FORTVILLE — As the Roncalli crowd chirped louder during the Class 4A semistate title game last month, Mt. Vernon’s Madison Taylor grew more intense.
Her stare widened as she paced inside the pitcher’s circle at Center Grove High School, but not from fear or pressure. Instead, her focus ignited from the competitive flames that consistently burn from within.
“Roncalli’s crowd was nuts that game. She was just feeding off of that,” Mt. Vernon softball coach Veronica Kirby recalled. “She loved it. It was one of those things where she was like, ‘Keep coming. You’re helping me. Keep coming. I’m going to answer back.’ She just loved that energy. It was a pretty awesome sight to see.”
If there’s one thing Taylor, the 2021 Daily Reporter Softball Player of the Year, despises more than anything else, it’s taking an L.
Nothing motivates the Ball State recruit more.
“I’m a huge competitor. I don’t like losing. It’s a big deal for me,” Taylor said. “I would have loved to have beat Roncalli and win state. That would have been a dream come true because whoever was winning that game was going all the way.”
In her first and final season as a Marauder, Taylor nearly put her team in position to chase down the title, a feat the program hasn’t achieved since winning state in 2000 at the 2A level.
Unwilling to go down without a fight, Taylor pitched a gem, one win away from a state finals appearance, striking out 10 through 9.2 innings.
Unfortunately, the eventual state champion Royals escaped, 1-0, in 10 innings at semistate, but it took more than Roncalli could have envisioned.
“I don’t think anyone truly believed with us being these huge underdogs, coming out and being that close in that game,” Taylor said. “That was the hardest game all year, but at least we gave all we had against them. At least it was a great way to go out. It was fun. Very stressful but enjoyable.”
The key word for Taylor was “fun” this season. Something she admits got lost in the swirling expectations of being a highly-touted prospect long before her first varsity game four years ago at Noblesville High School.
A transfer student during the 2019-20 school year, Taylor was in search of serenity after she left Noblesville.
The pressure had outweighed the enjoyment for a player who initially found her passion for softball by watching the likes of 2013 Women’s College World Series champion Keilani Ricketts of Oklahoma.
Reaching the 4A final four as a freshman in Noblesville while already being committed to Florida State before she could even drive a car, Taylor felt the suffocation both externally and internally.
Being at Mt. Vernon, however, helped her finally breathe.
“Honestly, moving schools for me was probably the best thing for me mentally that I could have ever done in my high school career. I absolutely loved it, going into a smaller community and being with a much different group. It was great,” Taylor said.
“This is the most fun I’ve had and not being stressed. Not being worried. From going to being committed to Florida State and being at a bigger school at Noblesville, there were a lot of stresses. It’s not even about being a bigger school. It just didn’t fit me perfectly, so being able to go to a smaller school, figuring it out, finding friends and ending up having fun and not being worried about every situation was good for me.”
The same could be said for the Marauders, who finished the 2021 season with at 23-6 record while winning their second sectional title in three years and first regional championship since 2002.
With 10 seniors on the roster, Taylor contributed as one of the team’s multiple leaders both in the circle and at the plate.
As a pitching ace, Taylor went 12-3 with a 0.65 ERA this season. Her 152 strikeouts in 96.2 innings led Hancock County and gave her 386 for her career. Her final career record is 42-14 through 338.0 innings.
Taylor carried a .375 batting average over two seasons at Noblesville in 2018 and 2019, and in her finale, she hit .397 with 24 RBI, 19 runs, two triples and five home runs for 10 in her career.
“I love hitting and I love pitching both, but pitching is my love for the game. I love pitching. It’s what I’m good at, and it’s more relaxing for me,” Taylor said.
A true two-way player, Taylor made a name for herself early on in her career with a stead arsenal of curveballs, screwballs, change-ups and rise pitches.
In her first varsity season with the Millers, she went 18-5 with 124 strikeouts in 135.2 innings before following up with a 12-6 record and 99 strikeouts as a sophomore.
“My freshman year, I had a great outing. I did well. I was the underdog that no one thought would be good enough to play. I went out and did well, we ended up losing at semistate, and I went through some stuff during that time. Played sophomore year and obviously, I didn’t play as well, but a sophomore slump is very common for a lot of girls,” Taylor said.
The external noise was equally the norm, and it slowly eroded Taylor’s happiness as time passed on.
“You have early success, and then there are just so many things said in situations. Not that people’s words always hurt, but you’re always constantly worried about being better than the other person or trying to relax in that situation because it’s only a game,” Taylor said. “Of course, it’s more than a game for me, but in reality it is just a game that’s meant to be fun. So, coming back and finding that was just great.”
