It’s been a wild ride for sophomore right-handed pitcher Madison Inscoe and NC State softball over the past year.
After NC State softball’s head coach was fired mid-season last season, the future was filled with uncertainty for Inscoe and the eight other freshmen on the 2023 roster.
Entering her sophomore season, Inscoe and her teammates patiently waited for the announcement for their new head coach. NC State announced in June 2023 that former LSU assistant coach Lindsay Leftwich was joining the Pack softball program as its new head coach.
Leftwich said her first priority when taking the role was to earn Insoe and the team’s trust. Once she earned that trust, she said Inscoe excelled.
“Once she decided that she was gonna trust us and she was gonna be in, she was all in — like two feet in the water, which was really cool,” Leftwich said.
Trust between Leftwich and Inscoe is something that will help the sophomore reach her biggest goal: becoming an All-American.
Every year, every athletic association receives applications from head coaches from across the country nominating players for the coveted award. In softball, the requirements for becoming an All-American while being a pitcher and utility player require a showing of long-term commitment to both positions over the season.
Hailing from Chesapeake, Virginia, Inscoe was one of the most impressive softball players on the east coast. With many accolades to her name, including 2021 All-Tidewater Player of the Year and two Extra Inning Softball First Team All-American awards, Inscoe was highly sought after by collegiate programs.
After originally verbally committing to Auburn University in 2020, Inscoe flipped her commitment to NC State in August 2021 with the goal of playing and excelling at both positions.
“I feel like every little kid wants to become an All-American, and obviously that’s everybody’s dream,” Inscoe said. “For me it’s a little bit different because I pitch, hit and play first base, so I can be an All-American doing both which is really, really hard. So I have to work a little bit harder than everyone else, but I’m just really excited for the season.”
Last year, Clemson’s Valerie Cagle was selected as a first team All-American as a utility player and pitcher and Louisville’s Taylor Roby was selected for the second team for the same two positions. According to Leftwich, the extra work needed for this honor is exactly what she is seeing in Inscoe’s performance during games and in practice.
“If she wants to be great at what she’s going to do, she has to be willing to dive in,” Leftwich said. “She’s really committed to that task, working more, building better habits and doing more than maybe she’s ever done before. Because if you want something that you’ve never had, do you have to be willing to do something you’ve never done?”
Coming in as both a pitcher and utility player is uncommon in NCAA softball, with many players typically picking a specific path within their first year of playing at the collegiate level. For Inscoe it was different — she wanted to do everything.
“I came into college only thinking I was only going to be a pitcher and I just knew that that wasn’t going to be like my thing,” Inscoe said. “I just love the game of softball. I love playing everywhere. If [Leftwich] told me to go play catcher, honestly I would do it. I’d gear up.”
Being a multi-position player is never an easy thing to do in any sport, but it’s especially difficult in softball. Inscoe rose to the occasion, playing in 44 games her freshman season, and she had 36 of her 26 season starts in the pitching circle.
Despite finishing on top of the Pack’s pitching staff with a 8-14 record, Inscoe was also able to play first base for eight games throughout the season as well as hitting .200 in conference play.
Softball is a team sport at the end of the day, and Inscoe is one of 10 sophomores on the team, playing alongside six freshmen. With only four seniors on the roster, this is an incredibly young team. Despite being underclassmen, many of the sophomores on the team have stepped up and become leaders on the field, Inscoe included.
“Being a sophomore and trying to be a leader for this team, you have to have those connections and relationships and be able to relate to your teammates more than anything,” Inscoe said. “So I feel like that’s my biggest goal. Something I’ve been working on a lot is just being consistent, like as consistent as I can be personally on the field and off the field and just being there for my teammates, I think is huge.”
The season has just started for Inscoe and her teammates, and they finished their first weekend series at the NFCA Leadoff Classic 2-3. Inscoe established a new career high in the last game of the series, striking out nine batters to replace her high of seven from last year. With plenty of games left, all NC State fans can do is sit back and watch Inscoe grow.
