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If there is one tradition passed down from one Arizona Wildcats softball player to another, it is the NCAA tournament.

If there is one rite of passage, it is the first game.

So when you ask junior Jenae Leles if the UA's two starting freshmen know what to expect Friday against Canisius, she smiles.

"They have no clue," she said.

Maybe they do — at least more than most freshmen.

Brittany Lastrapes and Lauren Schutzler grew up watching their older sisters shine on softball's biggest stage.

Lastrapes, the UA's left fielder, watched from afar as her sister, Dominique, played for two Washington teams that reached the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.

Schutzler, a center fielder, traveled to two of older sister Lindsay's three WCWS finals games against the Wildcats last year. Lindsay Schutzler hit .392 for a Tennessee team that eventually lost to Arizona.

For both UA players, watching their now-graduated sisters reach the pinnacle of the sport makes the achievement less intimidating — but gives them more of an appreciation of it.

"When you're younger and you watch Arizona and UCLA go (to the WCWS) every year, you just think it's easy," Lastrapes said. "But with my sister, it showed how much hard work it took. It's not every year. It's not a guaranteed thing at all."

Interim coach Larry Ray said he hopes Lastrapes and Schutzler will use the experience to their advantage.

"I don't think it will be too big of an adjustment for them," he said. "I think the first time, it's just hard to explain. It will be an easy transition, I think."

Lastrapes has hit .360 this year from the leadoff spot, critical in a lineup where four middle-of-the-order batters — Callista Balko, Stacie Chambers, Laine Roth and Leles — have combined to hit 55 home runs.

Batting eighth, Schutzler has posted a .338 batting average and cut down on strikeouts. One month ago, Schutzler had totaled 30 whiffs. She has struck out only seven times since.

She credits her sister for helping. Lauren said Lindsay told her about her struggles as a freshman at Tennessee. Things were so bad, Lindsay told Lauren, that she begged her coach to take her out of the lineup.

"She's definitely helped me this year when I was feeling low," Lauren said.

That seems to be a common theme from both older sisters — relax, but recognize the importance of the moment.

"The thing my sister tells me is to make sure you leave everything on the field every game," Lastrapes said. "Because it might be your last game. You never know."

This weekend probably will not be the Wildcats' last. Lastrapes and Schutzler want to make sure of that.

"She definitely has given me advice about what to expect and to finish the season hard, because it gets really tough when you're tired and your body hurts," Lauren said of her sister. "But this is the best part of the season."

● Three UA players were named to the second team of the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All Pacific Regional team Wednesday.

First baseman Roth, third baseman Leles and left fielder Lastrapes received the honors — but it marked the first time since 1999 the Wildcats did not have a first-teamer.

In every year since the Pacific Region team was first named in 1991, the Wildcats have had a first- or second-team selection.

Arizona State had five players make the first team — Katie Burkhart, Mindy Cowles, Krista Donnenwirth, Kaitlin Cochrane and Catalina Foothills graduate Jackie Vasquez.

● Roth, the UA's leading batter with a .368 average, was named Pac-10 Player of the Week on Monday.