After a two-year hiatus, Maddie German just wants to get back out on the field. As a sophomore German, a 2020 Hoquiam High School graduate, was an offensive powerhouse for the Grizzlies softball team, boasting a .494 batting average with 5 home runs and 35 RBI while earning the 1A Evergreen League’s offensive most valuable player honor.
It was that same sophomore season where she was also named to the Washington State Softball Coaches Association Class 1A all-state team as a catcher, making her one of just a handful of underclassmen to receive the accolades.
Hopes were obviously high for the future. If a sophomore can do that much damage with her bat in the always competitive 1A Evergreen League, generally regarded over the last few seasons as the toughest league in the state, what type of gaudy stats would she put up over the next two seasons?
The answer never came. German lost her entire junior season due to an injury then last year’s spring sports cancelation happened due to the COVID pandemic. “My junior season I wasn’t able to play either due to an ACL and meniscus recovery,” German said. “I went to rehab three times a week just to get back on the field my senior year and for all of this to happen, and not getting a senior year is a real bummer. I was just excited to get back onto the field. I had such a good first two years of softball, I couldn’t wait to play again. When I was informed the season was canceled, I was very upset even though I had already prepared myself to not have a senior season.”
Fully healed, German is now more than ready to finally make her long-awaited return this upcoming softball season when she suits up for Everett Community College. “Their head coach, Randy Smith, reached out to me and told me he was interested in having me next year,” said German, who also stated her preferred position would be to remain behind the plate as a catcher. “So, I went and tried out and I loved their campus and I love the way he coached and knew that’s where I wanted to continue my career. The girls and coaching staff are so awesome, and I can’t wait to make life-long friends. The coaching staff is great. You can tell they are really supportive of the players and I can’t wait to be led by coaches like that.”
However, her comfort level and confidence in the Trojans softball program was not the only determining factor for German when she decided on Everett College as education played just as, if not more, into the equation. “After I visited their campus, I knew I wanted to go there,” she said. “They have an awesome fire science program to help me become a firefighter/EMT. The campus is beautiful, and the girls and coaching staff are super nice and welcoming. It’s a team that you want to be a part of, and I knew that the very second I walked into their practice.”
German suffered her ACL and meniscus injury during her sophomore season of basketball. She has already shown her resilience by returning last year and earning second-team all-league honors. She flirted briefly with playing college basketball during the early stages of her high school career but ultimately sided with softball. “I thought about maybe playing basketball in college in my early years of high school but then when I tore my ACL during a basketball game my sophomore year I knew I didn’t want to play in college because I didn’t want to risk my softball career,” German said. “I was very hesitant to play basketball my senior year but I’m the type of girl who can’t sit and watch any game. I love basketball but college softball has always been my dream ever since I was a little girl.”
An aspiration that will be fully realized once the Northwest Athletic Conference season starts up in late February. Everett, which plays in the NWAC North Conference, went 0-4 last year before seeing its season cancelled. The Trojans went 13-25 during the 2019 season.
“I can’t wait to play again. It’s been too long,” said German, who helped Hoquiam place third at state during her freshman season. “It’s so crazy to me that my next softball game is going to be college, but I am so ready for this next chapter.”