When the UF softball team takes the field against Chipola College today, two Gators will know what it's like to be in the other dugout.
Seniors Le-Net Franklin and Danyell Hines played junior college ball for Temple College in Texas before transferring to UF last season. After playing contributing roles on the most successful team the Gators have ever fielded, the two hope to use the experience they gained at Temple to make an impact at UF this year.
"At the junior college level, we were the stars," Hines said. "And we've been able to take that to this level and try to excel at this level, too."
Franklin was primarily a pinch-runner last season, but she occasionally worked her way into the lineup at shortstop. Hines saw most of her playing time as a pinch-runner but has played several innings in the outfield during the previous preseason games.
Both, however, put up huge numbers during their time at Temple.
Hines finished the 2007 season second in the conference in hits (81) and runs (63) while holding the third-highest batting average (.433) and stealing the third most bases (38). The only person she fell behind was Franklin, who led the conference in all of the above categories.
Franklin remembers what it was like to play against top Division I teams when she was a junior college player, giving everything she had in hopes that her team could pull off an upset. Now, she's the one playing for a dominant Division I team.
"When we play them now, it's the same thing," Franklin said. "They're out there to play like it's the biggest game in the world to them, and that's good competition for us."
If the Gators are looking for competition, Chipola is one of the strongest junior college teams in the country. In May, the Indians captured the 2007 NJCAA Division I Softball National Championship with a 6-3 win over Northern Idaho in Plant City.
The doubleheader at home against Chipola will be the last preseason game for the Gators before the regular season starts Feb. 6.
The fall games give the team time to develop its chemistry on the field, and for Hines, that has meant providing some senior leadership for the new players.
Franklin added that the preseason helps the team find its identity before starting the long regular season in the spring.
"We get new players in who we'll need to be able to communicate with," she said. "It helps us get that gel and be able to play together as a whole."
