University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Madison Kerpics
April 13, 2022 | Softball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Madison Kerpics walked out on her first softball tryout. Just 5 at the time, there was a drill the coach wanted her to do and the strong-willed Kerpics decided she didn't want to do it — so she left. She tried again the next year and fell in love with the sport, and now, many years later, she's one of the No. 13-ranked Georgia softball team's top pitchers.
Kerpics heads into this weekend's series at Missouri with 12 starts in the circle, 26 appearances, and a record of 14-3. She has an ERA of 2.28, a 1.21 WHIP, and she's allowed 33 earned runs in 101.1 innings pitched., with 113 strikeouts. One of Kerpics' best outings of the season came on March 25, against Texas A&M, when she struck out a season-high 11.
During a Quick Chat before practice Tuesday, Kerpics, a sophomore from Suwanee, Ga., talked about her start in softball, what it's like to be recruited in eighth grade, her love of mashed potatoes, wanting to follow in her mom's footsteps, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: How did you first get started playing softball?
Kerpics: I first started when I was 5 or 6, and I think my first tryout was when I was 5. My sister played softball for Mill Creek and so I decided to try; I actually was trying out and there was a certain drill I was supposed to do, and I actually just refused to do it and walked off the field.
That was my first tryout and I was like, I don't want to do softball, and so I didn't do it. The next year I decided to do it again and ... when I was 8 I started playing travel ball.
Frierson: When did you realize that you were good and had a future in the sport beyond high school and travel ball?
Kerpics: I don't know, it kind of just happened over time. I do remember in rec ball, when it was still coach-pitch, in the first inning a girl could pitch. I had decided to do that because I'd been taking pitching lessons a couple of times, and I struck the first three batters out. I was like, this is what I want to do.
I started getting recruited in eighth grade so I think that's when I realized I could go to college and I could play softball in college.
Frierson: What is it like getting recruited in eighth grade, when you're still so young and don't really know what you want out of college and life yet?
Kerpics: It was kind of crazy. I was so immature at that age and having to talk to travel coaches on the phone. My parents decided to let me do it by myself to see how I'd do and I ended up saying the most ridiculous things, so we'd have to talk beforehand.
Georgia was one of my first visits and it's weird missing school for visits and stuff. You really don't know — I laid out a map and I was like, I will not go anywhere in Florida, that's too hot, and I'll never go anywhere up north because of the cold; I want to go where they have good baseball. I was being pretty ridiculous about that stuff. In eighth grade, you don't really know.
I did know from a very young age that I wanted to work in the medical field, so that was the one thing I had going for me. I want to go to PA (physician assistant) school, so I didn't narrow that down until I decided where I was going, and I found a major (Exercise and Sport Science) that fit me here.
Frierson: What drew you to working in medicine?
Kerpics: My mom's actually a nurse, so growing up, at travel-ball games people are always getting hurt and just seeing her help people. Whenever I'm sick, or friends or anything, they'd always go to my mom. I thought it was really cool the way she was able to help everybody. If anything happened, everyone was like, "Mary, where are you?"
I just really liked that my mom was able to help everybody.
Frierson: That's great. Who is the funniest person on the team? Is there a clear favorite?
Kerpics: Hmmm. I would say Hayley (Eaton) or Britt (Britton Rogers) — they're both really funny and all three of us together are always laughing and having fun together. We're really just the funniest and weirdest people on the team.
Frierson: Do you already recognize that those silly moments are going to be the special things that you'll remember and hold on to for the rest of your life?
Kerpics: It really is. It's just the random days in the locker room or traveling, those can be the best memories with the team.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Kerpics: Definitely mashed potatoes. I love those and I always have. It just goes with everything so perfectly. My aunt makes the best mashed potatoes — I don't know what she puts in it but I look forward to my Thanksgiving and Christmas because I know she's bringing them. I couldn't even tell you what they are, it's like a secret recipe, but they're just the best.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Madison Kerpics walked out on her first softball tryout. Just 5 at the time, there was a drill the coach wanted her to do and the strong-willed Kerpics decided she didn't want to do it — so she left. She tried again the next year and fell in love with the sport, and now, many years later, she's one of the No. 13-ranked Georgia softball team's top pitchers.
