FROM ACROSS THE POND: Catching Up With Tufts Pitcher Francesca Colangelo

When Francesca Colangelo injured her knee at the start of the senior season at Lauralton Hall in Milford, she feared the worst.

One last year playing with her friends and schoolmates was certainly gone, but what about the rest, especially her future at Tufts University.

Thanks to a skillful surgeon, a caring coaching staff, and the heart, head and perseverance inside her own body, Colangelo returned to the field in time for her first season and she thrived.

In this week's edition of The Inside Corner Podcast, Franny talks about her injury, losing her senior year of high school and how overcoming it all made her not just a better pitcher, but a better person, as well.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to the Inside Corner, everyone. We are Connecticut's softball podcast with John Nash. I'm Rob Adams and great show coming up today. John, what's going on?

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Well, we are actually going across the pond, if you can believe that. And by the pond, I don't mean the little tiny pond that sits in the middle of Connecticut. We're actually going across the big pond, the Atlantic Ocean, all the way to London. Where? Tufts University rising sophomore pitcher. Francesca Calangelo is joining us from London. Franny, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 0:40

Hi, I'm doing really great. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

No, no, it's my pleasure. Uh, also on the podcast, Rob, no relation, is our Connecticut softball blog intern, Taryn Adams. Taryn, welcome back to another podcast. We taped one with you uh yesterday, and uh good to have you back.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

So, Frannie, let's kind of kind of start with you a little bit. You're a Laurelton Hall graduate out of Milford. Uh do you live in Milford as well?

SPEAKER_03 1:08

No, I grew up in Fairfield.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

So you grew up in okay, you grew up in Fairfield, that's fine. What what's brought you to England first? Let's let's start about uh why why you're over there, because it's not for Wimbledon.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

Yeah, so I'm currently doing a study abroad program through London School of Economics, and it goes for three weeks, and you study uh you have one course over the three weeks, and it's just a really nice way to um have like a study abroad experience. If you don't want to do a whole semester, you don't want to miss some of your season as an athlete, it's a really nice way to get that experience.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

And the reason we picked you for the podcast isn't just because you had a great freshman year at Tufts, it's just the the road that you took to get you there is one of the great comeback stories, I think, that we're gonna get to tell at least this calendar year. Uh, Rob and Taryn, what you guys may or may not know is that uh right before the start of Franny's senior year at Laurelton Hall, she tore her ACL. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Um, it wasn't my ACL, but it was a similar injury. So I dislocated my kneecap. And as I did that, I tore my MPFL, which is like a ligament that like keeps your kneecap in place. So I had to get surgery for that. And it's like a little bit less of a recovery time than ACL, but it's more or less very similar to that.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Gotcha. Okay. And was it your push leg or your plant leg? Because you are a pitcher.

SPEAKER_03 2:31

Yeah, it was my plant leg.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Plant leg, okay. So obviously you need that stability in there, that's for sure. Um, so let's go back to that before we get to the season at Tufts, because I know it was a special one for you and the jumbos once again. But to lose your senior year like that, when that happened, kind of what was your mindset? Was it devastation? Was it resolve? Or was it all everything kind of flowing into it all?

SPEAKER_03 2:57

Yeah, I'd say for me, at first I was obviously devastated, but once I got the like results um from the doctor and decided like what we were gonna do, I wasn't so much devastated anymore. And I was kind of in the mode of like, okay, like now you have to start planning of like how you're gonna come back from this and all the training you're gonna have to do. It was more of a sense of like being angry that I didn't have the control to train going into my first season playing college softball. So I just had to learn how to take it step by step and do everything I could to get back to where I was or near that.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

You know, Taryn's a rising junior at uh Cogenshog, and and I just can't imagine her getting hurt and missing a whole season, and yet yet you missed your whole senior year. How tough was that for you to know that your high school career ended in that one moment?

SPEAKER_03 3:52

Yeah, it was really sad because it's true, like for like every age you're at, whatever year that you really don't know the last game you're gonna play softball. So I didn't really remember like my last like full game, like the last season. I think I had one game before I got hurt um my senior season, and we were really excited for the season because we had a bunch of good freshmen and we were excited to see where it was gonna go. But yeah, I just think that it was like a lot to process in the moment, but I was really grateful for the experience I had the previous three years. I had a wonderful time at Little Ton.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

And and was surgery involved, or or was it strictly just a rehab thing after the injury occurred?

