Hickey Dransfeldt races to DePaul HOF

Speed kills.

No matter the sport, the team or player with the most speed usually has an advantage.

During her softball career, Morris natve Erin Hickey Dransfeldt was that player.

She began her varsity career with the Redskins as a sophomore in 1991. In her junior year, she set the national record for hits in a season (101) en route to helping Morris to the state championship. In her senior year, she set a state record for stolen bases in a season with 86.

In many cases, state records turn over fairly quickly, every few years or so. Hickey was so far ahead of the pack that her state hit record stood for 20 years and her stolen base mark for 15.

That high school success parlayed into a scholarship to DePaul University, where she continued to dazzle with her fleetness afoot.

“Erin is still the standard by which all speed players at DePaul are measured against,” DePaul coach Eugene Lenti said. “She was easily the fastest player we ever had. Her speed was intimidating. If the ball bounced twice on a bunt, she was safe.

“What made her special is that she also had the power to hit home runs and triples. She was indefensible. If you played in for the bunt, Erin would rip it right past you. She developed that power over the years.”

Dransfeldt was a third-team All-American outfielder in 1997 after batting .425 – the third-best season mark in school history – along with stealing 33 bases, which is tied for first.

Her 82 hits in 1997 also are third-best in program history.

She also was an Academic All-American in 1997. She led the Blue Demons to three NCAA tournament appearances, including the regional final in 1997. She holds the career record for batting average and singles, and is third in stolen bases and on-base percentage.

It’s no wonder, then, Dransfeldt is being inducted Saturday into the DePaul Athletic Hall of Fame, along with men’s tennis standout Ray Cahnman, men’s basketball star Quentin Richardson, women’s basketball star Kim Williams and the 1999 Women’s College World Series softball team. The formal induction ceremony and banquet takes place at 6:30 p.m. at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

The Class of 2015 will be honored at halftime of the
1 p.m. men's basketball game against Butler at Allstate Arena and at halftime of the women's basketball game Sunday against Marquette that tips off at 3 p.m. at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

For information on ordering tickets to the Hall of Fame ceremony and banquet, contact Katie Ramsey at cramsey1@depaul.edu or 773-325-7504.

“It’s definitely an honor,” Dransfeldt said. “It was a goal of mine, but it’s one of those goals that you have in the back of your head. You can’t go out and attain it. You have to be removed from the sport for 15 years, so for people to still think that highly of you after that long, it feels good.

“I haven’t been back to the school a lot. With a family and kids, that’s my life now. But I did go back for the alumni game two falls ago. I didn’t play, though. I’ve had six knee surgeries. My playing days are over.”

MACKINSON’S MOVE

In high school, Morris coach John Mackinson took notice of Dransfeldt’s raw speed and turned her around into a left-handed batter. She wasn’t a slapper or a bunter with a drop-step or crossover. Dransfeldt simply bunted the ball flat-footed and was a blur to first base.

“The bottom line is that if ‘Mack’ hadn’t turned me around to bat left-handed and utilize my speed, I wouldn’t have had the scholarship to DePaul and all that came with that,” she said. “I really owe it all to that decision.”

Speak of Erin Hickey around Morris softball circles, and the conversation usually comes back to one game, the 1992 regional title game against Lockport. Morris won, 1-0. Hickey bunted, the ball was thrown away past first base, and she sped around the bases to score the only run.

“I just bunted and ran,” Hickey said. “They made an error and I kept going. The weird thing about that is that Amber Podlesny was pitching for Lockport. I had played with her over the summer with the Orland Park Sharks and I ended up playing with her at DePaul.”

Mackinson recalls that game fondly.

“The thing I remember is the frown on Erin’s face when I wouldn’t take the bunt sign off,” he said. “After they threw it away and she was coming around second, I was thinking, ‘Don’t mess this up.’ I knew we wouldn’t have a lot of chances to score, so I waved her around and she beat the throw.

“After the game, [Lewis softball coach] George DiMatteo came up to me and said he clocked Erin at 2.58 seconds to first on that play. He said he wished he would have kept timing her all the way around.”

Eventually, when she was timed by college coaches and officials at the Olympic softball trials in 1994, the stopwatches said she made it from home to first in 2.3 seconds.

“That was a great experience,” Dransfeldt said about the Olympic trials. “I made the final 32, but didn’t make the final 16. It was very intimidating. There were players like Dot Richardson, Kathy Smith and Lisa Fernandez. I wish I could have done it later in my college career, but it only comes around every four years.”

After Morris beat Lockport in that 1992 regional championship, the Redskins went on to win the state title.

“It was great to beat Lockport, but we had more of a ‘We aren’t done,’ attitude after that game,” Hickey said. “We were all best friends and had been playing softball together since we were little kids. To win that state championship with that group of girls is probably the biggest thrill of my softball life.

“We had no expectations that year. We were all just best friends going out there and having fun playing softball. It was wonderful.”

ATHLETIC FAMILY

After college, she married longtime sweetheart and fellow Morris native Kelly Dransfeldt, a decent athlete in his own right. Kelly set the state record for home runs in a season (20) while playing for the Redskins and went on to play at University of Michigan and in parts of four seasons in the major leagues, including a stint with the White Sox in which he batted .333 with four RBIs in 15 games. The couple now has three children, sandwiching sons Kameron (age 14) and Karson (age 7) around daughter Kennedy (age 12).

“The older kids know that I played softball,” Erin said. “Kelly talks about it a lot. That’s the greatest thing about our relationship. We always encouraged one another.”

In fact, when asked once who his favorite ballplayer was, Kelly said his wife.

“If I had her skill, I would have had a 10-year major-league career by now,” he said at the time.