Madison “Pickle” Winker is a speedy outfielder and member of the 2022 Extra Elite 100 who plays at Christian County (Hopkinsville, Kentucky) where she’s been a varsity high school player since the 7th grade.
The All-American from Kentucky has blogged for us for over three years and in her first Inside Pitch titled “The Fastest ‘Pickle’ You’ll Ever See ” explained how she got her unique nickname!
Pickle is committed to stay in-state to play at the next level—you can read about her commit story to Louisville by clicking HERE.
In her latest blog for Extra Inning Softball, she talks about growing the game from the younger generations up and shares her experiences with a 7th grader we recently highlighted as a Top 200 prospect in the 2027 Extra Elite 100!
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When I get to Louisville, I plan on majoring in Business Administration and Communications.
With this, the goal is to start my own business giving lessons to kids of any age. But as of right now, I have a group of eight girls that I give hitting, catching, fielding, and running lessons to.
I call them “my littles.”
These girls have the world ahead of them and they are passionate about the game of softball. They work extremely hard to perfect their own crafts. I am going to write about all of them eventually, but first I want to give the spotlight to Addison Arnold.
Addison goes to Stewart County Middle School and is in the Class of 2027. She is a catcher, with a secondary position as utility. I fully believe the sky is the limit for her.
Addison has an extremely strong arm and bat for her age. Her transition and throw downs to second are one of her strongest assets. She is a very strong leader behind the plate with a softball IQ of someone my age.
Not only is she quick and powerful behind the plate, her framework is immaculate. She steals a lot of strikes for every pitcher she catches. In the past five seasons, she has caught a total of 360.4 innings and has only allowed 34 passed balls.
The quick transition and strong arm mentioned above has allowed her to throw 30 runners out who tried to steal on her. Every lesson I give, she asks every question she has and critiques herself before I can do it for her. She knows what to do in every situation; for example, when to throw from her knees and when not to.
She is one of the smartest softball players for her age group that I have seen so far.
Saying all of that, Addison is strong on both sides of the ball. She is a 3-hole hitter through and through. She has so much power every time she swings the bat. She is a gap-to-gap RBI hitter and she does that extremely well. I love watching her hit during lessons, practices, and games because her swing is award worthy.
She is the hitter you want up in any situation the game throws at you. She is extremely hard to front toss too because of her eye. I’m not the best front toss person, and she doesn’t swing at any of my junk. She knows the strike zone very well and picks up what the umpires calling within the first inning of every game.
In the last five seasons, her combined batting average has been .334. She pushes herself to be better on both sides of the ball. The sky is the limit for this one little of mine.
One thing that really stands out to me about her is her drive to create the best life for herself.
Addison is a dual athlete at her school playing both softball and basketball and maintains an A average in all of her classes. She knows her priorities already and manages her time like a grown adult would. She works hard at everything she loves doing and never lets herself get down. She is a player that I would want every girl on my team to look like.
Not only do I teach her, she teaches me too.
She is a role model for me at the age of 12. I strive to make her proud and give her the best example I can. I know she can do anything she wants in life if she just keeps pushing. She is a very talented athlete, an amazing student, and overall, she is a great kid.
I hope I stay in Addison’s life for a really long time. I want to see her succeed!
I want to be there for her highest of highs and lowest of lows. I see her as the little sister I never had. She is going to be big. She is going to shine very bright and do whatever she sets her mind on.
I’m excited to see what she does in her future and I’m ready to be the first person to ask for her autograph!
— Madison “Pickle” Winkler
