SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — Social Circle High School’s media center was filled with family, friends, teammates and coaches of Madalyn Spinks on Jan. 6. They were on hand to celebrate Spinks’ signing to Augusta University’s softball program.
The day went better than Spinks imagined.
“Every 8-year-old who started playing travel ball has this dream,” Spinks said. “I’m so excited and it’s fantastic. I’ve always wanted everybody I love from softball to come together. And it’s just the greatest thing in the world to me.”
Spinks’ dad, Chad, was one of five people who spoke during the ceremony. He became emotional expressing pride in his daughter. However, in the middle of his remarks, Chad shared a story of when Spinks initially quit playing softball.
One day, Chad was trying to teach Spinks how to catch fly balls, but she missed and was hit in the head.
Though Spinks laughs about it in retrospect today, it was quite the experience at 5 years old.
“That was the first time I was ever hit with a softball,” Spinks said. “The part he left out was, he didn’t tell me we were switching balls. I was like, ‘You promise this is a softball?’ And he said, ‘I promise it’s a regular softball.’ It was not and I was bumped in the head and was traumatized.”
After that moment, Spinks took a year off and decided softball wasn’t for her. And she had no inclination to ever give softball another go.
But she recalled the moment her mind changed.
“The reason I came back was I was sitting in my house one day and I was watching cartoons at 6 years old,” Spinks said. “I was like, ‘This is really boring and I want to go outside. I want to run the bases again.’”
From that point on, Spinks was hooked and that set her on the path to signing the scholarship with Augusta University.
The red carpet was rolled out to Spinks and her parents on her official visit to the campus. What happened on that trip carried a lot of weight in her decision to go there, too.
Spinks acknowledged how Augusta University went above and beyond. She was even able to enjoy her go-to meal during the visit.
“I met their coach and she is the sweetest woman I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Spinks said. “The place is beautiful. Even the sports facility when we went into the complex. She didn’t skip anything. We took the whole tour.
“We went to eat afterwards in this cute little restaurant and it was so good. It had great chicken fingers. Chicken fingers and fries are my favorite.”
Not only did she enjoy her favorite food, but she recognized that Augusta University was a “good starting point” toward becoming a speech pathologist. She plans to major in pre-medicine there and eventually obtain her master’s in speech pathology.
Spinks’ final year with Social Circle softball spoke volumes as well.
As the lefty in the pitcher’s circle, Spinks recorded 99 innings pitched and struck out 76 batters along with a 1.697 ERA. After the season was over, Spinks was named Region 5A- Division I First Team All-Region as well as the 2022 All-Cov News Team First Team pitcher.
Her efforts helped lead the Lady Redskins to a No. 2 finish in the state tournament with a runner-up finish in their region.
Not only is she a member of the Lady Redskins, but Spinks also plays for the GA Power Gold 18U travel ball team. That is in addition to her being a part of Social Circle’s basketball cheer squadand tennis team.
Throughout all of her experiences at Social Circle and other places, one thing has remained important to Spinks — the people supporting her.
After the ceremony, Spinks delivered a profound statement on just how much she cherishes the people who are in her corner.
She believes they’ve made all the difference.
“With softball, there’s an ending place. But the people you meet, they’re forever,” Spinks said. “That’s the real important thing when you sign to go to college somewhere. You remember the people you’ve met and who have helped and believed in you along the way.”
