By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern

The jubilation from defeating UCLA on back-to-back extra inning home runs in the first round of the 2006 College World Series quickly dissipated as Northwestern entered the finals last season.

NU faced Arizona and the Wildcats in blue defeated the Cats in purple. Arizona blanked NU in the two games, outscoring it 13-0.

However, it was the end of the best season in school history. NU won 50 games for the first time and advanced to the school’s first College World Series.

This year, the Cats entered the 2007 season number four in the USA Today/NFCA softball poll.

Despite all the achievements from last season and the early recognition for this year’s team, one goal remains on the mind for the returning players from last year’s College World Series run:

Win the national championship.

“I think we’re very talented and we have a lot of heart and a lot of focus,” sophomore shortstop Tammy Williams said. “That’s definitely the goal of our year to win the national championship. But we still have a lot of work to do.”

Returning to the College World Series will not be easy despite returning many players from last year’s championship run.

But experience is on the Cats side. Senior firstbaseman Garland Cooper said the deep postseason run taught the group how to play in pressure situations.

“That experience really made us closer as a group,” Cooper said. “With those experiences we know how to play in big games and come through and be clutch. And now we have that experience.

“We’ve pitched those big pitches, we’ve gotten those big outs, we’ve had some big at bats. We know what it’s like to be there and we know what we have to do to get there again.”

The Cats return some of the leaders that carried them to the national championship series last season.

Cooper broke NU’s all-time home run record this past weekend, hitting her 35th career home run. She led the team with 44 RBIs last season.

Williams led the team in batting average – hitting .377 – and home runs with 14. She started the season hitting .500 in the first ten games.

The Cats also return one of their best pitchers from last season. Senior Eileen Canney had a 1.20 ERA and led NU in wins with a 26-9 record. She threw a no-hitter – the third of her career – last weekend in a 10-1 win against then No. 11 California.

And there’s freshmen to add to the lineup.

Early in the season, freshman pitcher Lauren Delaney has played well, winning her first four starts and garnering a 1.20 ERA.

“I think that we’re very young this year,” Williams said. “We have a lot of underclassmen, but I don’t think that’s going to affect the way we play our game.

“We come in and play and use our upperclassmen to teach the freshmen how Northwestern softball should be played. I think throughout the season we need to establish ourselves and establish how we play as a team and that it (experience) doesn’t apply.”

NU coach Kate Drohan said the team must integrate the seven newcomers onto the team and make sure they know the standards for the team.

The freshmen must also follow the lead set by the upperclassmen.

The team has many leaders and lots of big game experience to pass down to the freshmen. Many of the newcomers will be expected to contribute immediately.

Other than Delaney, Nicole Pauly and Kelly Dyer – sister of sophomore catcher Erin Dyer – have started all 10 games so far this season, as freshmen.

But for the Cats starting freshmen, like Williams did last year are expected to play like seniors by the team they reach the postseason.

“I don’t think at that point of the season anyone really thought of people as freshman or seniors on our team,” Williams said. “It was also everyone else’s first year at the College World Series. I think we played well as a team and we’re ready to go back.”

Experience alone won’t fulfill the ultimate goal NU has its eyes set on. For a return trip to Oklahoma City for the World Series, the Cats will have to remain consistent.

NU plays a difficult schedule. The Cats have already face three teams currently in the top 10. They have upcoming games against No. 7 Oregon State and No. 13 Stanford – which they have already beaten – as well as in-conference games against No. 14 Michigan.

“We are a close-knit group,” Drohan said. “We lean on each other during hard times. We celebrate our successes. We play hard. Those are the things we really count on when things get difficult.

“At this point, it’s about us putting those pieces together and playing as a cohesive unit.”

After reaching the championship series last season, the Cats are ready to begin again and build on last year’s accomplishments. The players feel they have the experience necessary to win the big games needed to return to the championship stage.

Canney said the team has the right combination of off-the-field chemistry and on-the-field talent to take the next step.

“I think with our program, something that we’re really good at it is building from each year,” Canney said. “Two years ago we made it to Super Regionals and that was a heartbreaking loss. And obviously last year was a heartbreaking loss.

“We keep wanting more. So I think we’re at a good point to go all the way this time.”

Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].