Softball Player of the Year: ‘She’s a rare find’ Sophomore Madi Reeves made smashing debut this spring, led Yorkville to historic season

Jory Regnier and Yorkville softball had to wait a little longer than they would have liked to find out firsthand the kind of pitcher they had in Madi Reeves.

Regnier, the Foxes’ softball coach, only got to watch Reeves as a freshman last spring during tryouts and a few days of practice. Regnier planned to bring Reeves on Yorkville’s annual trip to Alabama, until the entire season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, Reeves wasn’t even listed on Yorkville’s preseason outlook this spring.

“I wasn’t sure what she could do last year, and in what capacity. We knew we had something special,” Regnier said. “She’s a rare find.”

If Reeves’ abilities were unknown to some, the word got out quickly.

The hard-throwing sophomore right-hander, that her coaches still kiddingly call a “freshman,” made double-digit strikeout games the norm, with 18 in just her third start. Yorkville won its first 12 games, and went on to win the Southwest Prairie West title in its first softball season in the league behind its precocious pitching talent.

Eventually, the 24-5 Foxes won the first sectional championship in program history, Reeves striking out 13 and taking a perfect game into the seventh inning of the sectional final.

Reeves, voted First Team All-State by the Illinois Coaches Association, went 20-4 with a 0.968 ERA and 341 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings.

“I was really happy about the season,” Reeves said. “I felt like we had a solid team, even though we had not played together because of COVID.”

That understatement seems to fit Reeves.

While Regnier insists that outside the lines Reeves has a ton of personality, her teammates jokingly call her “emotionless” for her demeanor in the circle. Reeves said that that’s a big change from when she used to hang her head at adversity.

“She is the kind of kid that flips the switch. She definitely knows when it is time to be all business,” Regnier said. “When she puts on that uniform she knows it’s time to get serious and focus on the task at hand.”

Reeves, who got her start with softball at age 6 in the Sugar Grove Park District, is serious about her craft.

She’s in her fourth or fifth year working with pitching coach Jill Waldron, doing drill work and making sure her mechanics are straight. Reeves for the past few months has gone to AIM Sports Performance in Schaumburg for weight training.

“I think I picked up three miles an hour after two months,” Reeves said.

Reeves said she has touched 68 mph with a pitch once, with consistent velocity in the 60s that is hard to handle. She started out with a four-seam fastball grip, but discovered a two-seam grip that constantly jumps, but which Reeves can better control in the zone. She counts six pitches in her repertoire, and when she gets one down she starts to add a new one.

While some pitchers don’t like to attack the inside of the plate, Reeves is more than happy to go there for strikeouts.

“Screw, up and in, I know where I have to put it,” Reeves said. “A lot of batters are expecting outside.”

Batters also maybe don’t expect a girl with Reeves’ modest stature to throw as hard as she does, but Regnier thinks she’s just scratching the surface.

“Her velocity is definitely on the level that most players do not see, something that is very rare,” Regnier said. “It’s not every day that girls are hitting 63-65, with really great up-and-in movement. She has a lot going for her, but I think she has untapped potential, as well. It’s unbelievable what she can do.”