Danielle Lawrie leads Huskies to WCWS title

With a dominating performance that won't soon be forgotten by softball fans, much less the Husky nation, Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie took the Huskies to their first NCAA softball championship yesterday. In the process Lawrie also attested that her selection last week as USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year was indeed judicious.

Lawrie already draws comparisons to baseball legends of yesteryear (even Babe Ruth), her talent, grit, and work ethic all routinely cited. This is well and good, I suppose, but she embodies something more—the ascendant female athlete of the 21st century.