Martin County West Star Maddie Carlson On Pitching And Playing Three Sports

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Maddie

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Okay, I think yeah, we're ready to go. All right. So welcome to the show. This is Newsmakers Podcast. I'm Mike Innis. Today I have with me uh one of my favorite athletes in uh Martin County West, and that is Maddie Carlson. And Maddie, if you've been following the paper at all, she's like the uh you can do it all. You know, so welcome to the show, first of all.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Oh, you're more than welcome. We want to get you on for quite

The No-Hitter Surprise

SPEAKER_01 0:23

some time. And uh when you pitched the sh the the no-hitter, I said, Oh, we gotta have her on. That was how'd it feel?

SPEAKER_00 0:31

It felt amazing. You know, I I had no idea though until the very end of the game. I'm like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

You didn't realize?

SPEAKER_00 0:36

No. I mean, I it kind of it made sense once I yeah, just go ending by ending. And so when Zig said it was a perfect game, I'm like, oh that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Yeah, right. Then I saw where you guys had a double header, was it last Thursday? Yeah, and you shut them out again. Did you pitch both?

SPEAKER_00 0:53

No, I pitched the first game.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Okay, who who pitched the second one?

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Sydney Cloud pitched.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Oh, Sydney, okay, all right. I didn't know who the other picture was. Yeah.

Choosing Favorites And Recruiting

SPEAKER_01 1:01

All right. Um, you know, talk we were just talking right before you went on, and I was asking you the question. If you guys know Maddie is great in volleyball, she's great in basketball, she's great in softball, and I asked her which one that she prefers. So I'll let you answer it again.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

I would say volleyball or softball is my favorite. Whatever season I'm in. If I'm in volleyball season, I'm like, oh yeah. Volleyball's my favorite. Yeah. And then if I'm in softball, I'm like, wait, wait, wait. Softball's my favorite. So I I go back and forth. I I love them both. I mean, I like basketball too, but volleyball or softball.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Sure. Well, okay, so I guess when you get ready to, I'm sure you're getting some college interest from different colleges. I mean, there's if you're not, I want to call a couple of colleges for you. But uh, where where does the most interest come? From volleyball or basketball or softball?

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Well, I've set up some recruiting profiles for volleyball and softball. But I've done more work with volleyball just because I have more clips and videos of me. Okay. So I've had more contact through volleyball. Okay. But I haven't put a lot of work in yet for softball.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Okay, yeah. All right. Well, you got another year to go. Uh Maddie, you're she's a junior. I remember at the first of the year, I had you down one time as a senior, and your dad stopped me and says, You promoted her. Like, hey, what do I know? So um, are you interested in going on a scholarship somewhere?

SPEAKER_00 2:21

I'm not sure yet.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Really?

SPEAKER_00 2:23

I don't know. Um, I think it'd be fun, but other times I'm like, I don't know. I'm a little iffy.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

What are you thinking for a career?

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Um, I kind of want to go into like maybe physical therapy or like speech therapy or like ultrasound tech, something like that. Like that.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Yeah, okay, you like that kind of stuff. All right. Well, you know, I'm just trying to think. I they can all apply, and you get a free ride. So that makes sense, right? Yeah.

Volleyball Intensity And Next Season

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Okay. So let's go back for a minute. Let's go back to volleyball for a second. Uh, we were talking with your dad out in the hallway, and I told him back in volleyball season, we have a photo where you're coming down, you're getting ready to hit the ball, and you're gonna spike it, right? The look on your face and the intensity, and I remember I said to your dad, I said, She's a beast. And I meant that the best way possible, right? Right. You know, and uh so what are you thinking about when you're playing volleyball like that?

SPEAKER_00 3:19

I'm just thinking, like hitting-wise, like go up and attack the ball. Like I really like, you know, reach as high as I can and like crunch down and just attack it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Yeah, okay. You know, because I I I enjoy going. I love watching you guys play. Uh I I love I don't you know what I like about volleyball is in basketball, you know, you have to have some height a lot of times.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

In volleyball, though, the setter can be, you know, look at what you guys have. And it's uh she can still be great at it.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

And and so I always feel like it's one of the it's like wrestling. You know, you wrestle in your own weight class. And so I feel like it's more fair to you know, I'm not very tall, and so it's it's more fair to people like my size.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Um you guys did really well in volleyball.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

We did.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

What do you what do you think next year?

