Although many fans of softball justify its growing popularity with the Field of Dreams quote, “If you build it, they will come,” perhaps the more appropriate saying when it comes to the sport is “if you film it, they will watch.”
Viewership for women’s college softball has skyrocketed over the past couple of years. Major networks like ESPN began broadcasting more games, including the Women’s College World Series. Since 2021, this event has brought in more than 1.5 million viewers. This is a number equivalent to, and in 2022 more than, the viewership of the Men’s College World Series for baseball.
The fact that softball games are a lot faster and more action-packed than some baseball games makes it a more dramatic sport for audiences looking to see impressive defensive plays and great hitters.
Such is the case for the Villanova softball team (6–0 Big East, 14–11) and junior infielder Ava Franz, whose recent defensive stops and home run hitting have garnered national attention.
On Monday, March 5, Franz made an impressive double play at shortstop against Central Florida. The play received the number eight spot in SportsCenter’s Top Ten Daily countdown the next day.
“That was really random,” Franz said. “I woke up and I got a text from one of my teammates saying, ‘Dude, I think you’re on SportsCenter Top 10.’ My brother just texted me that his teacher told him. [The team] had no idea. We were searching all day and couldn’t find the clip anywhere. And then one of my teammates’ brothers sent them the clip and that’s how we all found out. So when everyone found out it was pretty cool. I was super excited.”
In the play at shortstop, Franz made a leaping catch, robbing the Central Florida batter of a hit into center field, and then turned two. The runner from first base did not get back in time to retouch the bag. Despite her impressive performance, shortstop is a fairly new position for Franz.
“This is my first year playing shortstop, actually,” Franz said. “I played in high school a little bit. My freshman year, I started playing third base, and then I transitioned to second when someone got injured. So I wasn’t really consistently playing them. But all of last year, I played second, and I kind of felt a leadership role going into shortstop. That was a little stressful at first, but I’ve been enjoying it.”
Franz’s achievements this season don’t stop there. Last weekend, during the second out of Villanova’s three-game sweep of previous Big East Champions, Seton Hall, Franz brought the heat with a fourth-inning grand-slam. The hit ended the 1-1 tied game that eventually resulted in a 6-1 Wildcat victory.
“That was actually my first grand slam, ever,” Franz said. “I was struggling a little bit earlier in the weekend. And then to really come through for that and to do it against the reigning Big East champs was super exciting. And when my team needed it the most since we were down at that time. So everyone was super pumped just to be winning.”
And the wins keep on coming, with Villanova sweeping Providence over the past weekend in all three games, two of which ended in the fifth inning due to the mercy rule as the ‘Cats were up by eight runs.
Franz again showed her power hitting, as she capped her four-hit weekend off with a three-run homerun in the ‘Cats’ 17–5 win against the Friars. It was the most runs the team has tallied in a game since 1999.
With these six opening wins, Villanova currently sits in first place in the Big East, while Seton Hall is in fifth.
“It kind of made losing to [Seton Hall] last year in the championship hurt a little bit more, but just for a second,” Franz said. “It felt really good coming into this year, coming into opening weekend, and setting the tone. We might have lost to [Seton Hall] last year, but it’s a different year.”
Over the past four seasons, Villanova has been on a streak in the Big East tournament, making it to the finals and even winning it all in 2021 and 2022. But after last year’s denial of a three-peat, the Wildcats are looking to regain their top spot in the conference.
“We just want to set a tone and keep going for ourselves,” Franz said. “Stay consistent. One thing we talked about is not getting too low or too high. So kind of just finding that middle ground there and running with it. That’s the ultimate goal for the postseason: playing games and getting another Big East championship.”