SPEAKER_03 4:41

Yeah, I got surgery May 1st of my senior year.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Wow, so this affected graduation, all the senior year moments, kind of. Oh boy, that that at least you have the memories of it, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Um and just talk about that rehab process and and how long did it take before you were allowed to step in the circle again and and start to throw.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

Yeah, so typically it's like a full full recovery of six months. So that would like lead me to like September or October going into college. Um I did pretty well like during my recovery. So I was able to like get off my crutches like a week early. I was like doing pretty well on that process. Um I throughout the whole thing, I think after like three weeks after my surgery, I was doing like tees or like arm circles or like spins to my dad and like sitting on a chair, like not moving my feet as long as I could like put pressure on my leg. And then the first time I actually pitched was a week before I left for school, like the end of August, I was able to like do like fully pitch, which was really nice to do before I left.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

And and when did you finally get back on the field at Tufts? Like uh, you know, was it the spring season? Did you get a little bit of the fall campaign in?

SPEAKER_03 6:03

Yeah, I definitely got um good work in the fall. I did I could do everything just more at like a lower intensity level. So like I couldn't be throwing like a hundred pitches like a bullpen at first, like I had to take it slow, but I was able to do full pitching. Um, I didn't do live pitching until like the last week, I think, just because of like reaction time and everything, but I was able to like work with the coaches, like use all the tools, so that was really nice to have.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

And obviously, you you got healthy. Uh, you know, tough's one of the best division three uh programs in the country right now. This past spring, you guys were 31 and 12. You as a freshman, as a true freshman, coming off the injury, what appeared in 25 games, you statted five games, 70.2 innings with a what is that, 3.86 ERA? Just what you know, did you expect to be that healthy and that good? Uh, you know, as a freshman coming in, did you expect to contribute this much to to a program like Tufts?

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Yes, well, definitely before my injury, I had I was very determined to be able to provide a lot for my team. And then once I got injured, I wasn't really sure like where I would stand still. Like I definitely tried to keep a positive mindset through the whole thing. And my coaches definitely helped me with that too. But um, once I was able to like see myself like towards the fall and winter when I could really like pitch and do everything, I knew that I would be able to provide it to my team in some sort of way. And honestly, it that like role for me like changed a lot throughout the season. But I was very like excited that I even after everything, it wasn't even a full year after my injury, and I was able to like play in the games and get innings.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

How difficult was that first phone call or first email to Coach Epstein saying, uh, coach, um hurt?

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Yeah, that was very scary. Um just because you never really know um how a coach would react to that sort of news, but obviously it's a very normal thing that happens to a lot of athletes. So I texted her telling her about everything, and she was just the most supportive person ever about it. And she was like, look, this happens all the time. It's better that this happened, you know, in high school, and you get to recover before you come here, and like we'll be able to help you with everything. And also, like one of her main points, which I loved, like this perspective of it, was that I've never had this much time off. And I had like technically six months off, like to heal my body from all like the reps of the pitching motion that like I'm usually doing like the entire year, and it actually really was beneficial to me. I was actually throwing harder than I was before once I was fully recovered just because of how much rest my body had.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

And it's funny as I look at it's not funny, but as I look at your stats, it was March 6, 2026. You you returned to the mound um against TCNJ, which I think is what, the College of New Jersey. Does that sound right? Your first game?

SPEAKER_03 9:12

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Yeah. Uh, you know, three innings, just one earned run, but you walked six. Was it rustiness, nervousness? You know, you struck out four, so you had some good stuff going. But what was that day like for you to to you know finally put on that uniform and get back out there in the circle?

SPEAKER_03 9:28

It was very exciting for me. Um I loved like it's always ever since I committed, I've I've been so excited to play for Tufts where the uniform, be on the team with everybody. So it was definitely very exciting, but obviously I was so nervous, like not only because I was a freshman pitcher. That was my first time pitching at the collegiate level, but also that I hadn't pitched in a game since before I was insured, and I like didn't really know who I was as a pitcher after my injury yet, like in a real scenario. So there's like lots of different emotions happening um in my head through my body. So it definitely I had to work out some jitters and rustiness in the first few games of the season, but it all worked out in the end.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Undoubtedly. And then did you feel 100% then, or or were you more at the 80, 90%, or or did the coaching staff at top say you're not getting on the field until you are 100%?