SPEAKER_00 4:07

I think next year will be pretty good. We have almost everyone coming back except three seniors, so our setter will be gone.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

So Rowan filled in there, did she not?

SPEAKER_00 4:18

She was Libero.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Oh, okay. I see I don't I don't know what those different things are.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

So, but the rest, like most of our hitters, like Okay. Like five of our hitters are coming back. Okay. So really just our setter.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Okay, okay. So volleyball looks pretty decent. Basketball,

Basketball Lessons And Team Growth

SPEAKER_01 4:33

you guys were you guys were doing okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

We did okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah, yeah. You guys were, you know, you're in the middle of a pack type of a thing. Yeah. You you you see strengths, weaknesses?

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Um, Emily Anderson was hard for us to lose, you know. But I think uh we just need to like I don't know, towards the end of the season, I feel like, or you know, we just had to work at it. We had to like work together more. And I feel like we started getting that down.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was there one night, you scored uh trying to think like twenty or twenty-five points. I was keeping track and I was like, good night. You hit about fifteen, and I said, she's gonna hit thirty points, and I just kept on tacking them up. You know, and I was like, wow, way to go. Uh back to baseball or softball. Okay, so

Strikeouts Training And State Hopes

SPEAKER_01 5:17

you also you broke to 500 career strikeouts as a junior. And you've probably added another 40 to it so far this year. So you're well on your way to seven or eight hundred. Yeah. Feel pretty good, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Yeah. That was a bit of a surprise. I mean, I kind of remember like Zeke at our end of the season banquet. We have like stat sheets, and I remember seeing it was like 499.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Oh, you're kidding.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Yeah, but I didn't I remember seeing it then, but like during the game, I'm like, uh, no idea. No, no, exactly. So then when it happened, I'm like, I kind of sat there, I'm like, what the heck is going on? I'm like, oh, I'm like, okay. So I didn't know what was going on until I finally remembered.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Yeah. So I saw, I saw, I think it was on Facebook, uh a girl in Jackson. Just her 500th.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yep, I saw that too.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

You saw it too? Okay. And I thought about you when I saw that. I thought, ah, we beat her. And then, okay, so you also hit pretty well. You know, you you hit okay. You hit okay. I love the humility. I remember uh years before when we lived here before, we moved back, you know. I would drive by. We just lived three or four blocks from you guys. And I drive by and you and your brother and your dad are outside cane catching. I thought I thought he'd out there, he's working that girl.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

We were always playing catch, pitching, hitting all the time.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

You think that helped?

SPEAKER_00 6:42

I I think so. I mean, there's like pictures when I was like little, little, and I'm hitting off like a plastic T.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

So like ever since I was little, I remember playing bass or playing softball and baseball with my siblings and my dad. Yeah, so I think it helps, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm sure it did. You know. Uh so where do we go? You guys gonna take state?

SPEAKER_00 7:00

I hope so.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

I I mean, I think you have a real shot.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Our biggest um opponents are USC, obviously, right now. Okay. New Home Cathedral. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Um Have you played either one of them yet this season? Not yet, no. Oh, okay. I'm gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

We were supposed to play USC, but it got um postponed.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Are you all have a game tonight?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

We do.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Okay. Is that who is that with?

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Uh Great Aunt Lee's change.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Okay, okay. Okay. So it's not USC.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Not USC. Yeah. That's in a two weeks?

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Two weeks. Here or there?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

There.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

There? Yeah. Can we change that? All right. Well, I'm looking forward to that one too. I am. But yeah, yeah.

Trusting Teammates In Big Moments

SPEAKER_01 7:38

What about your teammates?

