The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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where are they now? where are they Now? Samantha Findlay's Heroics Helped Earn Softball's Only National Title I By Chris Balas t was the shot heard around the country in 2005, but especially in Ann Arbor. And when freshman Samantha Findlay crushed a 10thinning three-run home run to beat UCLA in the final game of the Women's College World Series, leading Michigan to a 4-1 victory and a national title, it wasn't just the softball diehards and families celebrating. Fans who usually limited their U-M athletics exposure to the revenue sports gathered around their TVs nervously before erupting in celebration following Findlay's bomb, one that gave the Wolverines — and the entire Midwest — their first national title, an honor usually reserved for the West Coast teams. Head coach Carol Hutchins once joked she read The Wolverine from back to front to get the non-revenue information first; for a month, at least, she didn't have to, her squad of champions grabbing the cover after leading her vaunted program to the promised land. And that's what it was, Findlay, now a Chicago resident and softball coach expecting her first child, said recently — a program championship, not just a team title. "Yeah it was our team, but we told everyone it wasn't just us, but the people before us that had helped build the legacies up to that point," Findlay said. "It was everybody prior competing in the Michigan softball jersey that helped us get here. That's one of the things Coach Hutch and [assistant] Bonnie [Tholl] stress a lot, the tradition of Michigan softball. "One thing I had to do as a freshman was look up the person who wore the same number jersey before me. Finding out makes you respect that jersey a lot more. It's not just you. That made me realize I was part of something bigger than myself, and that was really enlightening." The education started on her first Michigan recruiting visit, what was supposed to be the first of a number of Midwest trips. The powerful West Coast programs all recruited her, but travel considerations for Findlay's family — especially her grandmother, one of her biggest fans — limited the focus to programs closer to her Lockport, Ill., home. She learned from her father (and coach) what made a successful program, and she found it on her first trip to Michigan. Hutchins' — her and staff's — presentation would have been enough to sell her. A football weekend and a fantastic trip around campus helped make it obvious. A year later, Findlay was a key part of a program ranked No. 1 in the country heading into the postseason, yet still not getting as much respect as