Simpson’s very own senior Maddie Luderman has been named to the NFCA NCAA Division III Player of the Year Watchlist.

Luderman was excited to be named to the watchlist, yet she is more excited to see her team succeed. The softball team has an impressive record of 18-10 this season and hopes to win many more. 

“I love my teammates. I think they have pushed me way harder this year than I pushed myself in the past,” Luderman said.

Luderman is a team-first kind of player and attributed her success to her teammates and her coaches as they pushed her to work harder in practice and in games. In her fourth year at Simpson, she is willing to give it her all. Even with a slow start due to COVID-19, her resume is impressive, with a career-high of seven home runs her sophomore year and six more to lead the team her junior year. This season she has hit a career-high of nine home runs with 10 games left in the season. Altogether, she has hit 22 home runs in her collegiate softball career. With statistics like that, Luderman has received other honors, such as First-Team All-Region her junior year, but is aiming even higher this year. She is able to achieve all these awards through hard work and dedication to her sport, even when it isn’t required.

“We’re always in the batting cages or out on the field, doing a little extra work,” Luderman said.

She truly has a passion for softball and is skilled in many positions on the field, but her favorite by far is catcher. She has put up a fielding percentage of .970 and 113 putouts. She has taken a leadership role this year behind the plate as well. 

“I can see the whole field and what’s going on. I’m also the loudest when I’m the catcher, so I can sit there and talk to make sure my team knows what’s going on,” Luderman said.

By putting in the extra work and continuing to play with a good team, she has put up impressive stats that are soon to be record-breaking. Luderman, up at bat, has an astounding RBI (Runs Batted In) of 38 this season and is only eight away from the Storm record. In the Storms, last game against Central, Luderman cleared the fence at-bat and got her team a home run against the Dutch.

Luderman sets the Storm up for success with a batting average this season of .455. She has been a huge playmaker for the storm this year and will continue to give her all until the season is over.

The softball team has just 10 games left of conference play to clinch a seat in the ARC tournament. They will be facing off against Loras at home on April 22 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.