Maddi Doane: It's A Mentality

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – With opening day just around the corner, reporters circled around head coach Leigh Ross to gain some insight on what to expect from the Syracuse softball team in 2015. About to embark on her 10^th year with the program, Coach fielded question after question and when asked about the incoming class there was great excitement in her answer.

She highlighted Sammy Fernandez, a freshman out of Carmel, New York whose glove reminded Ross of Syracuse great and two-time BIG EAST Champion, Morgan Nandin. She singled out AnnaMarie Gatti a pitcher from Scottdale, Pennsylvania who came to Syracuse as the 66th best recruit in the nation. She then mentioned an outfielder out of Bolingbrook, Illinois with a tone of voice that piqued the interest of reporters.

Coach Ross bragged about Maddi Doane, an outfielder with "swagger" that would lead off for the Orange and was willing to run through a wall for her team. That "swagger" and determination drove the rookie leadoff hitter through an All-ACC caliber season.

"Coming from the travel team I was on, everyone was top tier. I knew this is what I've worked for the last four years and I was going to bust my butt to get a spot. My goal was to out-work everybody on the team."

Doane went on to specify that when she said out-work everybody, she meant it. Her goal was to make sure she was the hardest working athlete in the gym, on the field and in the batting cages at all times and would find time to put in extra work on her own when she could.

"I'm not sure I've met too many people who love the game as much as her," senior captain, Mary Dombrowski said of Doane. "She isn't lazy about it either. She's the one in the weight room or in the batting cages putting in way more work than anyone else because she wants to, not because she's obligated to."

The rookie attributes this hard working mentality to two key influences in her life. Her cousin and current women's soccer player at Western Michigan, Gina Maddi, took Doane training with her the summer before her freshman year of high school to Xtreme Speed, a training facility in which she learned self-motivation and how to push herself. She soon went on to compete with top-level talent on the Beverly Bandits as a sophomore through her senior year.

Doane admits that competing with her cousin and watching players like Jena Lilley, Abby Ramirez and Sara Driesenga on the Bandits is what drove her. "Being able to be around those personalities and understand that's what makes you good… I had a lot to look up to," said Doane. "The atmosphere I was in at home and with my team… How could you not want to compete?"

Fernandez may have been the first to pick up on her competitiveness in the preseason. The fellow freshman recalls Doane pushing her in 6:00 a.m., workouts and in practice. "When we're together it's very competitive. She wants to beat me as much as I want to beat her, meanwhile that's helping both of us push ourselves." Fernandez said, "We're like a duo. If I'm struggling, she works harder to lift us up and if she's struggling, I try harder to make up for it."

On February 6, Doane and Fernandez lit up The Dome at Rosemont on Opening Day and Doane found herself as the role model for current Bandits as they watched on with her family and former teammates. She finished the five-game stretch in Illinois with a .400 batting average, five runs scored, four runs batted in, two doubles, a triple and four walks including a perfect three-for-three performance in the season opener.

Her success continued as she went on to hit above .300 for the first 14 games of the season. However, as the offense struggled she began to press, resulting in a 13-game slump in which she found support from hitting coach, Matt Nandin and teammates Dombrowski and Fernandez.

Coach Nandin inspired Doane to start a hitting journal in order to get her feelings on paper and better track her feelings and thoughts through her ups and downs at the plate. Fernandez continued to hit above .300 and serve as the catalyst for the offense while senior captain, Dombrowski became Doane's newest role model as the two bonded on long plane rides and road trips through the first two months of play.

"She knows what to say and when to say it." Doane said of Dombrowski. "We would sit on planes and talk for hours about our lives and it was always great to just have someone to listen … I don't even know if she knows she did, but she played a pretty big part in how I've grown this year."

With support, hard work and determination, Doane broke out of her slump with a three-for-five effort with two doubles, a triple, five runs batted in and two runs scored in the series opener against Louisville. She went on to hit .377 in the final 20 games of the season with eight doubles, a triple, three home runs, 20 runs batted in and 18 runs scored.

The hot-streak led to a final batting average of .312 with a .513 slugging percentage and a .396 on-base percentage. Doane led the Orange with 48 hits in 154 at-bats with 32 runs scored and 30 runs batted in with the help of 16 doubles, three triples and three home runs. Her 16 doubles ranked her 26^th in the nation in doubles per game and was the sixth most among freshmen in the country. 34842

Despite solid statistical numbers overall it was her play in key moments that set her apart from the rest. Against conference opponents she was arguably Syracuse's best player as she slashed .393/.625/.477 with 22 hits in 56 at-bats, 17 runs batted in and 11 runs scored with five doubles, a triple and two home runs. When the game was on the line she performed even better, hitting .308 with two outs, .362 as the leadoff, .431 with runners on, .529 with runners in scoring position, and .571 with the bases loaded.

The season overall was one of the finest in Syracuse history as she recorded the third most doubles in a single season (16), is tied for fifth in triples in a single season (3) and seventh in extra base hits (22). With that said it was one of the best seasons by a freshman at Syracuse as her rookie season ranks her fourth in runs scored, tied for fifth in runs batted in, second in doubles and triples, tied for fourth in total bases and her nine-game hitting streak is the fourth longest recorded by an Orange in her first season.

When asked to reflect on her season she responded, "My one goal was to out-work everybody and I definitely pushed myself throughout the season to do so. Working in the weight room, extra work, hitting by myself … those lead to the numbers … I try not to focus on the numbers as much as what's going to get me to the numbers."

"Maddi has stepped in as a leader for this program as a freshman not only by producing on the field but by demonstrating the work ethic that should be expected from an ACC student-athlete," Coach Ross said of her freshman's season. "She's a great teammate and an unbelievably coachable kid."

Syracuse fell just short of the playoffs, missing post-season play for the first time since 2004 and for the first time in Coach Ross' tenure. However with most of Syracuse's top players returning, Doane has no plans of missing the post season again.

"We never want to feel this way again," she said. "That's what's going to drive me this summer and through next season."

In fact, she and Fernandez see a bright future for their program in the years to come. "We talk about coming together and making this program something special," Doane said. "Jenna Caira's class did it. They took their team to levels that surpassed what everybody thought they could. They were a top 25 team and she led them. So we say, 'Why can't we'".

Hoping to achieve what the greatest teams in Syracuse history have achieved and elevating her game to the highest level Syracuse has ever seen a la Jenna Caira, is a tall task ahead of the Syracuse's young leader. However, it wouldn't be the first time Doane has overcome an obstacle and achieved something she's set her mind to.

Syracuse University Athletics

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