Seniors on any team are important, and that is the same for the NIU softball team.

Carly Norton and Dani Parrish were members of NIU coach Lindsay Chouinard’s first recruiting class and they’ve helped instill the program’s ways upon the 2012 team.

“We’ve done our best to try and show them what Huskie softball is all about,” Norton said. “I believe they have grasped that pretty well.”

Parrish agreed with her teammate’s sentiments about being one of the team’s upperclassmen.

“It doesn’t take much to put them under your wing because they know the ropes, they know the standards, and they know what program we are trying to run,” Parrish said. “They pretty much follow your lead.”

Even though Norton has seen a dip in her batting average this season, she’s been a valuable asset to for the Huskies playing in all but three of the team’s games and having the second best fielding percentage.

“Carly is just an incredibly hardworking person,” Chouinard said. “Somebody that knows what she is passionate about and works hard toward those things, and just a positive person. She will be happy in whatever she chooses to do in her life.”

Parrish has carried over her successful junior season into her senior year. She’s the beholder of a stat line which features a .333 batting average, 23 runs batted in and tied her career-high in home runs with four.

“Dani is incredibly hardworking,” Chouinard said. “She’s obviously somebody that has had great success while being here at NIU, and was an All-MAC player last year. Those parts of the culture that we have been trying to create, that are based around hard work and becoming the best player you can become in this program. Dani has all of those qualities.”

Norton and Parrish are playing their final collegiate softball games as the season winds down. Both said they’re looking forward to getting their post-softball lives started, but are going to miss the challenge of playing collegiate softball.

“I am probably going to miss the grind,” Parrish said. “Not being able to say that you’re a student-athlete anymore and that you wake up every day to play softball; that will be gone.”

Even though Norton and Parrish will no longer be on the team after this season, the Huskie way they have instilled upon the young softball team will carry on for years to come.

“Both of their personalities will be missed on this team,” Chouinard said. “They have definitely done everything that they can to create a foundation in this program and that will be missed.”

Seniors on any team are important, and that is the same for the NIU softball team.

Carly Norton and Dani Parrish were members of NIU coach Lindsay Chouinard’s first recruiting class and they’ve helped instill the program’s ways upon the 2012 team.

“We’ve done our best to try and show them what Huskie softball is all about,” Norton said. “I believe they have grasped that pretty well.”

Parrish agreed with her teammate’s sentiments about being one of the team’s upperclassmen.

“It doesn’t take much to put them under your wing because they know the ropes, they know the standards, and they know what program we are trying to run,” Parrish said. “They pretty much follow your lead.”

Even though Norton has seen a dip in her batting average this season, she’s been a valuable asset to for the Huskies playing in all but three of the team’s games and having the second best fielding percentage.

“Carly is just an incredibly hardworking person,” Chouinard said. “Somebody that knows what she is passionate about and works hard toward those things, and just a positive person. She will be happy in whatever she chooses to do in her life.”

Parrish has carried over her successful junior season into her senior year. She’s the beholder of a stat line which features a .333 batting average, 23 runs batted in and tied her career-high in home runs with four.

“Dani is incredibly hardworking,” Chouinard said. “She’s obviously somebody that has had great success while being here at NIU, and was an All-MAC player last year. Those parts of the culture that we have been trying to create, that are based around hard work and becoming the best player you can become in this program. Dani has all of those qualities.”

Norton and Parrish are playing their final collegiate softball games as the season winds down. Both said they’re looking forward to getting their post-softball lives started, but are going to miss the challenge of playing collegiate softball.

“I am probably going to miss the grind,” Parrish said. “Not being able to say that you’re a student-athlete anymore and that you wake up every day to play softball; that will be gone.”

Even though Norton and Parrish will no longer be on the team after this season, the Huskie way they have instilled upon the young softball team will carry on for years to come.

“Both of their personalities will be missed on this team,” Chouinard said. “They have definitely done everything that they can to create a foundation in this program and that will be missed.”