Danielle Lawrie

Early Life

Danielle, the daughter of Cheryl and Russ Lawrie, grew up and currently resides in Langley, British Columbia. Her younger brother, Brett, a major league baseball player for the Chicago White Sox, began playing with the Canadian national junior team at the age of 15, and played for Team Canada in the 2008 Summer Olympics. She used to have an older sister named Nicole, who died in an accident when she was only 5, before Brett was even born. She and Brett left special tattoos on their bodies in her memory. She attended Brookswood Secondary School, where she lettered in softball, also helping the team to three league championships. She was named Most Valuable Player in her freshman and senior years, and was a first team All-Star four years and team captain three times. In addition to softball, Lawrie also lettered in basketball. She played summer ball for the White Rock Renegades for five years under coach Rick Sullivan, and was named the MVP of the 2005 Canadian National Team. After graduating from Brookswood, she went on to the University of Washington, becoming the first Canadian on the team.

University of Washington

Lawrie began her career by being named to the then Pac-10 2006 Second Team. She broke the Husky season record for strikeouts and strikeout ratio. On February 10, Lawrie debuted with a run-rule win over the Oklahoma Sooners, striking out 7 batters and later threw her first career perfect game on February 26 vs. the Utah Valley Wolverines.

On March 16, Lawrie combined with Cat Osterman for 32 strikeouts in a regulation game, a top-10 NCAA record for a single game and especially notable because it was the highest combined total for a 7-inning game; the Huskies lost 3-0. In another 11-inning battle, she and teammate Caitlin Noble combined with Katie Burkhart of the Arizona State Sun Devils to strike out 42 batters. This was another NCAA record for combined strikeouts overall. In an April 26 win, Lawrie struck out 19 of the No. 1 UCLA Bruins, her first victory over a top-ranked team. Finally, on May 12, Lawrie lost another extra inning game to the California Golden Bears and combined with Kristina Thorson for another 32 strikeouts at 14 and 18 respectively.

As a sophomore, Lawrie earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team All-American and Pac-10 First Team selections. She broke her own strikeouts and strikeout ratio (still tops and career best: 11.5) records; she was ranked and still does in the top-5 for her school season marks in wins, shutouts and innings pitched; the strikeouts and wins were also top-5 for the NCAA year. Lawrie also had a career high in doubles and threw a no-hitter.

In a win over the USF Bulls on February 18, Lawrie struck out a school and career high 20 batters in 7-innings to tie her second in the NCAA for a regulation game total. The Huskies made it to the Women's College World Series and Lawrie responded by tossing her no-hitter over the DePaul Blue Demons on May 31. They were semifinalist before being eliminated by eventually champions the Arizona Wildcats on June 3.

For her junior campaign, Lawrie repeated honors from the NFCA, Pac-10 (Pitcher of The Year) and collected the USA Collegiate Player of The Year and Honda Softball Player of The Year awards. Lawire set schools records for her season wins, strikeouts, WHIP and innings (career highs), leading the NCAA in all except WHIP. Her shutouts, ERA and strikeout ratio were and remain top-10 for a Husky season; they also ranked in the top-10 for the NCAA year and helped Lawrie win a Pac-10 pitching Triple Crown. She also threw two no-hitters.

Beginning on February 7, 2009 with a win over Loyola Marymount Lions, Lawrie achieved a 64.1 consecutive scoreless innings streak. The Portland State Vikings snapped it on March 1 when they scored in the third inning. During the streak, Lawrie won all 11 games (7 complete) and struck out 112, allowing only 15 hits and 11 base on balls. A week later on March 7, Lawrie garnered her 1,000th career strikeout in a win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. After another week, Lawrie combined with Morgan Melloh of the Fresno State Bulldogs for 31 strikeouts in a 11-inning win for the Huskies on March 14.

In the NCAA tournament, Lawrie and the Huskies won a Regional with a 15-inning, 6-1 victory over the Massachusetts Minutewomen on May 18. Lawrie fanned a school and career best 24 batters and with Brandice Balschmiter tossing 14 of her own, combined for the NCAA 4th most combined strikeouts in a single game at 38. Lawrie's total also tied her 4th for an individual pitcher in a single game. At the World Series, Lawrie fought through to the finals, including beginning a career best 21 consecutive game win streak on May 31, defeating the Georgia Bulldogs; the streak would resume and conclude in the 2010 season. Lawrie led the Huskies in back-to-back wins over the No. 1 seeded Florida Gators and in the finale, struck out 8 and drove in the game-winning run to earn MVP and All-Tournament honors.

