Rust has busy summer with club team

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News

Grain Valley junior Madison Rust is extremely active.

She has been a standout in four different sports for the high school including flag football, track and field, basketball and softball.

And she doesn’t stop there. Even during the summer, she plays with her club team -- Select Fastpitch National Adams 16-and-under. This year, she has traveled all over the United States playing for her team and attending college camps to work on her skills.

“It’s a lot of travel and I am always on the go,” Rust said. “When I wasn’t at home, I squeezed in some camps, too. I have been keeping busy.”

Her club team has played tournaments in Indiana, California, Illinois and Colorado. This week, the Select Fastpitch 16U Adams team traveled to Huntington Beach, California and finished the Premier Girls Fastpitch National Championships tournament with a 3-2 record.

In late June and early July, Rust’s team competed in a tournament in Colorado and Rust shined as she had a .480 batting average and a .552 on-base percentage.

She carried over her success from her elite-level 2024 high school season in which she hit .494, has a ridiculous 1.378 on-base-plus slugging percentage, five doubles, four triples, three homeruns, 24 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases. She also didn’t commit a single error in center field.

She helped lead the Eagles to a program-best 33-3 record.

“My past high school season, I hit pretty well,” Rust said. “I was coming off an injury, so I am proud of how I did. I am not hitting as well as I did in high school batting average wise. I think my swing is still good. I am ready for high school ball. Hopefully I hit as well as I have the past two seasons.”

When playing for her club team, she said she was playing in front of at least five college coaches every game and at the Premier Girls Fastpitch National Championships, there was a large group of college coaches watching behind home plate.

“Summer ball is a good time to showcase your skills to college coaches,” Rust said.

She also attended camps for a handful of Division I programs, including the University of Missouri, University of Arkansas, Louisiana State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Oklahoma University and the University of Texas.

At those camps, Rust had hitting sessions in which the coaches measured the exit velocity of the bat, and she also participated in field drills where she would catch fly balls in the outfield and they would record her velocity on throws to the infield. She also was timed on shuttle runs and agility drills.

“Everyone doing this wants to potentially play in college,” Rust said. “Getting to put yourself on the radar. Maybe that coach will come to your games and watch. You can get an idea on what sort of fundamentals those coaches want so you can work on those. I got two more years to put their style of game into my game. I want to play a more college style of softball.”

Rust said she can officially start talking to college coaches on Sept. 1 and she still has two more years to showcase her skills. But now that her season is over with her club team, she is turning her focus to the high school team at Grain Valley.

​“I want to keep my batting average at .400 or above,” Rust said. “I didn’t make any errors in the outfield I want to limit those and work on the small things. I think we should be able to win conference again and hopefully districts. I think we have a shot to make the state.”

GVHS Junior Madison Rust is looking forward to softball season after a full summer with her club team and attending a series of camps. Photo courtesy of Madison Rust
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