By Warren Rappleyea
Following a stellar career at Red Bank Catholic (RBC) High School, Evan Madigan is preparing to play collegiate baseball at Bucknell University.
Madigan chose Bucknell following his junior season. The coaches there had been following his progress with the New Jersey 9ers travel team, where he played for three summers traveling to tournaments throughout the eastern United States.
While he had interest from other schools as well, Bucknell’s academic reputation and a visit to the campus convinced Madigan to attend the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, university.
“The Bucknell coaches saw me play in a couple of tournaments and they kept in touch,” said Madigan, who ended up with a 3.5 grade-point average at RBC. “I wanted to go to a good academic school and still be able to play baseball.”
Madigan, who has always played a middle infield position, became the Caseys’ regular second baseman in 2014 and remained a mainstay throughout the 2016 campaign.
RBC went 20-6 during Madigan’s sophomore season, where he combined with shortstop Al Molina, who now plays for NCAA champion Coastal Carolina University, to give the Caseys a top-notch double play combination. At the plate, Madigan hit a solid .301 with three triples and 18 RBIs.
“I thought I could have done a little better at the plate, but we had an experienced team and that helped,” he said. “It was really great for me to play alongside Al [Molina]. I learned a lot from him.”
In 2015, Madigan turned in a stellar season as he helped lead a youthful RBC team to a 20-9 mark. The Caseys also made their way to the Shore Conference Tournament finals before falling to Christian Brothers Academy (CBA). Madigan, who moved to shortstop following the graduation of Molina, batted a team-leading .443 with a home run and 21 RBIs.
Aware of his abilities at the plate, opposing pitchers treated Madigan much more carefully last spring, often pitching around him. Nevertheless, he batted .371 and whacked a pair of homers to go with 16 RBIs. He also stole eight bases and scored 25 times to tie Doug Facendo for the team lead.
“Evan was a leader for us on and off the field,” RBC coach Buddy Hausmann said. “He’s so patient at the plate and he runs the bases as well as anyone. Defensively, he’s outstanding. I knew if the ball was hit to him, it would be an out.”
Madigan’s range enabled him to get to balls quickly, and his sure hands helped do the rest.
“I have a pretty quick release, so I usually have to rush my throws,” he said.
One of Madigan’s best performances came against CBA in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals. After driving in a run earlier in the game, Madigan came to the plate in the seventh inning against Colts ace Luca Delatri and delivered a two-run single that cut CBA’s lead to 5-3 and put RBC in a position to knot things up. However, an outstanding defensive play helped CBA hold onto the lead and win the game.
“We had a great group of guys, and we’re all still friends,” said Madigan, who ended up with 114 career hits. “It was fun to come to practice every day. I really enjoyed [it], and I also had an opportunity to play with my brother, [Brendan], when I was a sophomore.”
At Bucknell, Madigan will have an opportunity to jump in the lineup right away, as both of the team’s starting middle infielders graduated.
“I’m excited,” he said. “We start in the fall with some intra-squad games, and we’ll also play some local schools.”