Spotlight- Fastpitch Pitchers (Part 2)
by- Coach Roth
2nd part of my Interviews with our Pitchers continues.....
Part 2 of 3
Maddie
Coach Roth's Scouting Report of Maddie:
Maddie has a newly developed, devastating Rise ball. She is great at pitching to spots. Exceptional command- allows very few walks. Nasty Curve that has awesome late movement. Always out working on her game and it shows. Fastball is deceptively fast late, ball zips in on the hitter in a hurry. Has most definitely All-State stuff. Her pitching abilities and work ethic should translate well to the College game.
Interview with Maddie
Tell us a little about yourself currently (what is life like for you at this date?)- I sleep in, spend a few hours doing homework, walk the dog, go to the fields with Sophie and my dad, lift, hang out with my family, and watch movies
State 2 or 3 softball facts about you that most people might not know. (List any accolades or some basic facts from your softball days)- My sophomore year we made school history, I’ve gotten all-conference awards since my sophomore year, freshman year we went undefeated:)
What age did you start pitching? I think I started around 5th grade
What age were you when you thought to yourself- “I can do this”? It was during the summer of 6th grade softball, we won the championship and that was when I started to love it
(4 parts) What was your favorite and non-favorite parts about each- practices and games?
Practices (what you liked)- Coach DiFonzo stretching with us, getting so much fresh air, pitching with Zoe, hitting especially with the little balls, taking fly balls with the outfielders, chats with Nesper
Practices (what you didn’t like so much)- running poles, it being so cold sometimes, conditioning workouts
Games (what you liked)- Trying trick the other team into thinking Zoe was the pitcher and I was the catcher, coach DiFonzo’s gummy bear stash, doing IO, striking people out, cheering in the dugout, the after game talk in right field
Games (what you didn’t like so much)- some of them being so cold and still having to pitch, when there were bad umps, losing was never fun
Name any goals you set going into your softball seasons- The main goal every season was to get to state, then I had personal goals for myself every game. One year I had the goal of having a 9 pitch inning- I got it and then soon after that had a 4 pitch inning, it was cool:)
What kept you motivated to keep you going through the tough times as a pitcher? The possibility of getting to play in college motivated me a lot. But also how much time I put in and how much my team depended on me and how people were looking up to me motivates me
What is your favorite pitch? When it’s working, riseball, but a good change up is hard to beat too
List a good softball memory- When I was just starting to pitch my Dad would go to the fields with me for hours and we would go through buckets and buckets of balls and even now, pitching with him is one of my favorite things to do
Favorite pitching drill- I don’t really know...
Favorite motivational Movie and Song- uh Rocky and Eye of the Tiger
How much pitching did you do in the offseason? I give my arm a break right after the season, but I pitched all summer and fall, in the winter a little and then towards the end of basketball I was pitching a lot
Is there anything you would have changed in your younger years of pitching knowing what you know now? I’m not really sure...
Give a tip or good advice for a young player looking to become a pitcher- Practice, practice, practice. Get the reps and don’t give up. Also be mentally tough because that’s half the battle
What are your thoughts and goals for your upcoming College pitching years? I’m super excited to be playing with people I’ve never played with before and that are really serious about softball. My goal is to win a national championship so I guess we’ll see
Add any other comments that may be helpful for younger pitchers- Just keep practicing, look up videos on what to do, and just get the reps. And when it’s getting a little rough, just take a breath and smile. Thanks for asking me the questions, hopefully my answers are okay...thanks for being such wonderful coach that cares. Pretty much all my pitching knowledge came from you and I’m so thankful for the time you’ve put into me and my pitching:)
Thank you Maddie! - Coach Roth
End of part 2
to be continued......