Recent North Penn grad Mady Volpe was named the 2020-21 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year and, in addition, was named to the MaxPreps All-American first team as well as the PaHSSBCA Class 6A All-State first team. She also was named the 2021 PaHSSBCA Overall Player of the Year.
It’s the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for Mady Volpe.
On Saturday, the recent North Penn graduate will travel to Conway, S.C., where she will continue her softball career at Coastal Carolina University.
“It’s a bittersweet thing,” Volpe said. “I’ve really been looking forward to it, but I didn’t realize it would be so soon.”
If the past is any indication, it should be an exciting four years for the standout softball pitcher who rewrote the program’s record books during her four years – but only three seasons – at North Penn.
A starter since she set foot on the diamond as a freshman, it doesn’t seem all that long ago that Volpe was making her debut in Myrtle Beach during the Knights’ annual spring break trip..jpg)
“I was on the mound shaking because I was scared I’d throw the wrong pitch,” she said.
Volpe didn’t throw many wrong pitches, and the Knights won 5-2. She has done nothing but win ever since, capping a storybook senior season with an 11-0 win over Haverford in the PIAA 6A state title game. It was the program’s first state crown since 1985.
“After (shortstop) Sophia Collins caught that popup in left field for the last out, I just remember seeing coach (Rick Torresani) run up to me,” Volpe said. “I had tears in my eyes because I was just so happy we could end it like this.”
Since that emotional state title win at Penn State University in mid-June, the accolades have accumulated. Volpe earned the distinction of the state’s best high school softball player with her selection as the 2020-21 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year, the first ever chosen from North Penn. The award recognizes, outstanding athletic excellence and also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character displayed on and off the field.
“Mady Volpe is clearly the best pitcher we faced, not just this year but over the past three years,” said Haverford coach Bob Newman in the Gatorade POY news release. “She has a great rise ball and change-up. She can really throw any pitch, but her rise ball is very tough to lay off.”
Volpe, who maintained a weighted 4.78 GPA, also was named to the 2021 Pennsylvania High School Softball Coaches Association Class 6A All-State first team and was the 2021 PaHSSBCA Overall Player of the Year. Most recently, she was named to the prestigious 2021 MaxPreps All-American first team, the lone player from Pennsylvania named to the squad.
“It’s been a crazy ride,” Volpe said. “It felt really awesome to win the last game of my high school career to win the state championship. You can’t get much better than that, and then to get all these accolades – I don’t even know.
“I’m just so proud of the whole entire team because I could not have done it without my teammates, the coaching staff, my parents, my family, my friends, everyone. It feels amazing.”
Volpe’s season stats speak for themselves – she boasted an earned run average of 0.68 with a 26-2 record that included 17 shutouts. In 174 innings pitched, she allowed 75 hits and 17 earned runs, striking out 335. She struck out 644 in three years.
She leaves North Penn with the single season record for strikeouts, earned run average, runs allowed and number of shutouts in a season.
“In 29 years of coaching – 21 at North Penn, I’ve never heard of the stats she came up with,” Torresani said. “For four years, the kid pitched every game except maybe two or three, and I don’t know how many games we were ever out of. She’s just an amazing kid, very humble. She never had an attitude and worked extremely hard in the offseason to get where she was at.”
Volpe’s high school journey began the summer before her freshman year.
“My dad dragged me to this North Penn summer camp for softball, and that’s when I first met coach,” she said. “I told him, ‘I’m going to be your starting pitcher.”
Volpe kept her promise, and it was a win-win for both sides. As a sophomore, Volpe led the Knights to the state quarterfinals where they lost to Central Dauphin 2-0 in 11 innings. One year later, the Knights were poised to make a state title run when the season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Coach sat us down and said, ‘We’re not going to be able to practice again,’” Volpe said. “I remember that feeling, ‘Oh wow, this could be it.’”
Volpe was one of only four seniors on this year’s young squad, which included four sophomores and one freshman in the starting lineup. Two of those newcomers – sophomores Julia Shearer and Brie Wilmot – joined Volpe on the PaHSSBCA first team. Volpe’s influence, according to her coach, was unmistakable.
“Even with practices and the offseason stuff – any time Mady had something to say, they all listened to her,” Torresani said. “We were a young team this year, and in the beginning, the young kids needed someone to look up to because this was their first varsity year, and they went to Mady.
“Mady would tell them what it means to play for North Penn, which for me was huge that she told them about the tradition. That really helped.”
The Knights rolled to the SOL Colonial Division title but saw their bid for a District One 6A crown end when they were upset by Haverford (5-0) in the quarterfinals. They went on to finish fifth in the district and played with a renewed sense of purpose. North Penn won six straight to close out the season behind the strong arm of Volpe, who threw six straight shutouts and did not allow a run in the final 42 innings of her high school career.
“We were just lights out after the loss to Haverford,” Volpe said. “I remember the conversation coach had with the whole entire team that was the turning point of the season – it was the practice before the Hatboro-Horsham (playback) game.
“He sat us down and he said, ‘Don’t let it be the seniors’ last game here.’ That stuck with me.”
The Knights defeated the Hatters 1-0 in eight innings in a hard fought must-win contest, beginning their remarkable run of six straight wins, and the rest is history.
Volpe leaves behind quite a legacy, but what she says she’ll remember most are the people she shared the incredible journey with.
“I’ll remember the bond I have with the girls and the coaches,” she said. “You can win a state championship, but it really comes down to good chemistry on a team. A few years ago, we had a really good shot at winning it, but we didn’t have the chemistry we did this year.
“(Leaving my team) is definitely going to be the hardest part because, yes, in college you can transfer, but you can’t pick and choose what high school you go to. It’s the area you live in. It’s just a really special team and something that’s going to stick with me my entire life.”
Volpe, who has just returned after competing in Colorado with her Chaos 18U Gold Spina team, will leave for Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
“My college coaches really wanted this specific class to bond really well so they wanted us to take a summer class and room with each other so we could become closer,” she said. “I’m nervous, but I have a really good bond with my family and friends, and I know they’ll always be there for me – just a call away. I’m excited to see what will happen.”
Volpe will return the first week of August to travel to California with her Chaos squad to compete in the Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) National Championship.
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