Chesterton’s Alexia Franco recalls something that one of her travel softball coaches said.
The words continue to resonate with her.
“‘You don’t want to be just good, you want to be great, because there’s too much average in this world,’” Franco said. “As a softball player, that’s really important — or as any athletic player in general.”
Franco has been putting those words into practice this season. The senior center fielder is batting .347 with a team-high eight doubles, the first two homers of her four-year starting career, 10 RBIs, a team-high 26 runs scored and a team-high five stolen bases after Chesterton topped Merrillville in a Duneland Athletic Conference game on Thursday to close the regular season.
“I’ve been hitting a lot more this year,” Franco said. “I’ve been consistent. I’ve been focusing more on little things in my batting. On top of that, defense-wise, I’ve always been a really good defensive player, I’d like to say.
“But it’s just been a lot more fun this year. I like being with this group of girls. It’s been really nice playing center field with them. The girls are really positive, and they really help keep the team up.”
Franco and the Trojans (11-11, 8-6) will play Valparaiso in the semifinals of the Class 4A Chesterton Sectional on Wednesday after the DAC rivals split two games during the regular season. Chesterton has posted its most victories since going 14-7-1 in 2019, the last time the team won a sectional championship.
“We can win sectionals,” Franco said. “We’re doing really well up to this point, and it’s definitely within our reach. We have to stay consistent. We don’t want to let that ‘want to win’ die down.
“I’ve just been going in with a good mental attitude. I like being at practice. I like being around my teammates. I want to do good for not just myself. I want to do good for them. I want to be a team player and do my best out there and really bring all that I can to this team.”
Franco has been at the forefront as the Trojans have pushed forward under first-year coach Erin Cochran. A 2001 Chesterton graduate, Cochran played for LouAnn Hopson, the late Indiana Softball Hall of Fame member who founded the program in 1984 and led it for 35 seasons.
“As a senior, she has been a great leader out there,” Cochran said of Franco. “She is very positive with everyone. If someone starts to feel negative, she always wants to bring them up and get back into the game. One-hundred percent, she’s been our best leader.”
Franco debuted for Chesterton as a shortstop but shifted to the outfield during her freshman season. She actually grew up as a catcher.
“I was catcher up until I was around 14 years old, and then bad knees and all,” she said. “They put me in the outfield, and that was my first time playing out there. I’m pretty quick, and it worked out really well, and I’ve loved it ever since. I love playing center field.”
Franco, whose younger sister Emilia is a freshman on the junior varsity team, intends to study dentistry at Indiana University Northwest and become either a dentist or a hygienist. She has already gained experience in the field during the past two years through a program that includes classes at Portage and an internship at a dental office in Chesterton.
“I get to assist the dentist or the hygienist,” Franco said. “I get to help them suction or perio charting, which is gumline charting, stock and sterilize instruments. A lot of things.”
Franco does a lot of things for the Trojans too.
“She’s done a great job for us this year,” Cochran said.