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Here’s our TLI for Tuesday, Jan. 18:
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EXTRA SPOTLIGHT
It’s hard to find a player with a more intense and diverse training routine than Tennessee Thunderbolts 2027-West C Madison McCallister, a Select 30 invitee. Let’s see what “Mac” has been up to:
EXTRA SPOTLIGHT Q&A
Name: Madison McCallister
Hometown: Salt Rock, WV
Middle School and future High School: Barboursville Middle School and Cabell Midland High
Club Team (age group): Tennessee Thunderbolts 2027-West 12U
Graduation Year: 2027
Height: 5-foot-2
Position: UT/C
Nickname: “Mac”
Twitter: @MadisonMcCalli1
Honors: National Junior Honor Society, WV State All-Star Tournament runner-up (2021), USSSA Select 30 invite and Women’s Fastpitch Athletes Association of America Softball Excellence and Leaders top 10 (2021).
Travel Ball Highlights/Fall Stats: 14U Waverly Strong Tournament champions; .250 AVG, .363 OBP and .947 fielding percentage.
Tell us about your travel team/organization and how you became involved?
I am very lucky to play for the Tennessee Thunderbolts 2027-West team out of Murfreesboro, TN. Our team is made up of girls from several states throughout the Southeast. They are a group of very hard-working girls with great attitudes that I enjoy playing with. They are so much fun to spend time with. Coach West and Coach Taylor challenge us to grow as players, but most importantly to support our teammates and celebrate in our achievements on and off the field. I love this. I’m relatively, new to the Bolts organization, but had an up close personal experience with them earlier this summer in Birmingham. They have been so good to me. I love that we are part of a larger organization dedicated to helping girls succeed on the field and as a person.
My prior team played Coach West’s team earlier this fall in a tournament in Chattanooga, TN. During that game, I nearly hit a ball over the left-field fence. About a month after that tournament, Coach West reached out to my parents, asking if I was interested in trying out for his team. I ended up playing for his team as an unofficial tryout in a tournament outside of Nashville. I was able to make few defensive plays in the field to help my team. After the tournament, he called my parents the next day offering the opportunity to play for him and the Thunderbolts.
Hitting. Reached a new PR today. 69mph exit velo. @Los_Stuff @ExtraInningSB @USSSAFastpitch @danie1scanlan @BrenttEads @SoftballConnect @tnbolts2027west @Ferdavis9113 pic.twitter.com/VZub8zYMk4
— Maddie “Mac” McCallister (@MadisonMcCalli1) December 29, 2021
You have pretty intense and diverse training program. Can you talk about your daily routine? Do you do something different in the winter?
I train year round. I usually, hit several times a week with hitting coaches, work out with a catching coach once a week, a fielding coach a few times a week and speed/strength/agility coach a couple of times a week. In addition to working out with my trainers, my travel team will try to work out a time or two a month in the winter/spring. Last, unfortunately, my middle school does not offer softball, so I play for a local REC league to get extra repetitions in the spring. My REC team will practice a couple of times each week until games begin.
Conditioning/speed/agility tonight @USSSAFastpitch @BrenttEads @ExtraInningSB @Los_Stuff @SoftballConnect @Ferdavis9113 @danie1scanlan @tnbolts2027west #boltsboom pic.twitter.com/vLZgpYLbLX
— Maddie “Mac” McCallister (@MadisonMcCalli1) December 29, 2021
What are you expecting from your Select 30 invitation?
I’m excited for the opportunity to meet players from all over the country and build relationships with them. I’m new to this experience, but I think their will be a lot of great competition to compete against and learn from. Also, I’m excited for the opportunity to learn from some of the best softball coaches in the United States. Most of all I want to have fun.
Fielding class @LalondeSoftball @ExtraInningSB @Los_Stuff @USSSAFastpitch @BrenttEads @Ferdavis9113 @SoftballConnect @tnbolts2027west #boltsboom pic.twitter.com/r60oOSLDuZ
— Maddie “Mac” McCallister (@MadisonMcCalli1) December 28, 2021
What should we expect from your club team this summer?
I’m excited for this summer. All of my teammates have been working very hard in the offseason. We have a good group of girls that have a team first before individual goals belief. I think with our hard work and team-first attitude, we will be a fun group to watch.
Do you have a secret talent/skill?
I enjoy creative writing and I’m good at computer coding.
What’s your most memorable softball story?
It was very cold my first tournament “tryout” with the Tennessee Thunderbolts. I stood too close to a propane heater in the dugout and started to feel my leg getting hot. I looked down down and noticed I burned a hole through my softball pants and nearly through my sliding shorts. Several of the girls and Coach West had a good laugh.
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