Kerpics heads into this weekend's series at Missouri with 12 starts in the circle, 26 appearances, and a record of 14-3. She has an ERA of 2.28, a 1.21 WHIP, and she's allowed 33 earned runs in 101.1 innings pitched., with 113 strikeouts. One of Kerpics' best outings of the season came on March 25, against Texas A&M, when she struck out a season-high 11.
During a Quick Chat before practice Tuesday, Kerpics, a sophomore from Suwanee, Ga., talked about her start in softball, what it's like to be recruited in eighth grade, her love of mashed potatoes, wanting to follow in her mom's footsteps, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: How did you first get started playing softball?
Kerpics: I first started when I was 5 or 6, and I think my first tryout was when I was 5. My sister played softball for Mill Creek and so I decided to try; I actually was trying out and there was a certain drill I was supposed to do, and I actually just refused to do it and walked off the field.
That was my first tryout and I was like, I don't want to do softball, and so I didn't do it. The next year I decided to do it again and ... when I was 8 I started playing travel ball.
Frierson: When did you realize that you were good and had a future in the sport beyond high school and travel ball?
Kerpics: I don't know, it kind of just happened over time. I do remember in rec ball, when it was still coach-pitch, in the first inning a girl could pitch. I had decided to do that because I'd been taking pitching lessons a couple of times, and I struck the first three batters out. I was like, this is what I want to do.
I started getting recruited in eighth grade so I think that's when I realized I could go to college and I could play softball in college.
Frierson: What is it like getting recruited in eighth grade, when you're still so young and don't really know what you want out of college and life yet?
Kerpics: It was kind of crazy. I was so immature at that age and having to talk to travel coaches on the phone. My parents decided to let me do it by myself to see how I'd do and I ended up saying the most ridiculous things, so we'd have to talk beforehand.
Georgia was one of my first visits and it's weird missing school for visits and stuff. You really don't know — I laid out a map and I was like, I will not go anywhere in Florida, that's too hot, and I'll never go anywhere up north because of the cold; I want to go where they have good baseball. I was being pretty ridiculous about that stuff. In eighth grade, you don't really know.
I did know from a very young age that I wanted to work in the medical field, so that was the one thing I had going for me. I want to go to PA (physician assistant) school, so I didn't narrow that down until I decided where I was going, and I found a major (Exercise and Sport Science) that fit me here.
Frierson: What drew you to working in medicine?
Kerpics: My mom's actually a nurse, so growing up, at travel-ball games people are always getting hurt and just seeing her help people. Whenever I'm sick, or friends or anything, they'd always go to my mom. I thought it was really cool the way she was able to help everybody. If anything happened, everyone was like, "Mary, where are you?"
I just really liked that my mom was able to help everybody.
Frierson: That's great. Who is the funniest person on the team? Is there a clear favorite?
Kerpics: Hmmm. I would say Hayley (Eaton) or Britt (Britton Rogers) — they're both really funny and all three of us together are always laughing and having fun together. We're really just the funniest and weirdest people on the team.
Frierson: Do you already recognize that those silly moments are going to be the special things that you'll remember and hold on to for the rest of your life?
Kerpics: It really is. It's just the random days in the locker room or traveling, those can be the best memories with the team.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Kerpics: Definitely mashed potatoes. I love those and I always have. It just goes with everything so perfectly. My aunt makes the best mashed potatoes — I don't know what she puts in it but I look forward to my Thanksgiving and Christmas because I know she's bringing them. I couldn't even tell you what they are, it's like a secret recipe, but they're just the best.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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