By Derek Turner
There have only been five times that a Division I softball team scored 17 runs in a single inning. Both of which were under the watch of CCSU head coach Jeff Franquet.
It’s significant for a couple of reasons: One, he’s the only coach in Division I history to be a part of two historic innings and, two, he wasn’t coaching the same teams.
The first occurred on May 2, 2004, while he was coach of the Jacksonville University Dolphins. The other March 30, 2011 when the Blue Devils defeated Princeton 19-4 in New Jersey, thanks in part to the onslaught of a 17-run inning.
Franquet took the CCSU head coach position in August of 2009 with a resume full of achievements both coaching and playing professionally.
“I really followed my dad’s footsteps, from playing fast pitch to getting involved coaching fast pitch. It’s really been a family tradition,” said Franquet.
He started coaching with his father as a volunteer assistant at Bucknell University and Lafayette University and it has been a family affair ever since. His first head coaching position at Freedom High School was just a starting point. During the same time, he was head coach of the Amateur Softball Association’s Yuengling Patriots where he coached and recruited 12 ASA All-Americans and won the 2001 National Championship.
Franquet’s college coaching career began at Central Florida Community College in November 1999 where; in only two seasons coached two National Junior College Athletic Association All-Americans and a NJCAA National Team player. The team broke 104 offensive records in his two seasons at the helm, and qualified for the programs first Florida Community College Activities Association tournament.
In 2001, Franquet took the first softball head coaching position at Jacksonville University in almost 20 years. The program folded in the early 80s, but in 2001 they called upon Franquet to restart the program. He developed the entire program from the ground up. He coached five All-Conference players and orchestrated the 28th highest scoring offense in the country.
His greatest success to date took place at Georgian Court University in New Jersey. From 2006 to 2009, Franquet led the team to the schools first ever NCAA tournament win in any sport after winning the first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) title. He also won conference coach of the year; the first of two awards. The following season he led the team to their first ever National Fast pitch Coaches Association (NFCA) top-25 ranking playing in the NCAA Northeast Regional and CACC championships.
Continuing with his philosophy of players buying into the system and continuing to go every year, in 2009, Georgian Court made it to the NCAA Super Regional’s and was one win away from the NCAA Softball World Series with Franquet at the top of the NFCA East Coaching Staff of the Year.
In 2009, Franquet accepted the job here at CCSU and in a short time has already gained the respect of the rest of the teams in the Northeast Conference. In his first season, 2010, the Blue Devils were picked to finish last in the preseason NEC poll and ended up with a 19-31 record, good for sixth in conference. In addition, the 19 wins were the most for the program in 16 years and the most since joining the NEC. Kat Knowles, Becca Mussatti and Sara Budrick were awarded all-NEC honors.
“Last year was one of the most rewarding, being able to turn a program around that has not had a level of success and we were able to instill that sense of pride, control the controllable, work hard, the commitment to the program, being loyal, following one goal…I’m pretty proud of that,” stated Franquet.
As the 2011 season is in full swing, the Blue Devils are tied atop the NEC standings in what may be a surprise to most, but if you have watched this team play, it is easy to see that they are buying into Franquet’s system and they want to win. A core of young talent, with a few veteran leaders will take this team as far as they want to go. They may be ahead of schedule this year, but if the trend continues, Franquet could lead CCSU to a handful of firsts.
“This transition we have made in the 18 months here at this program, is pretty defining of my career so far,” said Franquet who seems to be on the fast track to the schools first NEC tournament.