A look at Madelyn Lopez’s ascension from bench role, to commanding hitter for Syracuse
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Madelyn Lopez wasn’t in Syracuse’s opening day lineup, nor did she step on the field once throughout the River City Leadoff in early February. So, Lopez walked into head coach Shannon Doepking’s office and asked how she could get in the starting lineup, Doepking told CitrusTV. The freshman was willing to do whatever it took.
“(Getting benched) made me want to compete, it made me want to work harder,” Lopez said. “I was like ‘man, I got to get to work.’”
The following weekend, Lopez started in the last game of the Big Ten/Atlantic Coast Conference Challenge. She went 2-for-3 with a walk and one run scored in SU’s 11-4 win over Iowa. Lopez has started every game since.
Lopez has quickly become one of Syracuse’s most consistent players, slashing .361/.442/.514 along with a perfect fielding percentage. As a freshman, she leads the Orange in batting average, on-base plus slugging (.956), hits (26), total bases (37) and triples (two). She is also second in home runs (two).
Most recently, Lopez has been hitting leadoff, going 6-for-9 with four RBIs during the April 6-8 series against NC State. She went 3-for-3 in her leadoff debut, helping the Orange to their first home win.
“(Madelyn) was lights out today,” Doepking said to CitrusTV after the 3-for-3 performance. “She set the tone really quickly for us.”
Lopez wasn’t accustomed to coming off the bench growing up. Troy Falterman coached Lopez from 12U to 14U on Texas Sudden Impact in Montgomery, Texas, and also coached her in high school summer ball for Hotshots Fastpitch. Even then, Lopez was a can’t miss talent.
“Madelyn’s always been a top-level player, one of the best players to come out of Texas,” Falterman said.
Falterman described Lopez as someone who could succeed in “all facets of the game,” utilizing her speed, fielding ability and keen plate vision to help her dominate at the youth level. Lopez, now a power-hitter, was smaller than a lot of other girls at a young age and started out as a “slapper,” who mostly hit for contact, Falterman said.
At 10 years old, Lopez switched to hitting from her non-dominant left side. Falterman said this change was so she could be an even better “slapper,” being closer to first base in the lefty box.
“(Being a slapper) really helped her eye seeing the ball out of the pitcher’s hand,” said Lopez’s father, Alfonso. “And it really carried over when she started swinging for power. It really helped her hand-eye coordination.”
Falterman added that Lopez’s offensive attack nowadays is more diverse because of her contact-first mentality at a young age, and is a threat to opposing defenses in any situation.
Arlo Stone | Design Editor
This gave Lopez the leeway to take a more aggressive approach at the collegiate level. Alfonso said he tried to get her to swing at the first pitch more often throughout high school, but Lopez resisted because she had such a good eye. Now, Lopez has realized the importance of staying ahead of the pitcher and has progressed into a strong early-count hitter.
“She was aggressive early in the count and the hitters count,” said Nathan Nelson, the head coach of Lopez’s Hotshots travel ball team. “When she got to thinking too much, that’s whenever she would struggle a little bit with her swing.”
In her freshman year of high school, Lopez attended Alpha Omega Academy before transferring to Lake Creek. Head coach Michelle Rochinski said that when she first met Lopez, there were no questions about her skill, only a concern for how she’d get acclimated to the program.
“I think the kids took her in. She bought into her teammates, she bought into the coaching staff,” Rochinski said. “The minute she walked in the Lake Creek campus, she made an immediate impact.”
In her senior season, Lopez led Lake Creek to the 2022 Texas 5A State Championship, the first in program history. The Tigers went undefeated, finishing with a perfect 41-0 record. Lopez batted .466 during the title run with an OPS of 1.250, and 54 hits in 35 games. Lopez scored twice against Georgetown in the championship game, helping them to a 7-0 victory.
Playing travel softball in Texas meant consistently facing some of the best players in the nation. While playing with the Hotshots, Lopez faced the No. 1 player in the 2023 class, Florida commit Mia Williams, and the Tennessee Mojo in the 16U national championship game.
Arlo Stone | Design Editor
With the score tied at one apiece in the bottom of the seventh, Lopez stepped up with the bases loaded and a chance to win the tournament, and she hit a walk-off single to secure the title for the Hotshots.
“Playing high-level travel ball, you’re going to face really good pitchers, and you may only get one good pitch to hit,” Falterman said. “That may be the first pitch.”
Lopez has put everything together, combining her plate vision with the power she’s developed over time. In her new leadoff role, Lopez is constantly in a position to jumpstart the offense. Against NC State on April 6, Lopez led off the fifth inning by roping a first-pitch single into center field. She scored via a sacrifice bunt and another run that inning made it 4-0 in the win.
“Getting on base was a way to get the bats going and score runs,” Lopez said after the game.
On March 22, Syracuse led Canisius 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Lopez stepped up to face Canisius’ Megan Giese, who placed the first pitch chest-high, and Lopez drove the ball into deep right field for the first home run of her career.
