By David MorrisonThe Daily Northwestern
Freshman pitcher Lauren Delaney is used to winning. At Helias High School in Jefferson City, Mo., Delaney compiled a 84-3 record over four years and set state records in career wins, strikeouts and ERA.
Delaney has built on that high school success in her first year at Northwestern, posting an 18-2 record and tossing a no-hitter for the Wildcats, who are the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Daily Sports’ David Morrison talked with the civil engineering major about windmills, malls and other structures, both literal and figurative.
Daily Sports: What do you do to get up before starting a game?
Delaney: The same thing I do for every game: pump myself up, get ready to know the batters. And be ready to go my hardest every pitch of the game, every minute of the game, so I’m up for every pitch.
DAILY: Do you have any sort of superstitions or rituals you go through before starts?
LD: I don’t think I have too many superstitions. Maybe just kind of the order things go in. But if it gets messed up, it’s not a huge deal.
DAILY: How valuable has it been to have (senior pitcher) Eileen Canney as a mentor?
LD: It’s been really important. She’s been able to lead me through – not just in games, but more so in practice, with her hard work and mental attitude.
DAILY: How did you get your nickname (Boom-Boom)?
LD: (Senior center fielder) Katie Logan came up with it at the beginning of the year.
DAILY: Is there anything behind it?
LD: She used to say, “Laney Boom Boom” with her brother. And since my last name’s Delaney, she shortened it to “Laney,” and it just kind of flowed from there.
DAILY: You’re a civil engineering major. What made you want to get into that?
LD: I like math and the sciences, and I want to do something with building structures.
DAILY: What classes do you take for that?
LD: Right now I’m in the basic engineering classes, the basic science classes. Then I get up into mechanics, materials, structures and stuff.
DAILY: What is there to do in Jefferson City?
LD: Not much. We have a mall. We have the state capitol, so there’s a lot of historical stuff surrounding that. Other than that, just hanging out.
DAILY: Has the amount of attention you’ve gotten been overwhelming sometimes?
LD: I don’t think it’s overwhelming. We all stay within our team. We prepare to play the toughest competition all year. So we knew what we were getting into from the beginning. We all came into Northwestern not being freshmen. As soon as we stepped on the field, we weren’t freshmen anymore.
DAILY: How long does it take to get the windmill pitching motion down?
LD: It took me probably over a year before I could throw strikes.
DAILY: You had a 0.11 ERA in high school. How is that possible?
LD: I think being at 40 feet instead of 43 feet (away from the plate) like we are in college (helped). And the competition’s not as good in high school as it is here.
DAILY: Was it a shock if you gave up a run?
LD: I don’t know. Sometimes.
Reach David Morrison at [email protected].
