Ithaca College Hall of Fame

In October, Kevin Connors, ESPN sportscaster and Ithaca College graduate, interviewed me and 7 other inductees into the 50th class of the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame. It was a very fun (and nerve-racking) experience, so I wanted to share what I talked about. The reason I’m posting this is because I think it’s important for young athletes to see what’s possible in the sport of softball. After all, many 8-12 year olds don’t know there is a professional softball league, that college softball is televised, or that they might have enough talent to play beyond high school. I’ve also added the introduction video they showed the audience before my interview to give some background on what we had to do to achieve at a high level.

Kevin: The winning pitcher of the 2002 team that delivered the first and at this point only National Championship in the history of the college. As you sit here, what 17 years later?, what comes to mind about that? 

Abby: “It was really fun. I think about the joy about finally accomplishing what I’ve always wanted to do, which is a championship.  I do remember thinking after it all, “so what else can I do”? So as time goes on I’m sure some girls that was the pinnacle of our athletic career but I didn’t want that to be the pinnacle of my life. I wanted to make sure that was an awesome part of my life, but not the best part of my life. 

Kevin: Why are you as successful as you are? What made that team successful?

Abby: “Well the team that won was a little odd, it was the weirdest thing, we were a little disjointed and not the best team. But we took upon ourselves and said, “let’s just win the next game”. I remember Coach Mullens, who was the basketball coach helping us that year -  after we lost all our games in Florida in the beginning of the season and just laid into us and yelled at us for 10 minutes and then after it was like “it can’t get any worse than this” so we just kept winning one after the other! It was a weird season!”

Kevin: You’re still #1 in strikeout history at 260. And you did that two years in a row.  If you could boil down your success to a few basic things, what would they be? 

Abby: “I think the people who coached me. I think it was interesting that I wasn’t recruited and I just showed up and said “Deb I’m here” and she’s like “Oh hello” and she gave me a chance. I walked on the team as the tall, giant person and she taught me how to pitch and Coach Robin taught me how to pitch  My uncle taught me how to pitch growing up and my parents instilled in me a hard work ethic. I did what they said and it worked! If you do your work, as they say, it actually works! So players: if you just do what your coach says, it will work (all the coaches in the audience applause).

Kevin: Your coach Deb is retiring this year. What is one of your favorite memories of Deb?

Abby: My favorite memory is actually after I stopped coaching. I teach pitching now, and I get to see her at coaches conferences. I like being a coach with her, especially because I never thought I would like coaching. To be honest, when I was young I was scared of her. But it’s funny because now I get advice from her and that’s my favorite memory...it’s what we have right now.

From Intro Video:

One of the best pitchers to play at Ithaca College and for Hall of Fame head coach Deb Pallozzi, Abby Hanrahan remains near the top of numerous statistical categories and was the winning pitcher in the 2002 College World Series championship game against Lake Forest.

In that 1-0 championship victory, Hanrahan earned the win (her eighth of the postseason and 22nd overall) by throwing 5.1 innings of three-hit shutout ball. She struck out six batters in the outing to just two walks to propel Ithaca to its first and only national title.

The Bombers had never won a game in their four previous trips to the NCAA Division III Championship finals before going 4-1 at the 2002 event, winning three times by a score of 1-0. Hanrahan would be named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the championship.

On the career lists. Hanrahan still ranks first in strikeouts with 576, while her 593 innings pitched are third and 66 victories rank fifth. To date, she is still the only pitcher in IC history to notch more than 200 strikeouts in a season, which she did twice in 2001 and 2002.

Hanrahan was a three-time NFCA Northeast Region All-Star, as well as a three-time First-Team All-Empire 8 selection during her career.