RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
There are athletes and then there’s Maddie Erickson, the junior from Oregon who hasn’t seen a competitive sport she hasn’t liked.
And dominated.
We’ve followed Maddie for a long time—she was in the Top 20 of our first 2022 Extra Elite—but, honestly, we lost track of her for a bit as she changed club teams and also battled back from a significant injury.
However, we’ve “reconnected” with her and, wow, have we been very impressed with what we’ve seen.
The pitcher/infielder wrote us when she committed last week to Michigan to say: “I am super excited to continue my education and have a chance to play at the highest level and for the best coaches in the nation! Being from Oregon and not playing for a nationally recognized organization has been challenging at times with recruiting, but I love being the underdog and showing those clubs that I have what it takes to compete with them.”
The Northwest resident added:
“Coming back from possible career ending knee injury during a wrestling match, I proved all the doctors wrong and got back to softball after a lot of PT. I played tackle football, wrestled, was No. 1 in the nation for discus, No. 4 in the nation for shot put, played basketball until I chose to wrestle, and played high school volleyball.”
And if softball, football, wrestling and track wasn’t enough, she’s also played volleyball and lacrosse!
In our initial profile of the powerful athlete, we wrote: “
Maddie is a big, strong and athletic prospect who has as much of a ceiling as anyone in the class. She has a great frame and the size combined with fluid athleticism that coaches drool over, not to mention the ability to swing the bat effortlessly with great speed through the zone. Derek Allister of OnDeck Softball commented after seeing her play: ‘Maddie is oozing with potential; I think she has the chance to be a monster prospect and she’ll play somewhere.’ The Oregon native pitches and throws a curve and rise for strikes, but it’s her hitting strength and power that puts her near the top of her class.”
Despite the obstacles she’s faced, Maddie sees the humor in being “under the radar” for a while.
“I have yet to play a high school softball game due to my injury and with COVID-19. One of my dad’s friends said, ‘Maddie might be the only kid in Oregon to ever get a full-ride to a Big Ten school without ever getting to play a high school game!”
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
Here’s more on the talented all-around athlete including the amazing story of the circumstances behind her commitment to the Wolverines!