Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
All-Arkansas Preps
Maddy Prough among top spring sports athletes in state.
BENTONVILLE — Senior righthander Maddy Prough had to take on a new leadership role this past season for Bentonville, and she responded the way her coach Kent Early knew she would.
Prough compiled a 23-1 record with a 1.06 ERA and guided Bentonville to a state title en route to being named the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps softball player of the year.
BENTONVILLE — There were only slight differences between the statistics Maddy Prough compiled last year and what the Bentonville pitcher accomplished this spring.
The senior right-hander, however, said the biggest difference between the two seasons was something those numbers couldn’t reveal.
“Obviously, it was a successful season,” Prough said. “But it was definitely different from last year, especially with me being a senior. I had to take on a leadership role a lot more than I had to do during my junior year.
“Even though you’re a pitcher, you have a take on a leadership role all the time. But being a pitcher and a senior, I think it becomes a lot bigger role than people might seem to think it is. For me this year, it was a case of what I could do to help my team stay in the game and stay motivated.”
It was something Bentonville Coach Kent Early said he tried to “pound into her brain” before the season started. Prough responded by becoming what Early wanted to see — a “vocal cheerleader” in the Lady Tigers’ dugout.
Prough never batted once throughout the season, so she could have sat in the dugout and waited for her next time to return to the circle and pitch. Instead, she was at the forefront and led the cheers as her teammates took their time at the plate.
“In the circle, Maddy showed utter confidence,” Early said. “But when she was in the dugout, she has jumped around, cheered on and screamed for her teammates. She was doing those things that helped the team stay positive, even when we would talk between innings.”
Pitching, Prough never showed signs of being nervous or feeling pressure to do her job. She compiled a 23-1 record with a 1.06 ERA and helped Bentonville achieve its second consecutive Class 7A state championship.
Prough is this year’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps softball player of the year.
She allowed just 291runs (21 earned) on 87 hits over 139 /3 innings and struck out 233 while issuing just 23 walks. She threw 4 perfect games and 3 one-hitters this spring and she struck out at least 10 batters in 12 games — 2 of them coming during 7A state tournament wins against Bentonville West and Cabot.
What might have been her best performance came with the 7A-West Conference championship on the line. Prough pitched a perfect game against Rogers that day and struck out a career-high 19 as Bentonville claimed a 1-0 victory to avenge its only loss.
“It was just business as usual that day,” Early said. “We were just trying to do our thing, and she was in the zone. She was feeling it, and everything just fell in place. I guarantee you, though, she knew what was going on.
“All she talked about that day was about she was at 447 career strikeouts and how she wanted to reach the 450 mark. She reached it, then they kept on coming.”
Prough originally signed a national letter of intent with Crowder College (Neosho, Mo.), planning to play a year there, then transfer to the University of Central Arkansas. That plan changed and now she will enroll this fall at UCA.