Tammy Williams is leaving Northwestern in the same way slugger Garland Cooper did two years ago: with pretty much every hitting record in the NU record book.
During the past two years, Williams has taken more than the top spot on six career lists from Cooper. Before last season, the two talked, and decided Williams should switch her walkup music from AC/DC’s “Back in Black” to “O Fortuna,” an overly dramatic vocal snippet of a Carl Orff operatic work, which has been injected into pop culture by Gatorade commercials.
“Garland is an incredible person, and somebody I learned a lot from,” Williams said. “So every time I batted, it was like a little bit of her. I just hope that a few years down the line, somebody takes that song from me.”
For four years, Williams was the face of NU softball. Now her record-breaking college career is over.
Williams will not be increasing her lead for most career home runs, hits, runs, total bases, highest batting average or slugging percentage in NU’s record book. She will not be returning next year for a run at her third straight Big Ten player of the year award.
But Williams did not stay away from the Wildcats’ batting cages even after their early exit from the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m not done with my softball career,” Williams said. “I’m trying to get back into a little bit better shape now that the season is over and get back into it.”
After a pair of NCAA tournament losses last weekend against Texas State and Louisiana-Lafayette, her senior season ended.
Now, she is in the middle of her transition into professional softball. Williams was drafted by the Chicago Bandits in the second round of the National Pro Fastpitch draft in February, and will begin playing games for them in less than two weeks, when their season begins on June 3.
Today, she will make her first public appearance with the team at a Chicago White Sox game. But to her, she still feels more like a Wildcat than a Bandit.
“It hasn’t really hit yet,” Williams said. “I don’t think it will hit me until I don’t show up in September to train with my team. But regardless of what team we’re on, we’re still a family.”
The Cats’ family will lose one of their most valuable members in Williams. The list of her accomplishments is striking.
She holds the Cats records with her 57 homers and .419 batting average. She is second all-time in doubles, on-base percentage, and RBIs, and appears on the school’s top-10 list for steals and walks. She helped lead the Cats to back-to-back appearances at the Women’s College World Series in 2006 and 2007.
Williams is one of only six hitters in NCAA history to have more runs scored (235) than games played (232). She has nearly five times as many total bases (540) as there are residents of her hometown of Roscoe, Mo. (112). She has started every game at shortstop all four years since she arrived at NU.
Needless to say, there’s a bit of a hole to fill.
“We don’t try to replace players,” coach Kate Drohan said. “We celebrate players, and the mark they made on the program. And the mark she made is that she’s a ballplayer.”
Williams came into NU as a high school pitcher, never having played shortstop before.
Four years later, she’s one of the best in NCAA history. Now she’s gunning for a spot on a pro team and the USA national team.
“My guide for life is go for it,” Williams said. “See what can happen. See what you can do. And coming to NU allowed me to do that.”
