Martinez Wins Women's College World Series

The Women’s College World Series finals featured a familiar Daytona State College face as the Florida Gators competed against SEC rival Alabama.  Former Daytona State shortstop, Frankie Martinez, could be seen running the base pads for the Gators last week in this championship matchup. 

Martinez began her playing career competing on an elite travel ball team in Virginia, the VA Shamrocks.  She always dreamed of playing softball at the highest level.  She continued her playing career in high school at Westfield High in Centreville, VA.  It was here that she suffered a major injury, breaking her arm.  After a tough recovery, she signed on to play at the next level with Radford University.  As she was entering her sophomore season, Martinez elected to go a different direction and transferred to Daytona State College. 

At Daytona State College she was an impact player immediately.  Martinez, a workhorse, played shortstop for the Falcons and hit an impressive .376 with seven homeruns, seven triples, and 19 stolen bases.  Martinez was able to showcase her elite talents in the tough FCSAA Softball Region, earning honors as First Team All Mid-Conference and Second Team All-State.   

At Daytona State Martinez flourished, and caught the eye of some the nation’s premier programs.  During a fall scrimmage game against the University of Florida last year, Martinez demonstrated her talents grabbing the attention of University of Florida coaching staff.  After visiting their campus in the fall, Martinez was able to sign a letter of intent with the Gators during her sophomore spring season.

As a junior for the Gators, Martinez transitioned to the outfield and became an asset to the team on the base pads.  She played in 21 games in the 2014 season, scoring her first run for the Gators on February 8 against the University of Michigan.  Her first RBI closely followed, on March 2nd against Maryland. 

Martinez’s season was punctuated with a dog pile with her Gator teammates on the biggest stage in college softball, the Women’s College World Series.