In her final season, Lawrie earned 2010 First Team from the NFCA and the Pac-10, as well as her second conference Pitcher of The Year. She also picked up her second USA and Honda Player of The Year honors, becoming the first since Cat Osterman with multiple awards for both. Lawrie broke her own record for shutouts (led the NCAA) and ranked and ranks top-5 in season records for the Huskies in wins (also led NCAA), strikeouts, strikeout ratio and innings pitched; these would help earn her another pitching Triple Crown for the Pac-10. She led the team in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage with career highs, which she also achieved in batting average, hits and walks. She pitched 4 no-hitters, three of them perfect games (an NCAA tying top-5 season record). To start the year, Lawrie won her first 18 decisions to combine with a last three from 2009 for a 21 consecutive game win streak. The UCLA Bruins broke it on April 1 to open the Pac-10 season. For one of the wins, on February 19, Lawrie won her 100th career game vs. the UCSB Gauchos. On May 15, in a run-rule win over the Arizona State Sun Devils, Lawrie posted career highs in single game hits (3) and RBIs (5). Although the Huskies made it back to defend their National title, they were eventually eliminated by the Arizona Wildcats on June 5. Lawrie holds the University of Washington crown in career wins, shutouts, strikeouts, strikeout ratio, starts, appearances, complete games and innings. She also ranks top-10 in career home runs. She holds the now-named Pac-12 record for most Player of the Week honors in a career and season and is the all-time conference career strikeouts leader, while ranking top-10 in several other pitching categories. In the NCAA, Lawrie is 4th in career strikeouts, 6th in wins and innings, 8th in strikeout ratio (10.9) and tied 4th in perfect games (4). Lawrie did not play for the Huskies in their 2008 season because she was representing the Canadian National Team at the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing, China.

2008 Summer Olympics

Lawrie was one of 15 players selected to represent Canada in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, where she made three appearances and pitched 12 innings. In her first Olympic appearance, she earned a victory in Canada's 9-2 win over the Netherlands, striking out four in four innings of work, while allowing just one run on two hits. She also hurled a complete game against Venezuela in which she struck out nine batters, allowing just two runs on four hits, but Canada was unable to support her in a 2-0 loss. In all, she struck out 13 batters in 12 innings at Beijing.

Prior to the 2008 Olympic Games, Lawrie was a member of the Canadian National Team in 2005, '06, '07 and '08. She also spent one season on the Canadian Junior National team, and one on the Developmental Team. She helped the National Team qualify for the 2008 Olympics at the 2006 World Cup. In October 2007 at the China Cup, held in Beijing, the Canadians won all three of the games in which Lawrie started, and received the Silver Medal. Lawrie finished the seven-day tournament with a 3-0 record and a team-best 1.29 ERA. Her 21⅔ innings pitched and 18 strikeouts also led the team. She had her best performance of the China Cup against Australia, which had already defeated the Canadians twice in the tournament, pitching seven shutout innings while giving up just two hits and striking out three in leading the team to a 4-0 win. At the 2006 World Cup, Lawrie threw a complete game shutout against Australia with seven strikeouts. She was named Most Valuable Pitcher at the 2006 Canada Cup, where the team was awarded a silver medal. She threw 6⅔ innings of relief against the Netherlands, giving up just one run and striking out 13 batters. She tossed a complete game shutout with five strikeouts against Italy at the 2006 ISF World Championships, where she also earned a shutout victory over Chinese Taipei with eight strikeouts. She was named to Beat Team USA at the 2005 World Cup, tossing a complete game and striking out seven.

USSSA Pride

In 2010, Lawrie joined the professional ranks of the NPF as a pitcher for the USSSA Pride. Danielle wears number 15 for Pride as she did for the Washington Huskies. Danielle pitched her first game for the Pride on July 30, 2010 against the Chicago Bandits. The final score of Lawrie's first game was 3-8 in favor of the Chicago Bandits. In 2011, Lawrie was named an All-Star for the Pride. Lawrie would also bookend her career by winning two Cowles Cup Championships in 2010 and 2014. Lawrie retired at the end of the 2014 season to focus on family.