FEMALE BREAKOUT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Healthy Madick Stifles Opponents, Pulls in Honors

Whatever junior pitcher Shelly Madick did during the offseason to bounce back from her injury-plagued 2006 season, it worked like a charm.

Madick led the Ivy League this past season with a 1.50 ERA, was second with 148 strikeouts, and compiled a 16-6 record, helping lead Harvard to its first Ivy League title since 2001. For her performance, she was unanimously selected both to the All-Ivy First Team and as the league’s Pitcher of the Year. She was also named to the All-Northeast Region Second Team.

“I was healthy this season,” Madick said. “I wasn’t healthy last season. I did a lot of rehab over the summer, actually every single day I rehabbed my shoulder, which I think was the biggest reason why I was able to stay healthy during this season.”

According to Madick, her shoulder trouble last season was found to be a labrum that was “really worn down.” Although she didn’t miss any games because of it, the injury limited her effectiveness and durability. She ended 2006 with a 9-8 record, 88 strikeouts, and a 2.53 ERA. It was a decent campaign, but the stats pale in comparison to her performance this season.

With the shoulder healed, the Tarzana, Calif. native turned her attention to dominating the Crimson’s opponents. In the crucial year-end series against Dartmouth, with the Ivy League North Division crown in the balance, Madick shut out the Big Green in a 2-0 win in the first game. In game two, she came in from the bullpen with the score tied at 4 and picked up the victory when the Harvard offense broke through in a 9-6 win.

But the best was yet to come. Facing Penn in the inaugural Ivy League Softball Championship, Madick hurled a no-hitter against the Quakers in the opening game, a 4-0 Crimson win. Penn came into the game with a .301 team batting average, but only managed a single baserunner in the game.

“Shelly was unbelievable,” captain Julia Kidder said after the game. “Nothing was going to beat her on that day.”

Not content with the one victory, Madick entered the second game in the fifth inning and earned the save in the 4-2 series-clinching win.

Madick’s season ended in the Hempstead Regional of the NCAA Tournament. Despite not having her best stuff, the junior pitched every inning for Harvard, allowing just four runs over 15 innings against conference champions Hofstra and Albany.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win, as the Crimson lost a pair of one-run games.

Yet the playoff performance couldn’t tarnish an incredibly successful season for the Crimson’s star pitcher.

Besides the intense summer rehab, several other factors contributed to her success on the mound, starting with the team defense.

“I think [the] defense was instrumental in the way I was able to pitch,” Madick said. “I had a lot of walks early on in the season, and I tended to have a lot of walks in past seasons. I really worked to limit my walks, and I think the way I was able to do that was to throw the ball in the zone and trust my defense was going to make a stop.”

She also benefited from the depth of the pitching staff. Both junior Amanda Watkins and freshman Dana Roberts ranked in the top 10 in the league in ERA, taking a lot of pressure off of Madick during the regular season.

“It gives you a lot of confidence to know that you can start a game and you don’t necessarily need to finish the game,” Madick said. “You can go out and give your best every single inning and no matter if it’s three innings, four innings, five, six, or a whole game, you know that you’re going to have someone to come in behind you, and they’re going to close the game out.”

It all added up to memorable season for both the pitcher and the team.

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.