A day before her team was to leave for the Women’s College World Series, Heather Tarr was asked for a defining moment in this Washington softball season. On this subject, there would seem to be many pleasant options to choose from, this being another wildly successful season for the Huskies.
The UW coach, instead, thought back to the darkest day of the year, back to a Jan. 20 meeting with her team. It was there, with the Huskies gathered in a board room, that Tarr delivered the worst-possible news: star catcher Morganne Flores had suffered a torn knee ligament in practice and would be out for the entire season, a devastating blow that in the moment appeared as if might derail the Huskies’ hopes of a return to the WCWS before the season even began.