Butler’s Clement follows own path to commitment

As the son of a former MLB pitcher, it’s no surprise Madden Clement has grown a deep love for playing the game himself.

“I probably wouldn’t be playing baseball if it wasn’t for my dad,” Madden said of his father, Matt.

And while Matt Clement spent nine seasons in the big leagues, had five double-digit win seasons, and was All- Star teammates with the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, he never played college baseball.

Now, nearly three decades after Matt was drafted straight out of Butler High School, his son has decided where he will further his baseball career. Last week, Madden, a senior at Butler, verbally committed to Virginia Tech.

Madden Clement, a 6foot-2 left-hander, picked Virginia Tech over offers from Maryland, Pitt, Ohio State, Delaware and St. Joseph’s. Clement said his Virginia Tech offer didn’t come until July, but after a visit to the school with his dad, it didn’t take long for him to decide it was the right fit for him.

“About three or four days before [ committing], I was really thinking about colleges and I really wanted to make a decision. I felt like I would regret going anywhere else,” said Clement.

Clement had a strong junior season when he led Butler to the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals and was named to the PostGazette’s All-Area team. Clement went 5-1 with 57 strikeouts in 36⅓ innings and boasted a 2.69 ERA, and is now 11-1 in two varsity seasons. But Clement can swing the bat well, too, as he showed by hitting .408 with 28 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

“They like how I’m a competitor and how I have the will to win in me,” Clement said. “And obviously because I’m a lefty and that I have a lot of room for development.”

What’s interesting about Clement is that he took a road less traveled when it came to his recruitment and being “seen” by college coaches. Unlike a lot of players who end up landing at Power Five schools, Clement attended no national or regional showcases. He said the only showcase of any kind he has attended was a local one at Wild Things Park. Instead, Clement has focused on individual development with private coaches and putting it all together while playing with his high school and travel teams.

Clement’s approach served as a breath of fresh air for Josh Sharpless, a former Pirates relief pitcher who has been giving private lessons for more than a decade and has worked with Clement extensively as director of pitching for the Pittsburgh Spikes.

“Those showcases are great. No knock against them. I think they have a value, but it was very refreshing to not see a guy go to 20 different events and be tweeted about every other week. That’s a rarity these days,” Sharpless said. “He didn’t go seek the attention or try to get noticed. He did the old- school approach, worked very hard and went out and pitched. It was something that I loved to see.”

In addition to being Butler’s boys basketball coach, Matt Clement serves as assistant general manager of the Spikes, a staff headed by owner and president Chase Rowe.

“They’ve played a huge role in my development,” Madden Clement said of the Spikes. “I felt like I could trust the Pittsburgh Spikes organization. I know Chase Rowe, the head of the Spikes, and I know he can reach out to almost any college.”

Clement isn’t a flamethrower on the mound, but Sharpless said he expects him to excel in college through his “pitchability” and penchant for throwing his changeup for strikes consistently.

“I know the new age is velocity, velocity, velocity. Everyone is trying to throw 95 or 100 [mph], and that’s great,” Sharpless said. “But Madden is a pitcher. He is what I grew up on. He is from the generation that Matt and I played. He can pitch. He’s the best pitcher I’ve worked with as far as pitchability, having a plan, throwing his fastball to both sides and commanding it. Throwing his secondary pitches anytime in the count. He knows how he wants to approach hitters. I would hope that [Virginia Tech] would be giddy. He’ll do whatever it takes to win a baseball game.”

Back together

As sophomore sat Se wick le yA cad em yin 2018, Jett Roesing and Isaiah Smith helped lead the Panthers to a second consecutive WPIAL Class 2A title. The two then went their separate ways — Roesing to First Love Christian and Smith to Lincoln Park — but four years later the two will be teammates once again.

Roesing and Smith both recently committed to play at Chatham, which plays in the Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Smith played at Mount Union the past two seasons, while Roesing made previous stops at Duquesne and Rider. Chatham is coached by David Richards, who guided the Cougars to a 21-5 record last season and is 62-30 in four seasons.

First for Cross

Bishop Canevin junior Jason Cross threw for a touchdown and was a playmaker at safety in his team’s 21-14 loss to Steelton- Highspire last Friday. Two days later, Cross received his first Division I offer. Akron became the first FBS school to offer Cross, a 6foot-2, 165-pound quarterback-defensive back who some are projecting to play safety at the next level. As a sophomore, Cross was an all-conference pick on both sides of the ball for the WPIAL Class 1A champs. Baseball commitment

Upper St. Clair’s Peter Janoski (Seton Hill).

Basketball commitments

Lincoln Park’s Mikayla Newsome ( Siena Heights); Mars’ Annalyn Isaacs (Mount Aloysius); Norwin’s Adam Bilinsky (Mercyhurst); Shaler’s Haley Kostorick (Clarion); Southmoreland’s Olivia Cernuto (Gannon).

Softball commitment

Belle Vernon’s Maren Metikosh (Central Connecticut State).

Brad Everett: beverett@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BREAL412.