Kirby and the Marauders offered Taylor the atmosphere she needed to thrive, and she responded by putting together the best season of her career, including two postseason championship-game victories and three playoff Ws overall.
“I got to play the way I wanted it to be with no stress and just going out to play to have fun. This is the first time in a really long time that I went out just to play and have fun and not worry,” Taylor said. “That was the biggest thing for me, and honestly, it was the most fun and one of the best seasons I’ve ever had because of the amount of fun that I had.”
On May 27, Taylor led the Marauders to a 13-1 sectional title game win over rival Pendleton Heights, which had beaten Mt. Vernon, 13-3, during the regular season.
Taylor struck out five Arabians’ batters in five innings before striking out 17 combined through the next two games as Mt. Vernon defeated Lawrence North, 5-1, in the regional title game on June 1, and Bedford North Lawrence, 2-1, in the semistate semifinals on June 5.
This season, Taylor had eight games with 10 or more strikeouts and only allowed 13 runs with nine earned overall. Her best performance was against Shenandoah with 14 strikeouts in 5.0 innings on May 11.
“Maddie is a great kid. She’s a huge competitor and feeds off that energy of that hate to lose attitude. She’s going to do what it takes to be successful and win and get it done,” Kirby said.
“Some kids are just athletically talented but don’t necessarily know the game. She is talented athletically and knows the game, which will only help her to be better. She’s an all-around athlete for sure.”
Part of her athleticism comes from her parents, Matt and Megan, who were both athletes in their youth. Matt was bound for Northwestern as a football player before a knee injury halted his path.
Her cousin Jackie Rinehart played softball at Stanford through 2007 where she was named to the All-PAC -10 Second Team as a senior and played on the USA Jr. World Team out of Reno High School in Nevada.
A former middle school and junior high basketball player, Taylor committed to softball once she reached high school in 2017-18, working with Steve Bunn, a pitching coach in Hamilton County.
Taylor earned All-State honorable mention as a high school freshman, and she played summer ball with Indiana Gators 02 for coach Louis Kissee, who she is still competing with this offseason.
When she’s not playing travel ball or school ball, Taylor trains in her family barn on her parents’ three-acre property that’s furnished with turf, tees and nets.
Unlike her spin rate, however, where Taylor truly honed her balance as a competitor unfolded on the Marauders’ softball diamond.
“One thing I had to learn was not everything goes perfect. It’s a life-lesson type of thing,” Taylor said. “You want every play to go perfect, but that’s the fun of the game also. Every game doesn’t go perfect.”
Perfection comes with acceptance of the uncontrollable, Taylor added, as well as never giving up, much like the semistate title game duel against Roncalli super sophomore ace Keagan Rothrock.
“Those are the games you live for. Extra innings, tight games, those are the games that are way more enjoyable than run-ruling some team,” Taylor said.
“(Being competitive is) a positive thing for me because it helped me be where I am now, but it can also be a negative thing trying to understand other people that aren’t quite as competitive. I’ve never met anyone that’s as competitive as me.”
The 2021 Daily Reporter All-County Softball Team
Madison Taylor, Mt. Vernon
Easton Wampler, Mt. Vernon
Riley Hasseld, Mt. Vernon
Macey Cox, Mt. Vernon
Samantha Booe, New Palestine
Kinsey Mitchell, New Palestine
Lexi Campbell, New Palestine
Alaina Miller, New Palestine
Sammie Bolding, Eastern Hancock
Caroline Stapleton, Eastern Hancock
Brooklyn Willis, Eastern Hancock
Kaylee Stewart, Eastern Hancock
Caroline Gibson, Greenfield-Central
Megan Wineinger, Greenfield-Central
Ella Redman, Greenfield-Central
Player of the Year: Madison Taylor, Mt. Vernon
Coach of the Year: Veronica Kirby, Mt. Vernon
Honorable Mentions: Greenfield-Central — Camillie Burelison, Ellie Ewald, Morgan Hornaday, Hannah Holden, Lilly Stewart. Mt. Vernon — Karlee Franklin, Molly Buck, Haley Kissee, Drew Fithian, Mia Robbins, Shelby Rakosky. Eastern Hancock — Madison Turner, Madison Stephens, Kaylee Kline, Emma Bolding, Taylor Koch, Grace Stapleton. New Palestine — Aglaia Rudd, Allie Blum, Kendal Calvert, Alexa Holman, Grace Paquette.