SPEAKER_03 10:26

Yeah, I think that um my coaches really emphasize like not like throwing till I butters like until I was 100%, or like in the fall and winter, just because they wanted to be very cautious of my injury. But once season started, I was very um I like made it known that like I was like ready to get in there and like I wasn't letting my injury like hold me back. So I think that you know, once the season started, I was like all in and I wasn't gonna let that be an excuse for anything.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Karen, I know you've got some questions. Feel free to jump in here.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

Yeah, I definitely do. Um so this was your freshman year, so it was your first year at college, and what was the transition from high school to college like? You know, it's difficult without playing a sport, but you did add a sport to the mix. So, how did you balance all your responsibilities?

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Yeah, so definitely being at a school like Tufts where the academics are very like high and prestigious, that was honestly more of an adjustment than like playing on a team itself in college. But you kind of learn just like through trials, like what's best for you. And a plus side of being on a team in college is that every single person has been through it and they could give you so many tips and tricks. They've been in the same classes as you, they can help you with the work. They know like what their teachers like. They know that you should study for this test more than this quiz. So it was very helpful like getting any advice from them. But it was definitely hard adjustment because I'd be spending like 10 plus hours a week in the library, and that just wasn't what I was used to before. But that's like how how you get through a school like Tufts.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Definitely good because you have like built-in um people to lean on with your team and everything, so that's good. And then um, what is your favorite part of your college team?

SPEAKER_03 12:28

My favorite part is honestly just being with them. Um, our team has like a very good culture, and every every single person on the team is like one of my best friends, which is crazy to say that I have 24 best friends. Like, I never thought I'd be able to say that before. So any moment, like not on the team, in the dugout, it's just so fun. Like anything, like my favorite part of the game is not even when I'm playing, is literally just cheering for everyone, like when we're hitting, and it's the funnest time ever. So anytime I get to like have time with them and laugh is the best time.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Um, and then for younger players, what is one piece of advice that you have for that?

SPEAKER_03 13:11

I would definitely say just to give yourself as much grace as you possibly can. That was something that um a lot of the older teammates on my team would tell me just to give yourself grace because it is a much bigger like adjustment and chapter than you really think it is in the moment. And automatically, like you're gonna put a lot of pressure on yourself as a freshman, trying to like prove your spot. Um, so just to give yourself grace in any moment you can, because everyone knows that you're trying your hardest, you're working your hardest. So be easy on yourself.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

That's all I have for questions.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

You know what I want to know, and and and I think Rob will get a kick out of this just because I know I he loves sports, he loves rivalries. But Franny, your dad played football at Williams. So how tough how tough has it been for him to become a fan of Tufts?

SPEAKER_03 14:06

None at all. He um he at first, like when I committed, he was like a little bit like, oh, like I'm still gonna wear my Williams football hat at your games. And I was like, You can't do that, dad. You can't do that now. But um he learned to love Tufts like incredibly amount. My parents came to every I think every single game. So they really were like full on board, and yeah, they're some of our best fans.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Yeah, purple and gold do not look good with uh light blue, do they?

SPEAKER_03 14:41

No.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

What what led you to uh, you know, you you're from you, you know, you live in Fairfield County, one of the one of the lacrosse capitals of the world, and and I always ask this of every softball player, but what led you to the softball field? What what got you involved in this sport rather than say track or or lacrosse or tennis or something like that?

SPEAKER_03 15:02

Honestly, my dad, like he I don't necessarily remember this, but he tells me ever since I was like five years old, like me and him would be like throwing a tennis ball in the basement and just like I was like doing something like that. And then I think that just like made me interested in it. You know, I played a lot of sports growing up, softball being one of them, and that's the one that just stuck. Um, yeah, I helped that my dad was like like my coach for a while and like my biggest supporter, so he always helped me like get better through the sport. But yeah, I just say like it's just the one that I love the most out of everyone that I played growing up.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

And of course, I oh I've always believed, you know, myself as a former coach that it takes a very, very special person to step inside that circle and and tow the rubber. Uh, what led you to become a pitcher?

