By Rick Assad
For three full seasons, Burbank High softball ace pitcher Maddison Kellogg has been successful and determined.
During that time, the senior has amassed 482 strikeouts, with 138 walks, has a cumulative earned-run average of 1.44 and has posted a winning record in two of the three campaigns.
Last year as a junior, Kellogg had an ERA of 0.30 and went 8-5 with 166 strikeouts and 27 walks over 92 and two-third innings for a team that went 12-13 and 5-2 for fourth place in the Pacific League.
On Tuesday afternoon at the campus quad and surrounded by teammates, family, friends, coaches and the athletic director, signed her Letter of Intent to attend California Baptist University in Riverside.
“I felt like CBU was a perfect fit for me,” said Kellogg, who carved out an 11-10 record with a 1.86 ERA as a sophomore and had a career-best 175 strikeouts with 65 walks in 147 innings. “I fell in love with the coaching staff and also the academic part and the campus.”
In all three seasons that Kellogg has been on the team, the Bulldogs made the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs, but each time lost in the first round.
Javier Rojas is the first-year Burbank softball coach and is glad that Kellogg is going to play in college.
“She was the Pitcher of The Year in the league last year and she’s so respectful and well spoken,” he said of the flamethrower. “Both of her parents did so well in raising her.”
Rojas spoke about what makes Kellogg stand apart.
“It’s a pleasure coaching Maddison. She’s definitely elite,” he said. “She wants to be the best and when you want to be the best, you work at everything in your game.”
Alli McKain is Burbank’s athletic director and oversaw the event.
“Athletic Signing Day is an important event for Burbank High because it fosters school spirit and helps to create a sense of belonging and school community,” she said. “Today’s Signing Day not only generated interest in softball, but also high school athletics as a whole.”
McKain knows that high school sports can be a springboard to playing at the next level for many students.
“This event provides an opportunity for me, as athletic director, to honor the student-athlete for their culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and passion for their sport while representing Burbank High,” she said. “It is my hope that as a student-athlete they continue to pursue their collegiate careers, they maintain the same focus and drive gritted in determination that they gave to our school.”
McKain then added: “Their hunger for success will propel them forward through life. The lessons that are learned in high school sports will undoubtedly help our scholar-athletes to embrace the challenges that lie ahead and to reflect on those moments as opportunities for development,” she noted. “Student-athletes are a valuable part of our school, and they are loved by our school, and they are loved by school administrators, teachers and coaches.”
Playing high school softball is merely the first step for Kellogg, who went 7-12 with a 2.18 ERA along with 141 strikeouts and 46 walks over 115 and two-third innings as a freshman, but college is waiting.
“As they leave the doors of Burbank High, they will always be a Bulldog, and we are eager to see what their future holds in their path of collegiate sports,” McKain said.
