Jul. 13—CUMBERLAND, Md. — For the first time in the 31-year history of baseball Players of the Year, there is a two-time winner.
After leading the area in home runs and earned run average, Allegany standout Griffin Madden edged out Keyser star Noah Broadwater to capture the Skip Cook Memorial Award for the second straight year.
Madden, a James Madison signee, is the record eighth player from Allegany to take the area’s top baseball honor.
“It’s very well deserved,” Allegany head coach Jon Irons said. “Griffin is the type of player that loves a challenge. He pitched in the most difficult games we had every single time over the past two years.
“He works nonstop to get better. He never makes excuses and is always self reflective. Nobody is harder than Griffin than he is. Everyone looks at him for leadership and he delivered that.”
Twelve area head coaches submitted nominations and 10 returned ballots. Madden received six votes, Broadwater garnered three and Northern’s Wally Brands and Petersburg’s Bumby Van Meter snagged one apiece.
The other Player of the Year recipients from Allegany include Steve Milburn (1992), Mike Carter (1995), Aaron Laffey (2003), Bryce Nightengale (2014), Carson Imes (2016) and Cameron Bratton (2018).
With a fastball that sat in the mid to upper 80s and a devastating breaking ball that gave hitters fits, Madden racked up double-digit strikeouts five times and no-hit Northern in his first start of the season.
The right-hander finished with a sub-2.00 earned run average for the second straight season, ending his senior campaign with an area-best 1.93 ERA. Madden had a 6-1 record and allowed 14 earned runs on 25 hits in 50 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out 80 and walked 27.
In his two Player of the Year seasons, Madden had a 12-1 record, 1.58 ERA and 167 strikeouts.
“He’s just one of those guys that’s going to be very hard to replace,” Irons said. “Big shoes to fill. I know he’ll have continued success at James Madison. Every time he walks on the baseball field he’s there to compete. He’s there to get better.”
Madden shot out of the gates red hot during his junior season en route to a .462 batting average; however, he struggled early on this past season.
He worked with his coaches in the batting cage and on his mentality, and he responded by hitting four home runs in five games during the middle of the campaign.
“He showed a lot of maturity working through that,” Irons said. “He didn’t pout. He asked me every chance he got to work in the cage. He came through on the other side, hitting really well.”
When it was all said and done, Madden upped his average to .338, and he ended with an area-high seven homers to go along with 29 runs batted in and 33 runs scored.
Madden was also the Campers’ shortstop when he wasn’t pitching where he had a .911 fielding percentage.
“He’s a super well-rounded player,” Irons said. “He can field as well as he can hit and pitch. That speaks to the reason James Madison recruited him as a two-way. He really is that rare type of kid that can do all three at that level. I know whatever he ends up up doing he can be successful.”
Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.