SPEAKER_00 7:39

I love my teammates. I guess they're the best. Yeah, they are in every sport.

unknown 7:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Most of them are the same in every sport, but especially in the field, they're always there to like back. I mean, I know they're always there to back me up. Yeah. You know, and like hitting wise, like everyone is so reliant. Like, I feel like throughout our lineup, um, everyone is like a quality hitter. And so it's nice to know that we all can contribute.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

And I think, didn't Rowan steal a couple of bases in this last game?

SPEAKER_00 8:04

She hit a home run yesterday.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

She did? She hit a home run.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

And yeah, we have like base runners that always do good for us.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

And well, too, you know, fielding. You wouldn't have a no-hitter without the fielder.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

No hits, no errors, like they have to help me out.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Yeah, yeah. It sounds like you did it all, wouldn't you know you have to have some help sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Yeah, it I always need help. I can't do it on my own.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Yeah, yeah. No, no, they're they're there's they're a good bunch. And you guys are tight because you play in all three sports together. Yes. Pretty much, you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Yeah. We're all pretty close. It's it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Yeah, it's a small school.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

It is.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

And you know, you guys kind of do everything together and you know, all for one, one for all, three musketeers type of thing, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Yeah, looking forward to it. Well, I you know, what else you got? What other sport do you want to be in? What else is golf? Well, no, no, you know, not a golf. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

I think my softball swing might nest it up, but I'm not good at it.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Remind me of a what was that show with Adam Sandler, the golfing group. Oh, yeah. You know what you're talking about? Yeah.

Travel Teams Prom And Staying Busy

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Um I play um for a travel softball team in the summer. Oh, you do? Yep, and throughout um the fall and the winter too. I didn't miss winter winter.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

So do you who are you playing for?

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Um Peppers Peppers National.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Where's that at?

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Out of Mankato.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Out of Mankato, oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

So I do that almost every weekend. We have a tournament every weekend. And then I played um this is the first time I played MC League volleyball, club volleyball. So this like through the winter and a little bit of the spring, I played at them.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

All right.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Busy all the time, but you guys are busy.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

You're really busy.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

You make me tired just watching. Well, anyway, uh, school good?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

School's good, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

You just had prom?

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Just had prom.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah, yeah. I saw the pictures. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

I went to two of them, so I'm a little tired out. You went to two proms? Yes. Oh, okay. Where where else? Medelia's prom. Oh, did you? Okay. All right. And then yeah, I'm still abused last weekend.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Okay. Oh, so you're promed out.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah. It was a lot of fun, but it was tiring.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Yeah, I bet it does. Yeah. Yeah. All right. School's getting close to being out this year already.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Next year I saw where when you graduate graduation is April 30th.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Yes. You see that? Super early.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Yeah, it is way early.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Yeah. So we're gonna be graduating then coming back to play softball.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Like for practice every day.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah. There you go. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

It'll be good.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

All right. Maddie,

Positions Beyond Pitching And Wrap

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Maddie Carlson, folks. She is uh you you you pitch, so what else? Do you do you play a different position also?

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Um I played third one year. What third? Um I played short the other day, like when it was double header. Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yep. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

A little bit of first base sometimes. Yeah. Just depends. Wherever.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

Where do you like to play in? Which which position is best.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Besides pitching, I would say I think third is kind of fun. I haven't played there in a while, but I think third is fun.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Yeah, third's fun, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

And you're right there close to the batter. I think it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

I know you don't have a clue who I'm going to talk about, but there's a guy named Brooks Robinson. He was uh Baltimore Orioles way back in the 70s. He was the ultimate third baseman. You ever get a chance? I I imagine there are probably clips of him on YouTube. You gotta check it out. He's he was running back. Your dad will know who I'm talking about. Oh, he will. Yeah. Brooks Robinson was great. Anyway, forget that. Okay, Matty. It's been nice. Thank you so much for coming by. Yeah, thank you. I've been wanting to talk to you, and now we had a chance. And so anyway, folks, uh this make a podcast. We've been talking with Maddie Carlson. And you can check it out, of course, if you're already listening, you know to go to martincostar.com. Otherwise, so uh tell a friend and uh let's give a listen. Thanks, Maddie. Thank you. You're welcome. Bye bye.