Rachel Tilford did what a young girl growing up in Saskatchewan is expected to do – she played on her high school’s hockey team.

But it wasn’t hockey that made Tilford leave Canada. Someone forgot to tell Syracuse’s right fielder Saskatchewan isn’t exactly the hotbed for softball talent. Tilford’s journey from the fields of Saskatchewan to Syracuse was not a direct one.

‘(Softball) was starting to get big when I was a kid,’ Tilford said. ‘It died again as soon as I was old enough to get into it. There are no college teams around where I am, so you have to leave if you want to play.’

After taking a circuitous route to Syracuse and spending much of the season as the Orange’s No. 9 hitter, Tilford has exceeded all of her own and SU head coach Mary Jo Firnbach’s expectations. It culminated in being named Big East Player of the Week for her efforts last week.

Tilford and the Orange look to continue their record-winning pace with Big East doubleheaders against two top league teams, Louisville and South Florida, on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Tilford, a sophomore, is in her first year at Syracuse. In fact, she did not enroll until January, the start of the spring semester. Tilford transferred from Galveston College in Texas, where she played softball at the junior college level.

‘I don’t even really know how I made it here,’ Tilford said.

Firnbach was recruiting in Texas to evaluate potential players at a tournament when she received an e-mail from someone informing her about Tilford, who wanted to leave Galveston for a better academic and athletic challenge. Firnbach contacted Galveston, talked to Tilford’s coach and agreed to make a side trip and come see her play at a practice.

‘It was unusual,’ Firnbach said. ‘I got a random e-mail from someone who was pointing her out. It was a time when we were in need of somebody. You check out every lead just in case, because you want to get the best available player at that point in time.

‘I thought Rachael was the best fit for us with what we needed at that time.’

Firnbach got a call from Tilford’s coach days before she was set to watch her play. It was feared that Tilford had broken her foot and may not be able to try out for Firnbach while she was in Texas. A few days later, Tilford was re-evaluated and told trainers she could play despite the broken foot, and Firnbach was able to watch her after all.

Firnbach was looking to fill a hole in the outfield, but Tilford was playing in the infield at Galveston. In spite of the broken foot and position change, Firnbach came away impressed by Tilford and offered her to come play at SU.

‘I guess she was like, ‘Good enough,” Tilford said.

Good enough is right. Tilford is one of three players (Alexis Switenko and Cassie Morales are the others) to play in all 45 games for the Orange. Tilford is hitting .297 with three home runs, 19 runs batted in and is fifth on the team with 22 runs scored.

‘She has college experience, but it’s different,’ Firnbach said. ‘That’s a tough spot to jump in and go full force in January, especially at a Division I program. It would take a certain personality to be able to do that. Somebody’s that not really abrasive, somebody that goes with the flow, blends a little bit, but sticks out and leads by example, and that’s what Rachael has done.’

Recently, Tilford has done anything but go with the flow. After batting .438 last week while scoring three runs and registering 10 RBI, including six total in a doubleheader against Pitt, she was named Big East Player of the Week, an honor beyond her wildest dreams.

‘It’s huge,’ Tilford said. ‘As soon as I found out, I phoned home to everybody. My family was really, really excited. I never thought it would happen.’

Much like Tilford never imagined the year she’s had, the Orange are also nearing uncharted territory. Already having secured the most wins for a single season in school history, SU is looking to make a statement against two powerhouse Big East newcomers this weekend.

‘If we can show them what we have now,’ Tilford said, ‘they’ll be thinking about us in the tournament this year.’

Published on April 19, 2006 at 12:00 pm