Madden continues to soak it all in with Mercer

It was April in Kennesaw, but the temperature was well above 75 degrees. It was especially hot in Mercer’s dugout as senior Charlie Madden made his way to home plate.

The crowd and dugout cheered together as he settled into the batter’s box, and in one fluid motion, Madden sent the ball deep into the outfield and over the fence for a home run. That scenario has played out 15 more times this season as Madden ranks fifth nationally with 16 home runs.

Still, there is only so much that stats can say. Fans may know Madden’s batting average and his place in last year’s Major League Baseball draft, but there is more to know about Madden than just what is seen on the field.

In fact, he almost ended up focusing on a different sport.

“My first sport that I really loved was ice hockey,” Madden said. “I played from when I was about 5 until I was 13.”

Growing up in Dunwoody, Madden said there was only one hockey team in the area. He said the team traveled a lot to play at places better equipped for the sport.

He picked up baseball a little while later and balanced both sports for a few years. But because of the serious time commitment for the two sports, Madden realized he had to make a choice.

“I decided to play baseball, and I’ve been playing ever since,” he said. “I never thought about giving up.”

The choice may have been made, but its effects are still being felt. Madden said his background in hockey is what inspired his early baseball coaches to put him in as a catcher.

“They put me there because of hockey,” said Madden, whose Bears are 35-9 overall and 14-1 in the Southern Conference entering a home conference series with UNC Greensboro this weekend. “They thought I was used to wearing all the gear.”

While he played other positions when he was younger, catcher was the one that stuck. Howard Joe, a fifth-year first baseman for the Bears, has played alongside Madden for the past four years and has seen him in action as the Bears’ starting catcher.

Madden is batting .298 this season with 50 RBI. Already this season, Madden has been a two-time Southern Conference Player of the Week, and he has been named to the Johnny Bench Award watch list for top Division I catchers.

“He is a great teammate and guy,” Joe said. “He is the best receiving catcher I have ever seen.”

While Madden has received all types of recognition this year, he said it hasn’t changed the way his teammates interact with him.

“If anything, everybody just gives me a hard time about it,” he said. “It definitely humbles you.”

Humility is one trait Madden knows well. Successful on the field as well as in the classroom, he has prepared for an academic future as well as an athletics one. Madden is majoring in accounting and has lined up a summer internship in case things don’t work out with this year’s Major League Baseball draft.

“Either one, I’m happy,” he said.

With so many personal and athletics accomplishments behind him, it is hard to imagine what else Madden has left to do. But, for him, it is easy.

“The only thing I have on my bucket list, like ever, is I want to go cage diving with great white sharks in South Africa,” he said.

He said he doesn’t know why he’s so interested in sharks, but he has loved them ever since he was a little kid. Thinking back on his childhood, Madden had simple advice to his younger self.

“Soak it all in,” Madden said. “Everybody says it goes by quick, and it does.”

With the season well underway and graduation looming in the distance, Madden still has a lot to soak in before he’s done.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Madden continues to soak it all in with Mercer."