Why She Plays: Jordy Frank

Going into her senior year in high school, Jordy Frank had broken school records, was named the Pennsylvania Class A Player of the Year and District 9 MVP, led her softball team to its second District 9 title in three years and to the state semi-final game, but she still hadn’t gotten looked at by any Division I colleges or universities.

“It was actually very stressful because I wasn’t getting looked at by anyone besides division III schools,” Frank said. “I went to some division II camps and I got letters from a lot of division III’s. Personally, I didn’t think division I was going to be suitable for me.”

When those doubts would creep into her mind, Frank would think back to six years earlier, the summer before her sixth grade year.

She was sitting at a desk during sixth grade move up day. The new middle schoolers were getting a look as to what they could expect for the next three years. During that time, each one of the students had to write down their future goals and where they wanted to be in six years.

“One of my future goals was to play Division I softball,” Frank said. “But that was a reach goal.”

It wasn’t until fall of her senior year when she went to a St. Francis University softball camp that she realized her “reach goal” from sixth grade could actually become reality.

“They were impressed with me,” Frank said. “So I started really looking into it and they asked me to come back up and talk to the coaches and that was like all right I’m doing this for sure.”

One of my future goals was to play Division I softball, but that was a reach goal.

Singing her letter of intent to play DI softball wasn’t the end of the stress for Frank, in fact, it was just the beginning.

At the start of her senior season, Frank decided that she wanted to change her swing to make it look more “normal.” That change led to a hitting slump that was only made worse when her future teammate and roommate passed away in an ATV accident.

“All of that together, it sucked,” Frank said. “That was the worst softball thing I ever had to go through.”

Still, the idea of giving up never crossed her mind. Instead, all she thought about was a conversation with her mom that took place in their minivan seven years earlier.

“I remember having this one talk in the car on the way home from a tournament with my mom and she said, ‘Jordy this is it. You need to figure it out and step it up because you’re going to be batting last and in right field for the rest of your life,’” Frank said. “I was like, ‘OK you’re right I do need to step it up.’

Seven years later, she took her mom's advice and stepped it up again. Not wanting to let her team down and wanting to be a good role model for the underclassmen, Frank finished her senior season with a .548 batting average, 56 RBI’s and 10 homeruns, including a homerun in the state semi-final game during her final at bat.

It’s just so much fun that if I were to just quit I wouldn’t know what to do with my life.

“At that moment I was just like, ‘this will probably be my last at bat,’” Frank said. “I tried not to think about that too much because that would have made me swing or miss or something. Right when I hit it I was like, ok I just started something, I think. That moment was pretty great.”

Frank’s entire softball career has been complied of moments like that. It didn’t matter if she was batting ninth and playing right field, or batting cleanup and catching, she knew it was something she always had fun with and something she always wanted to do; that’s why she plays.

“I like to challenge myself,” Frank said. “I always like to set a new goal. It’s just so much fun that if I were to just quit I wouldn’t know what to do with my life.”

“The day after we lost the semifinal game I sat out on my deck and I didn’t know what to do,” Frank added. “I just sat there and was like we don’t have practice, what am I going to do? I just kept walking around my house and didn’t know what to do, it sucked.”

While she waits to start her new journey at St. Francis, Frank continues to stay busy by playing catch with her brother and sister in her backyard, the same place her dad introduced her to the game fifteen years earlier when he would play wiffle ball with her.

My family and friends have always been so supportive.. that has kept and will keep me going.

“My family has always been so involved,” Frank said. “My grandpa coached my dad who coached Jack and I. So I think that has kept me going.”

It’s the love of the game her dad instilled in her in their back yard and the moments spent playing catch with her family that Frank will hold close and use as motivation as she starts her new journey.

“My family and friends have always been so supportive,” Frank said. “That and the general love for the game has kept and will keep me going.”