Maddie and Izzy Badaglia couldn’t be happier to share the field as sisters for Maddie Badaglia’s senior year of athletics.
“It is so fun to play with Izzy,” Maddie Badaglia said. “I love the bond that we have through sports."
Maddie and Izzy Badaglia share a special connection outside of sports, but they never played together growing up. Now that they are both attending St. Vincent de Paul High School as a senior and a sophomore respectively, they get to compete together both on the softball field and on the basketball court.
In Maddie Badaglia’s freshman and sophomore years, her softball teams won just a combined 16 games. Now with a sister to play alongside her and no COVID-19 restrictions, her teams have won 20 softball games over the last two seasons, and the current season is far from over.
“We’ve had some great leaders in the past,” Maddie Badaglia said. “I think a big change for me is that now I get to be one of the girls to step up and lead the team more.”
Maddie Badaglia currently holds a team-leading .431 batting average. In her high school career, she has a .305 batting average, 29 RBIs and a .931 fielding percentage.
It is clear that Maddie Badaglia is a great leader for both of her teams, and it not only rubs off onto her teammates, but to her coaches as well.
“Maddie was our point guard this year, and we were able to run pretty much everything through her,” St. Vincent de Paul Head Girls Basketball Coach Dayna Dolcini said. “She works very hard, and is overall just someone that the team looks up to.”
Through Dolcini’s first two years with the Mustangs, her teams have won just eight games, but the improvement from last season to 2021-2022 was very clear.
“Having a full season was definitely very helpful for us. We got more time together as a team to build chemistry,” Dolcini said. “It was great having those girls return for a second year, and adding freshmen was very helpful.
Despite Izzy Badaglia being just a sophomore, she is a clear leader both on and off the court/field.
“Izzy is one of those people that is just good at every sport she plays,” Softball and basketball teammate Alicia Hartmann said. “Without her, the team isn’t the same. She’s a key component to our success.”
Izzy Badaglia is currently batting .265 with 10 RBIs on the season. In her 17 game career, she is batting a combined .275 with a .351 OBP.
Hartmann is the starting right fielder on the Mustang’s impressive young softball team. Maddie Badaglia plays first base, and Izzy Badaglia plays anywhere in the infield.
They find themselves 10-5 overall through the first 15 games, and still remain undefeated in North Bay League - Redwood play at 6-0.
“I think that we definitely have our road map to the championship,” Head Softball Coach Morgan Selmi said. “If any team that I’ve coached at SV is going to do it, it’s this team. We wanna take it all the way, as far as we can.”
The Mustangs’ young coaching staff does a great job coaching their players and keeping them focused on the task at hand.
“I really love our coaching staff,” Maddie Badaglia said. “They always keep us on our toes whenever focus is low, they have super high energy.”
St. Vincent de Paul only starts three seniors, these being Maddie Badaglia, Sophia Skubic and Maddy Delamontanya. With this, the roster is filled with young players. The Mustangs have found a way to have success with the young team.
“I initially thought it would be super challenging to compete with such a young team,” Maddie Badaglia said. “But we always fight really hard and do our best, and it’s been showing. The young players impress me a lot and I enjoy watching them.”
As for basketball, the Mustangs only had the same three seniors play. Still, they were able to win six more games than the season prior.
“Maddie and Izzy are so much fun to play with. They are two of the most talented people I know,” Basketball teammate Nedine Ghattas said. “They are both great leaders and I always love laughing and having good times with them.”
Nine of the girls that play basketball also play softball. Since these girls are also very close outside of sports, it leads to very impressive team chemistry.
“Both teams are so fun, I’m so glad I get to play two sports with most of the same people,” said Izzy Badaglia. “For me, it’s sad that I won’t get to play with Maddie next year, but I’m glad I got to play two sports with her this year.”
Maddie and Izzy Badaglia love playing with each other, and that playing high school sports with your sibling is definitely not something to take for granted.
“It is so fun competing with my sister, especially because she plays first and I play second,” said Izzy Badaglia. “It is amazing that I get to experience playing with her, because we never did before high school.”
