ROGERS -- Maddie Massanelli made up for lost time in a big way this season.
The Rogers High pitcher suffered a foot injury her sophomore year and missed most of the 2014 season. When she did return, Massanelli could only hit. She resumed pitching this past January and quickly became a dominating figure both in the circle and at the plate.
Massanelli (10-3, 1.38 ERA) went 7-0 in 7A-West Conference games with a 1.05 ERA and she hit .381 with 21 RBIs as the Lady Mounties (21-8) won the conference championship with a 13-1 record after winning the first 12 league games.
For her efforts, Massanelli is the All-Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Softball Player of the Year.
Massanelli, who will be a senior next season, said not pitching in 2014 and only hitting for part of the season motivated her to work hard in the offseason.
"It's hard for any athlete to miss time with their team," she said. "As soon as I got the opportunity, I started working hard to get ready for this year. These girls pushed me and we worked together.
"The deciding game for me was when we beat North Little Rock early on. It was one of our first games of the season, and after that I knew myself and our team could handle anything together."
Rogers coach Mike Harper said Massanelli is one of the top complete players -- pitching and hitting -- that he has coached in his 17 seasons as the Lady Mounties' coach.
"Maddie had one bad outing all year long," Harper said. "She was especially dominating inside the conference. It was remarkable because she had surgery in the fall."
Sports on 06/12/2015