Lexi Gaffney spent her high school softball career batting right-handed, but she felt change was necessary to make an impact at the next level.
Since learning to hit from the left side, the Franklin College sophomore outfielder has blossomed into one of the team’s most dependable players.
The Center Grove graduate chose to familiarize herself with the other side of the batter’s box in the months leading up to the Grizzles’ 2018 season. Working with assistant coach Brad Johnson, the process was slow and at times frustrating.
“It was a hard transition,” Gaffney said. “Just the movement of my arms and using different muscles. I remember my back hurting at first because of swinging a bat a different way.”
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Gaffney responded with a .388 batting average, a team-high 20 stolen bases and was named first team all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Franklin College advanced to the NCAA Division III regionals in Holland, Michigan, for the first time in program history, finishing with a 30-12 record.
Gaffney hits second in coach Brad Jones’ lineup. This gives her the opportunity to use her bunting skills in an attempt to move Grizzlies senior leadoff hitter Monica Collins, a Whiteland graduate, to the next base.
“Lexi has been at both ends of the batting order. She started the season second, went to ninth and is now back at second again,” Jones said. “We’re trying to figure what the most efficient lineup is for us right now, but her speed makes her a weapon when she gets on base, no doubt.
“I’m not sure Lexi knows just how valuable she can be on the field and how special her athletic ability is.”
Gaffney’s award-winning freshman season inspired her to continue improving the various facets of her game. And while the current Franklin squad was 13-13 going into Monday’s home doubleheader with Manchester, Gaffney is again hitting for average — she was second among Grizzlies regulars at .392 through the weekend — and using her speed once on base, where she has a team-best 14 steals.
“Being first team all-conference, that’s hard to live up to,” she said. “It’s motivates me more than it scares me because if I can do it as a freshman, I can do it as a sophomore, junior and senior. I guess that is the goal.”
