Proving that one is never too old to see something they have never seen before in sports, we present Doane Academy softball coach Sean Yackel.
“I’ve been coaching the varsity for 21 years now,” Yackel said. “And I’ve never seen a hitter like her come in as a freshman. She’s the best I’ve ever had at that age.”
“She” is Hamilton Township resident Maddy Rios, a freshman who was named Softball Player of the Year at Doane, a Burlington-based school playing in the Penn-Jersey Athletic Association. Rios was so good, that KYW Channel 3 News came up from Philadelphia to do a segment on her hitting prowess.
“Everybody said, ‘Were you nervous? You didn’t look nervous,’ but I was,” Rios said. “That whole thing was definitely a surprise. I wasn’t expecting that as a freshman. They told me a week before, and then I had to wait and wait for them to come up. Once they taped it, I had to wait for another week (before it aired).”
Fortunately for the Spartans, she did not dwell on her TV debut at the expense of her softball.
“I tried to avoid that because I didn’t want to overthink stuff for all those days,” she said. “But it was awesome. I loved it.”
The best news for Yackel, is that his upperclassmen were not jealous of a freshman getting that kind of a publicity, which can often cause friction on a team.
“This group of seniors was perfect for her,” said the coach. “I had four senior captains, and they were the perfect mix. I had nine freshmen and two sophomores with the seniors, who did a good job leading by example. They couldn’t care less about accolades and put the team first. If I had another group of seniors it could have went differently.”
The result was a 16-5 record and a top seed in the NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public B Tournament. The Spartans fell to Benedictine, 5-1, in their quarterfinal game. The Spartans’ nerves got in the way in the first inning as Benedictine scored four runs, and the teams played even from that point. Doane also fell to Morristown-Beard in the NJISAA Prep B tournament semifinal.
But with nine freshmen back, the future looks bright. Especially with Rios on board for three more years.
All Rios did this season was hit .569 with 33 hits, six home runs, six triples, eight doubles, 27 RBI, 31 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. She also played a near-flawless third base.
“She said she played third, I put her on third and she made all the plays,” Yackel said. “She maybe had four errors, and one of those was on a ball she dove for and threw away trying to throw the girl out from her knees. She’s very solid.”
Rios began her career at first base until a 12U coach suggested she move across the diamond because of her strong arm. That was met with a less-than-enthusiastic response considering softball third basemen are asked to play in close enough to see the color of the hitter’s eyes.
“She wanted me to play all the way up, and I said, ‘What if I get hit?’” said Rios, who now laughs at the memory. “But I’ve been there ever since and I love it there.”
Coming from Faith Christian School in Hamilton, Rios did not expect to have such a high school debut.
“I never had softball at my middle school and some other players on my travel team did, and I think it helped them,” she said. “This was my first year of school ball. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed my team. There was great energy with me and the coaches, that helped me when I was up at bat and fielding.”
Rios’ career began—with the help from her dad, Conrad—at age 7 when she played baseball in the Chambersburg Little League. The following season she played for the HGSA Hamilton Hurricanes 8U All-Star team before beginning an upward trek in club softball. Rios’ stops included the 10U and 12U Jersey Bandits, the 12U Jersey Nightmare, and the 14U Bucks County Lions. She is in her second season with the Jersey Intensity, and feels the variety of teams has helped her progress.
“I get a lot of feedback from different people,” she said, “I can try everything they give me, and I’ve been able to make a lot of friends with those other teams.”
Her resume had Yackel a tad concerned when he heard Rios was coming in.
“When you hear you’re getting this girl who played this high-level club ball, you think, ‘Aw man, I’m gonna get a prima donna,’” the coach said.
That could not have been further from the truth.
“The first day in practice we’re doing a base running drill, and she goes headfirst into third,” Yackel said. “She’s a great kid, she dives in practice, she practices as hard as she plays. She’s a great teammate. She’s actually like a coach’s dream. If she has a bad game, she’ll go out and take extra batting practice the next day.”
At 5-foot-6 with an athletic build, Rios’ most impressive facet is her power. But even there, she does not try to go for home runs in every at-bat.
“Her power is ridiculous,” Yackel said. “But the thing is, she’ll also go the opposite way to hit a single, she’ll take walks. She’s very disciplined at the plate. It’s rare when you’re that strong. Let’s be honest, if I could hit the ball that far, I would try to hit the ball that far every time. For her to be going the opposite way for a single and to take a walk, she’s got it all offensively.”
Rios said she has been hitting long balls since she was playing 10U ball, but doesn’t try to analyze what makes her so strong.
“I don’t know why, to be honest,” she said. “I guess just from working out and stuff. Now that the summer started, I’ll have some free time to work out that I didn’t have in school.”
She didn’t have that time because she also was the All-Conference goalie in soccer despite never playing the sport before, and also averaged around 7 points for the varsity basketball team after playing hoops in middle school.
“The first time my coach picks me up to go to practice, he asked me if I wanted to play goalie, and I had never even played soccer,” Rios said. “Usually they think the big tall girl has to play goalie, but I’m not the big tall girl who wants to beat people up. I gave it a shot and loved it. I’m just going to go on from there and keep doing it.”
Softball remains her main sport, however, and she is looking forward to next year with so many returning players.
Despite her athletic success, Rios does not shirk her classroom duties, as Conrad encourages her to succeed in everything she does.
“My dad’s helped me with school a lot, pushed me in all my classes,” Rios said. “When he sees that I’m just one point away from an A he pushes me to that. It’s more than just softball. But he also dedicated a lot of time going to extra batting lessons and extra workouts just for me to get better and that really helped with what I’ve been doing this year.”
The statistics will certainly bear that out. As will the TV appearances.
Hamilton resident Maddy Rios runs the bases for the Doane Academy softball team this spring. As a freshman, Rios hit .569, with six home runs and 27 RBI, and appeared on network TV.,
