, the honor roll student anticipated trying her hand at a number of positions at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan., that fall.

She was forced to leave the mound earlier than planned after she broke her arm sliding during practice and had been moved to the “hot corner” by the time Drohan saw her at the ASA National Championships in Columbus, Ga.

Although she liked the coach, Williams still hoped to transfer and play for a more competitive softball program in the future.

Williams’ mother, Neva Mallicoat, agreed.

“I felt like she had more potential than she was going to get at (Butler County Community College),” she said. “We were so excited.”

Finding Williams that August evening was a “blessing” for NU, too, Drohan said. That same summer the team lost shortstop and hitting machine Stephanie Churchwell, who transferred to be closer to home in California.

So far this season, Drohan’s instinct to recruit Williams as the team’s new shortstop is paying off – the 5-foot-6 bright-eyed freshman leads the team with a .394 batting average.

Against No. 15 Oregon State on Feb. 15, in her first game in college, Williams singled in the sixth inning and stole a base. The left-handed hitter’s career has been taking off ever since.

On March 7 she was named Big Ten Player of the Week after hitting .700 with eight runs scored and two home runs over a four game stretch.

“No one expects their first time out to play huge,” Williams said. “I just try to put the ball in play.”

To many, Williams’ batting talent is reminiscent of teammate Garland Cooper, last year’s Big Ten softball player of the year, who hit .436 last season with an on-base percentage of .533.

The two players even pretend to be sisters, Drohan said.

With almost the entire Big Ten season ahead of her, Williams said she is still working to improve her game, specifically defense.

“When I first came here, I was starting new,” she explained. Williams is settling in to her shortstop position.

For Drohan, the story about the ASA championship weekend is getting more exciting to tell after every softball game as Williams’ statistics soar.

“There are certain times things just work out perfectly,” Drohan said, remembering the first weekend in August she discovered Williams. “Talk about being at the right place at the right time.”

Reach Corrie Driebusch at [email protected]