SPEAKER_03 15:51

I honestly like don't remember the day I was like, I want to try pitching, but I I guess I just tried it out, and I guess I was just naturally had like the motion down, and I just kept working on it, and I I grew to love it, even though, yeah, it's a lot of pressure and it's a lot of time in your head, but it helps you through a lot of other things in your life, too.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

You know, and this certainly is not a slam at Laurelton Hall at all, you know, great school, a lot of great athlete, you know, great athletic program there. Not necessarily a super softball powerhouse in the terms of Cheshire or St. Joe's or something like that, but uh you also you know played travel. Uh your last team, I believe, was what, the CT Impact.

SPEAKER_03 16:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

What was that? What was that journey like through travel? Because I'm guessing as every Fairfield kid does, you start with the C, you know, Fairfield Little League, CT Fury, maybe. Uh just what role did the travel game uh play in in your improvement and your ability to get to college?

SPEAKER_03 16:49

Oh, it was huge. So yeah, exactly that. I did Fairfield Little League, and then I did Fury for like three years, and then in eighth grade, I was like, Dad, I need to like go to like a more legit travel team. I can't be in Daddy Ball anymore. I like I want to play in college, so I I need to like I need something different than this. So um I tried out for like a couple different travel teams. Um, I definitely wanted to stay with my closest teammates, which was a great decision. Um, and a few of us went to Connecticut Impact, and it's the coaches there are so amazing, like they're not only like so like skillful and knowledgeable, but they truly are like family and they care more about you as a person than winning a game, which a lot of people like lose in the travel ball world.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

And who are your coaches that you played for with the impact? Like, you know, I always every time I talk about the impact, I always ask this question, but who were the coaches that had the impact on you?

SPEAKER_03 17:52

I played for like most of the coaches. So um Kenya, the ward coach I played for my first two years. I then I but I was mostly with Craig Sears, who is like the head of the organization and Mike Santiago. Um and Craig definitely had like the biggest impact on me. Like he helped me throughout my everyone really helped me through my recruiting journey, but Craig was always the person um who gave like the best advice. Like he um I actually called him in the middle of my season, just being like, hey, like I need some advice. Like I've been like walking some people, like I don't really know what's going on. Like, can we just like talk? And we had like an hour-long talk. Like, um, yeah, he's just a very supportive person and um knows a lot about the game and really truly cares about it.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

And and what was it about tops? You know, what what made that uh what made you pick that school for for the next four years?

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Um I knew that like going into recruiting, I knew that I wanted to do um a D3 school because I wanted that balance of academics, athletic life, social life. Um, so that kind of narrowed it down to like a certain schools. I I really wanted a really good softball program where we could win titles. Um, I wanted to stay close to home so my parents can come watch me. So all those like different um priorities that I had, like narrowed it down to schools, and then I would always um email Tufts, a bunch of different schools in the Nescax. I'd go to probably probably went to like three or four camps, and um, I just fell in love with like the like the girls on the team. Like I didn't even know them. I was just I don't even know, like probably like a sophomore in high school, and just like watching everyone like interact with each other at the camps and all the coaches. I just knew that it was a really good culture and a really good place. And the cherry on top is at its amazing academics and amazing location right outside of Boston, so it all just went together.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

And and Connecticut's a little bit of a pipeline for them. Um, you know, looking at their roster, you get uh what is it, uh Marlon Madeiras out of Darianne's on the team, uh, a couple Connecticut, a couple other Connecticut kids, Aaron Hirsch out of Cheshire, uh obviously yourself out of Fairfield, and I think there's one more, Aubrey Nygard from uh St. Bernard out of East Hadam and stuff. So uh and I think they had a pitcher last year that was uh from Connecticut as well, right? They had a really really good idea. Yes, yeah. So uh so they're definitely a program that loves to recruit in Connecticut, it seems, and like you said, in the Nescaq and Division III. What was that like as a freshman to play in the NCAA tournament this year?

SPEAKER_03 20:37

Oh, it was so awesome. Like I think our team, at least like our seniors going in, they kind of like have the expectation to be able to play in the NCAA, so it wasn't really a shock to us. We kind of were like preparing for it the whole season. So it was a very exciting time, and yeah, I was very hyped for it.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

And what are your hopes and goals moving forward? You know, now that you've got a year under your belt and uh uh hopefully uh you know a year stronger, a year older, year more mature. What are you looking at for your sophomore junior and senior year?

