Torrance, California, is a city of over 140,000 people located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. It’s 2,999 miles and 45 hours by car from Boston. And it’s not a city anyone would normally associate with Boston University.
That is, unless you take a look at the softball team roster. There you will find sophomore pitcher Megan Currier, freshman centerfielder April Setterlund and freshman second baseman Melanie Delgado, all of whom hail from Torrance. So why did these three decide to travel across the country to play softball at BU?
“The academics and the big city atmosphere,” Currier said. “I wanted to go to an urban school. I didn’t want to go anywhere out in the boondocks. I had already visited Boston before I started getting recruited and I liked the city and [BU] campus. When I started getting recruited, I just loved the coaching staff and the facilities.”
The Terrier coaching staff first saw Currier at the Fireworks Recruiting Tournament in Aurora, Colo., in July 2005. Currier was playing for her father’s travel team, the Mizuno Pride.
“We had gotten a video on [Currier], but we had never gotten to see her play,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “She was actually in a skills clinic the day before the tournament started and she was one of the last kids to go. She came out and me and [BU assistant] coach [Bill] McDonald talked to each other and decided that was what we needed.
“So, I told coach McDonald he had a new assignment for the weekend: follow her and see if she was legit because we went through her records and found out that she was really interested and had already been on campus and toured Boston.”
Rychcik continued on to Boulder, Colo., while McDonald stayed in Aurora. After Currier’s team was eliminated from the tournament, McDonald convinced Megan and her father, Lew, to meet Rychcik in Boulder.
“We had dinner that night and that was one of our official contacts we could have with her,” Rychcik said. “We got most of the recruiting out of the way that night, and it was pretty much a confirmation at that point she was going to come to BU.
“He was a really nice, personal guy,” said Lew Currier of Rychcik. “And he had some major softball credentials, so I knew he knew the game.”
Watching Currier with the Mizuno Pride also introduced Rychcik to Setterlund, who became the Terriers’ primary recruiting focus for the summer of 2006.
“I had talked to Megan’s dad because he was the coach of that team and asked about April and what type of player and person she was,” Rychcik said. “He obviously had an interest [in BU] because his daughter’s here and he wants to send good players here. April already had offers from [the University of] California and several other Top-25 teams, so we knew we really had to focus on her.”
For Setterlund, it came down to BU, California State-Fullerton and Northwestern University.
“I really wanted to go to a good school,” Setterlund said. “Cal State-Fullerton didn’t really have the academics I was looking for, and Northwestern just seemed a little too intimidating. Also, my sister-in-law just finished grad school here in the winter, so having her and Megan already here helped.”
Delgado grew up on the same block as Currier, and both attended the same elementary and middle school. Oddly enough, all three players went to different high schools. Currier attended Torrance High School, Setterlund went to South Torrance High School and Delgado opted for Bishop Montgomery High School.
As was the case with Currier and Setterlund, the Terrier coaches first noticed Delgado at the same recruiting tournament in Colorado in 2006, but with a different team.
“We saw Melanie with the Philly’s Gold travel team and we really liked her,” Rychcik said.
After Philly’s Gold failed to qualify for nationals, Delgado joined the Mizuno Pride. Like Setterlund, Delgado became a major recruiting focus for Rychcik.
While both Setterlund and Delgado acknowledged Currier having an impact on their decision, they also pointed out that the BU ace hasn’t necessarily made it easy on them.
“She was the first one to steal our jackets and stuff,” Setterlund joked.
Rychcik pointed out the benefits of having such a strong relationship with Lew Currier.
“It’s a nice connection with Lew because I can call him and ask if he knows about certain players from that area,” Rychcik said. “And if he doesn’t, he can refer me to someone he trusts that does know the player.
“A lot of times we’ll get a kid off a team and then the next summer we’ll get letters from other kids on that team saying they’re interested. So you start to get interest from the kids on that team year after year because you’ve recruited from that team before, like Melanie’s Philly’s Gold team. We’ve gotten some interest from kids that played with her on that team because they talk to her and she can tell them about BU.”
“I think it helps both of us a lot,” Lew said of his friendship with Rychcik. “It gives him an eye and an ear out here, and it gives me a program I can trust and tell my players about. He has faith in me and I have faith in him. I’m not going to tell him about players I don’t think are going to help him.”