Born in Las Vegas, Maddie Hulse moved to Rancho Bernardo at age 5 without a sport to play.
A year later, she took up softball to hang out with her friends. She instantly loved the game.
“It was just fun all the time,’’ Hulse said. “I loved the little cheers we’d do in the dugout, the ribbons in our hair.’’
Once Hulse, whose name is pronounced Huls, went to the circle to pitch she developed a competitive side to her game.
At a Rancho Bernardo Girls Softball clinic, Hulse dedicated herself to a pitching career.
She practiced pitching and learned new pitches in the backyard all the time.
“I’ve never broken a window or anything trying to become a better pitcher,’’ said Hulse, a senior at Rancho Bernardo High.
Now the 5-foot-8 Hulse stands on the brink of entering a new level of softball when she moves on to Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., in the fall.
“When I tell my friends where I’m going to college, they ask me if I’m really going to college with the Amish,” she said.
Opposing batters don’t care where she goes as long as she leaves town.
A breakout junior season in 2022 eventually led her to the Keystone State. Hulse was 18-8 with a 1.03 ERA in 169 innings of work.
She walked 18 and struck out 118 while opposing batters hit just .203 against her.
That earned Pitcher of the Year honors in the Palomar League and a first-team berth on the All-CIF team.
“She was ridiculously good last season,’’ Broncos coach Summer Boyle said. “She throws a heavy ball instead of being a strikeout pitcher. With the way she’s pitched last year and this year, the kids think they can win a game whenever she’s in the circle.
“When you watch her, you can’t tell if she’s winning or losing because she’s doing what a pitcher has to do on every pitch.’’
Hulse has been even better this season.
Through an undefeated start after seven games for the Broncos, Hulse is 3-0 with an 0.61 ERA.
In 22.2 innings, she has allowed just two earned runs, walked none and struck out 23 while opposing batters are hitting a mere .171 against her.
Rancho Bernardo also won the Platinum Division crown in the annual Cougar Classic at Kit Carson Park.
Hulse retired the first 18 batters before giving up two singles in a 6-0 win over defending San Diego Section Open Division champion Otay Ranch in the championship game.
She struck out seven against Otay Ranch, including the final three outs of the game.
“Striking out people is fun,’’ Hulse said. “But I prefer pitching to and keeping my pitch count low.
“That Otay Ranch game was one of my best games ever, and it was a big win for us as a team.
“I was a little upset I got so close to a no-no, but, dang, I got close to a no-no.’’
Hulse, who tossed a one-hitter at Carlsbad last season, was conscious of the Broncos softball legacy.
She followed Allie Boaz, a first-team All-CIF pitcher at Rancho Bernardo the year before Hulse was a freshman.
“I was nervous that first year,’’ said Hulse, recalling that season was cut way short by the coronavirus outbreak. “I’d heard of Allie Boaz and all the other good pitchers at RB and I wanted to live up to that.
“I only hope people will think I have done that.’’
At Allegheny, Hulse plans to major in environmental science at this moment, although she may wind up changing her major by the time junior year rolls around.
Just going far away from home was something she embraced during the recruiting process.
The distance and the cold weather was part of that resolve.
“I wanted something new, something different with a little independence,’’ Hulse said. “For me, Allegheny checked a lot of the boxes.
“I took a recruiting trip there in the fall and it was so green and pretty, but I know the weather won’t be what I’m used to and I’m good with that.’’