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Um, I just hope that I can continue the great legacy of tough softball, be able to go to the NCAA tournament every single year, win at least an SCAC championship, and just have fun with my teammates at the end of the day, work hard with them and just enjoy every day.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

I think another interesting angle on this, again, as I look at the roster, is that the three pitchers that got the majority of the work last year are all freshmen.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

So I mean, are you guys a tight group? And then do you feel like you all complement each other in a vastly different so that you can inter, you know, you're interchangeable in games to throw throw hitters off?

SPEAKER_03 21:53

Yes, it was really special coming in all together and us all like coming together as teammates. Like to work together. Um, it was really nice because as you said, we're all freshmen, so it was all new to us, so we all really like leaned on each other and helped each other out. And it was really cool to see like all of us always like subbing in for each other. You know, if one girl had a bad inning, a f another freshman was to put in. So we really had to learn to be confident and not care that we were the freshman pitchers on the field and just lean on each other the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Was that easy to do, or did it take a little bit of time to get that confidence?

SPEAKER_03 22:34

I think it definitely took a little bit of time, but luckily we have you know great teammates, great coaches. We had like a lot of meetings with them, like talking about um ways that we can like adjust to being in season for the first time and like being able to get through games where maybe all of us or some of us aren't like on our best time because it is tricky working with like young players, especially freshmen who like didn't have prior experience, but um we always work through it, we always had conversations and like figured out figured out new ways to make it work.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

All right. Well, I've only got one more question for you. Rob and Tarran, you guys want to jump in with anything that's uh struck your curiosity?

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Uh my my only thing is I want to jump in on London for a moment and just what part of the city are you in and are you having a great time?

SPEAKER_03 23:26

Yeah, I'm having the most amazing time. I'm here with my best friend from home. Um we're living like near Soho in London. Um we're kind of like we're living in an apartment kind of remote. It's in Clerkenwell, and it's so beautiful over here. And yeah, it's I I love London so much. I'm so happy that I decided to do this.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

It's the most amazing place. John, that everything else you were covering for me, but I wanted to get that one little thing in about one of my favorite places in the world.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Oh, all I know is you covered everything for me.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Oh, perfect. I I know if you if you go to Abbey Road, uh Franny, you gotta take the photo crossing the uh road like the Beatles. Every time Rob goes to London, he does that, and I always see it on his Facebook page. That is true. But but the last qu but the last question I did have for you was you know, for for any kid that's out there that that's listening to the podcast that is maybe suffering an injury or you know, coming through an injury, you know, either worse than yours or even not as worse as yours, what advice would you give that kid uh who's who right now can't get on the field but wants so desperately to get back? What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_03 24:38

I'd say that it's always sucks to be in that position, but it's a great way to find out who you are as a person without your sport, and also that the only way to get through it is to just grind and like settle in all like the suckiness of it, because that's the only way you're gonna get to the other side. So just enjoy the process, even though some days you're gonna be upset, you're gonna be crying, but it's all gonna be worth it in the end.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Do you feel like it's made you a better person having gone through it, if not a better athlete, because you did come back stronger and better?

SPEAKER_03 25:11

Yes, a hundred percent. I I wouldn't like take it back, even though it was painful and it was rough. I think it was an experience I needed, not only like to become a better player, but also a better person.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Francesca Colangelo of Tufts University, a rising sophomore next year, played at Laurelton Hall. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm so so glad that you were able to bounce back from this injury, too. That that's you know, you never know sometimes with injuries, especially as a pitcher and the knee, and like you said, the plant leg taking a lot of pressure game by game. Congratulations to your surgeon who did such a great job.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Uh, you know, we certainly wish you the best of luck uh, you know, this upcoming season with the jumbos and as well for the rest of your career, and and we'll certainly keep tabs on you and uh let our readers and listeners know uh all the great things uh you know coming down the pike for you. So thank you so much for joining us. Now go enjoy London.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Fish and ships. You're very welcome. Go have some. All right, that'll do it for this edition for Taryn Adams, Sean Nash. I'm Rob Adams. You've been listening to the Inside Corner.