Columbus North softball coach Ron McDonald said sophomore Maddi Rutan has the fastest exit velocity he’s seen coming off the bat, which makes it ideal for her to explosively hit balls long range.
That was on full display this year.
Rutan set the school record for home runs in a season with 15. As much as her hitting was dangerous for opposing pitchers, she was just as effective in the circle. She finished with an 18-3 pitching record with 1.51 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 125 innings pitched.
Rutan played a big role in what turned out to be a historic year for the Bull Dogs, who won 19 games in a row before falling to eventual Class 4A state champion Roncalli in the semistate semifinals. North set a school record for wins in a season by finishing the year 25-5.
All of those factors earned Rutan the honor of being named The Republic Softball Player of the Year.
“It’s really exciting. I’m really proud of myself and how hard I’ve worked, especially since we didn’t get freshman year (due to COVID),” Rutan said. “I’m really proud of how far I came in the years. I just thank my coaches for helping me through it because I know I couldn’t do it without them. They’re ones who got me there, honestly, but I’m super-excited. I don’t know how else to say it. I’m just really excited. It’s a blessing. It’s awesome.”
At the plate, Rutan finished the year with a team-high .473 batting average with 44 hits including 15 home runs, 11 doubles and two triples. She led the team with 45 RBIs and had an on-base percentage of .528.
Rutan was smacking balls over the fence regularly during practice at the Bull Dogs’ Southside Elementary complex, with some balls traveling as far the fence by the baseball field and the flag pole by right field of the baseball diamond, which McDonald estimates is around 300 feet.
Rutan started the year off hot at the plate by hitting eight home runs in the first eight games of the season, which finally got the attention of opposing teams.
“I can always tell from her swing and the ball speed coming off her bat, you can tell that it’s explosive. We’ve got several girls like that, but Maddi’s was way up there,” McDonald said. “I knew at that time if she got a hold of it, it going to go. Starting the season, she was just tearing them up. What slowed it down a little bit during the season was, they quit pitching to her.”
Her torrid pace in home runs slowed during the second half of the season, but her 15 home runs shattered Bailey Lofton’s single season mark of nine set in 2019. Rutan is only four home runs shy of breaking Lofton’s career home runs record of 19.
It’s fair to say, Rutan likely would have eclipsed Lofton’s record this year if her freshman season wasn’t canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In regards to her hitting, Rutan said she credits basketball with helping her stay in shape, and it works on her lower body muscles and endurance. She said she’ll lift weights when she has the time, but builds arm strength by doing a lot of heavy lifting when she’s working with her father Darren and his landscaping business.
Even when she has an off night at the plate, Maddi can be just as effective pitching.
Maddi works with pitching coach Ron McDonald Jr. every week, but took some weeks off if she had to pitch in several games during a week. She said she has a spin ball, which is flat on both sides and round in the middle. She uses that to work on her curveball and riseball.
“I’d go out into my net on my free time and work on spots and locations and spin,” she said. “I work hard every minute that I have. I don’t pitch every day like a lot of people do because soreness sets in, but I really do work hard when I get the opportunity to work.”
Rutan said it was disappointing to see Bull Dogs’ season come to an end, but is proud of how the team performed despite all the ups and downs it endured.
“I love my team. We gel really well together. We made it through as a team during hard times and with four people out due to COVID,” Rutan said. “We came back as a team at the end of the year. Our team got so much closer and the team atmosphere is absolutely amazing.”
For now, Rutan is enjoying a busy summer with her travel team, the Ohio Hawks.
North has the tools to make a lot of noise and have a loaded lineup for next year. The program has come a long way from winning only one game four years ago to being one of the top-tier teams in the state.
“We wanted to make a statement for our team because we weren’t even ranked to start the year, and now we’re ranked in the state,” Rutan said. “We came such a long way, and we just wanted to prove to everyone that North softball has gotten so much better over the years.”
McDonald also is optimistic about the Bull Dogs going forward.
“We’re looking forward to it,” McDonald said. “I think we made a lot of new fans. We still have a lot of new people coming out to watch us, and it’s going to be better next year.”
The Republic 2021 All-Area Softball team:
Maddi Rutan, Columbus North: The sophomore led the Bull Dogs with a .473 average, 15 home runs, 45 RBIs and 36 runs and went 18-3 with a 1.51 ERA.
Josie Lemmons, Columbus North: The sophomore batted .372 with one home run, 10 RBIs and 30 runs scored and led the Bull Dogs with 15 stolen bases.
Lillian Mackey, Columbus North: The junior batted .342 with four home runs, 21 RBIs and 16 runs scored and led the Bull Dogs with 13 doubles.
Kelsey Lovelace, Columbus North: The freshman batted .326 with two home runs, 19 RBIs and 20 runs scored.
Meghan Waggoner, Columbus North: The senior batted .314 with three home runs and 17 RBIs and went 2-2 pitching.
Emalee Heafner, Columbus North: The junior batted .325 with four home runs, 16 RBIs and 17 runs scored.
Kenzie Foster, Columbus East: The sophomore led the Olympians with a .564 average, three home runs, 17 RBIs and 28 runs scored.
Hannah Taylor, Hauser: The sophomore led the Jets with a .624 average, 16 doubles, five triples, one home run, 50 RBIs and 53 runs scored.
Paige McDaniel, Hauser: The freshman went 23-3 with a 2.11 ERA and batted .410 with one home run and 18 RBIs.
Kyra Meister, Hauser: The sophomore batted .495 with 23 RBIs and 47 runs scored.
Reagan Johnson, Hauser: The sophomore batted .478 with 12 doubles and 34 RBIs.
Dani Steward, Hauser: The senior batted .430 with 13 doubles, 33 RBIs and 25 runs scored.
Tori Lee, Jennings County: The senior led the Panthers with a .458 average, four triples, 10 home runs, 27 RBIs and 32 runs scored.
Delaynee McCreary, Jennings County: The junior batted .333 with five home runs, 20 RBIs and 25 runs scored and led the Panthers with eight doubles.
MacKenzie Bieker, Edinburgh: The freshman went 14-4 with a 3.42 ERA and batted .451 with 39 runs and team-highs of seven home runs and 44 RBIs.
Gracie Crawhorn, Edinburgh: The sophomore led the Lancers with a .623 average and had six home runs, 34 RBIs and 41 runs scored.
Genesis Munoz, Trinity Lutheran: The senior batted .618 and led the Cougars with nine home runs and 46 RBIs.
Bailey Tabeling, Trinity Lutheran: The freshman led the Cougars with a .621 average and 33 runs scored and had 11 RBIs.
Honorable mention
Brown County: Abigail Watson. Columbus East: Kerigan Greathouse, Julia Sitterding. Columbus North: Peri Foust, Lexi Heafner, Bailey King, Lucy Norman. Edinburgh: Kaitlyn Bailey, Kyah Streeval. Hauser: Hannah Johnson, Kylie Mack, Zoee Nading. Jennings County: Kenzie Matern, Shelby Wilson. South Decatur: Erynn Dyer, Loryn Pate. Trinity Lutheran: Kamzi Gross, Bailey Reynolds.
