With the talented Katelynn Park expected in their lineup this season, the Madison Warhawks were aiming and had the potential to accomplish big things, especially during the postseason.
Park, a shutdown senior starting pitcher and outfielder who will play at Brown University, is no longer available, though. She suffered a serious knee injury late in the preseason and now will not play during this spring’s girls high-school softball season. That obviously was a significant loss for Madison, but the Warhawks have carried on well, so far, in Park’s absence.
Through April 21 action, Madison was atop the Concorde District standing with a 5-0 record and was 10-1 overall.
Park belted 10 home runs last season, when she was chosen the district’s Player of the Year. She had already hit three homers in Madison’s scrimmage games this season, prior to the injury.
“We were very optimistic coming into this season,” Madison coach Jim Adkins said. “We will miss Katelynn’s leadership and physical ability. That’s a big blow. But we are still confident in what we can do and in our lineup. Now, it will take all of them without Katelynn. We have been playing well.”
Replacing Park on the mound have been sophomore pitchers Ava Livingston and Sofia Marshall. The two have split time in most games.
“Those two were going to be our future pitchers. Now, the future is now,” Adkins said. “They are very capable. We have to play good defense and hit behind them.”
Through 11 games, Madison has been hitting quite well, averaging 10.8 runs per game.
There have been many top hitters, like Graciela Dominguez, Rachel Schlueter, Ayla Condill, Rain Castro, Amelia Deborja, Katrina Swan, Marshall and others. Marshall homered in a recent 16-1 win over Oakton. Dominguez had a couple of three-hit games in recent contests, with Condill having three RBI and two games.
Madison’s most recent wins were over Westfield, 12-9, and Chantilly, 9-6, in district games.
Against Westfield, Dominguez had three hits (two doubles) and two RBI; Marshall had three hits with a double and two RBI; Swan doubled, had two hits and two RBI; and Castro and Anna Mack each added one hit and one RBI. Madison amassed 14 hits.
Swan had three hits and two RBI against Chantilly and Condill and Castro each added two hits.
Livingston and Marshall each pitched in the wins.