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This week Simpson Academy celebrated senior Maddie Moody’s official signing with the University of Southern Mississippi to play softball with a signing program attended by Simpson administration, current and former coaches, teammates, classmates, family, and friends.
Maddie, who officially signed with USM in November during a COVID school break, elected to delay this program until now so that it could be celebrated with the people that she cared about and who had contributed to her success.
Moody has been a student at Simpson Academy since K-3 and was a 5-year starter for the Simpson Academy Lady Cougars playing first base and catcher. During Maddie’s time on the field at Simpson, the team earned back-to-back 4-A State Championships, as well as back-to-back Runners-up to Overall MAIS Champions. During those seasons, Maddie achieved career high averages such as a .512 batting average, .962 slugging percentage, and .981 fielding percentage. Maddie also earned multiple All-State and All-District honors, served as Team Captain and was selected to represent Simpson Academy in the 2020 MAIS All-Star game. Maddie led the Lady Cougars in both fielding percentage and batting averages in the 2018 and 2019 seasons earning team awards such as Best Infielder, Bomb Squad Member, True Grit Award, Game Changer Award and earned the Silver Bat / Offensive Player of the Year Award during her junior season with 38 RBIs!
Maddie has also been successful off the dirt on the hardwood as a member of Simpson’s Lady Cougar basketball team, including a member of the 2018 4A State Championship team.
Maddie has a 4.0 GPA at Simpson earning numerous academic honor roll achievements and is a member of the National Honor Society.
In the community, Maddie is a member of Corinth Baptist Church and is also a multi-year member of Magee Mayor Dale Berry’s Mayor’s Youth Council, with numerous volunteer projects and events.
Maddie received numerous offers to play softball at the collegiate level, however, chose USM because of the close family feel. Maddie said that when she stepped on campus, she immediately felt the care from everyone and especially from head coach Brian Lavin and assistant coach Mark Mulvany, who both joined the program in 2019. Additionally, Maddie’s dad is a USM alumni and her sister, Sadie, is currently a junior at USM.
Maddie is the daughter of Jackie and Kade Moody, the granddaughter of Donna Hankins and the late Billy Ray Hankins and she has two siblings, brother Ashton and sister Sadie.
Maddie is pictured with her softball team and coaches in the main photo.
Congratulations Maddi!
MageeNews.com is an online news source covering Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.