Parker Maddox has been watching the College World Series this week, and in a few years, he hopes to play in one.
With that in mind, the Columbus North fireballer committed to play baseball at Indiana University beginning in the 2019-20 school year.
“It’s 45 minutes from home, I like the coaching staff a lot and their facilities are really nice,” Maddox said. “It’s a great opportunity to get a great education, win some Big Ten championships and go to Omaha.”
The Hoosiers have been recruiting Maddox since last fall. He also had scholarship offers from Purdue and Ohio University and visited those schools in the fall and winter.
Maddox visited IU last fall, went to a couple of basketball games there this winter. After visiting the school last week, he made a verbal commitment.
“It’s a long process, and it was slow,” Maddox said. “Once they started getting on me (recruiting), this is where I wanted to go. Then again, I think it’s a good place to go to get drafted because I want to get drafted.”
This summer, Maddox is playing for the Indiana Bulls travel team. The Bulls played tournaments at Grand Park last weekend and this weekend and will play in Nashville, Tennessee and Atlanta the following two weekends.
One of Maddox’s pitching coaches at North is his father, Jason.
“I think it was the best decision for him,” Jason Maddox said. “He had a couple other offers out, and it seemed like it kept coming back to ‘I like the coaches, I like the facilities and I want to be a Hoosier.’ I think he came to that conclusion pretty quick, and it’s a good fit for him.”
Maddox’s fastball consistently was around the 87 to 89 mph range this season. He once hit 92 on the radar gun.
As a sophomore this spring, Maddox went 3-4 with a 3.57 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 53 innings.
“I know my stats didn’t look too good, but the teams were top notch, and I thought I kept the team in some ballgames,” Maddox said.
The Bull Dogs finished eighth in Conference Indiana and went only 12-12 in the regular season, but caught fire in the tournament. They won sectional and regional titles and made the final four in Class 4A before falling to eventual state champion Cathedral in the semistate.
Maddox and Casper Clark, who showed promise as a freshman this spring, figure to give North a solid 1-2 punch on the mound the next two years.
“I know we’re losing some seniors, but I think we’ll be as good next year,” Maddox said. “I think our pitching staff will lead us next year. We want to go win a state championship, keep winning sectional the next two years and win conference and not finish eighth place.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Parker Maddox” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Parker Maddox
High school: Columbus North
Year: Will be a junior
Position: Pitcher
Key stats: Went 3-4 with a 3.57 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 53 innings as a sophomore
College choice: Indiana
[sc:pullout-text-end]
