Madisonville softball team focused on finishing season strong, c - Tri-State News, Weather & Sports

The Madisonville softball team isn't a team built for the long haul because they tend to end games early in run-rule fashion.

When you look up the word, dynasty, you might see the Madisonville Lady Maroons somewhere in the definition. That's because the North Hopkins softball program has been a major force to be reckoned with, for the past six years.

"It's a bunch of dedicated kids who have been playing hard for a long time," explained Madisonville head coach Shannon Peyton. "Not just this senior class, but several senior classes before that. they're coming into high school and ready and able to compete against sometimes a lot bigger schools. They've done everything we've asked them to. They're building on it every year."

Coach Peyton is in his third year at the helm, but he can't take all the credit for the Maroons' turnaround. That began back in 2011, with the hiring of the then-head coach, Jenn Valeriote.

"When she came here, there was some really good talent coming in," said coach Peyton. "The younger kids were good and they'd been playing at a high level and she inherited some really good players and put her mark on them. I came in as head coach and tried to build on what she did."

And that chemistry has led to three straight 30-win seasons, and three consecutive trips to the Kentucky state softball tournament, including a 3rd-place finish last year. But it comes as no surprise, with the likes of Alabama signee Kaylee Tow and Kentucky-bound Mallory Peyton.

Their focus is finishing strong this season. By winning the upcoming district and region tourneys, so they can try to bring home the school's first-ever state softball title.

"We got some teams in our region, for sure, Christian County, Union, and Caldwell, Henderson, Webster, I'm not looking past anybody, I gotta get to the state tournament, of course that's our goal for sure, we wanna go back," explained coach Peyton.

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