Eye On The Prize

LAS VEGAS — In early August, Lori Franchina was playing in a softball game near her home in West Warwick, Rhode Island when she suffered a pulled quadriceps.

The injury forced her to alter her running style, which made her right Achilles’ tendon tighten up. So much so, in fact, that on a scale of 1 to 10, the Falconer native placed the pain level at an “8.5 or 9.”

“It was so intense,” she said.

But so is she.

It’s in her DNA.

Always has been.

“Nothing can hold you back if you have pride in it,” she said.

That was on full display in Las Vegas.

Franchina, 53, and her slow-pitch softball “Shots Fired” team qualified for the Senior Softball-USA World Championship (50+ AAA) earlier this month after sweeping a best-of-three series at the Eastern National Championship in Loudon County, Virginia in early August.

Once in Vegas, the women from Rhode Island kept their eyes on the big prize.

Sent early to the elimination bracket, the tournament’s top seed won five games in a row, including 15-8 and 7-6 championship game victories over fourth-seeded West Coast United of California. When combined with its Eastern National and USA National wins, it meant that Shots Fired claimed the Triple Grand Slam title, softball’s ultimate, but hard-to-get, prize.

In the middle of it all was Franchina.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to play,” she said. “I started getting as much treatment as I could (leading up to the trip to Las Vegas). That led me to do physical therapy and I ended up being able to be a hitter, but I could only get to first (base) most of the time.”

Limping or not, Franchina delivered, finishing the tournament with a batting average above .700 while driving in more than 10 runs. For her efforts, she was named the Most Valuable Player.

“My team understood I was there to do my job,” Franchina said. “Just hit and get it done. I couldn’t run fast. I ran out a few fielder’s choices, but I limped down that line quite a few times. … When it comes down to it, I love the game.”

Of course, overcoming physical injury is nothing new to the 1990 Falconer Central School graduate.

More than 30 years ago, while a senior softball player at Eastern Connecticut State University, Franchina was hit in the face by an aluminum bat that had slipped out of a teammate’s hands. The damage was extensive. All told, she suffered 32 facial fractures, including a shattered left cheek, two breaks in her nose, a broken palate and broken sinus cavities. The injuries ended her season and threatened her competitive career in athletics.

Well, guess what?

She overcame it all, and then some.

Since then, she has been inducted into four halls of fame — Chautauqua Sports, Eastern Connecticut State University, Rhode Island Slow Pitch, and Western New York Softball — and was a member of the winning 2014 SSUSA Triple Grand Slam team.

“I tell kids to keep trying, keep pushing, keep playing hard,” Franchina said. “You can’t quit on the game.”

Even if it’s only on one leg.