Lady Ram senior Madison Ostrowski named Con Edison Athlete of the Week

Start spreading the news. Rams senior Madison (Madi) Ostrowski, well known locally as one of Port Chester's best and most versatile female athletes ever, will now become better known throughout Westchester and beyond for her athletic prowess.

The Villanova University softball scholarship commit has been named the extremely selective Con Edison Athlete of the Week after finishing out the fall sports season as one of the school's outstanding volleyball players who is already proving to be the missing link needed to make the Lady Rams basketball team a local power to be reckoned with after starting the new winter season 5-0 including winning the first annual Louie Larizza Jr. Memorial Tournament on Dec. 11 with Madi making the All-Tournament team in her first year playing the sport since her freshman year when she stopped playing hoops so she could concentrate on her softball career.

That proved to be the right choice because Madi has made the All-State softball team and just about All-Everything else since she started playing varsity softball team as an eighth grader following in the footsteps of her legendary sister Brooklyn (BK), the slugging centerfielder now playing for Villanova on a softball scholarship. Madi, also a solid student, has batted over .500 every year during her softball career, playing centerfield and shortstop and even pitching, doing everything head coach Jeanine Maiolini has asked of her and filling in wherever she is needed.

"Madison has been a stellar athlete since the day I met her," said Maiolini, aka Coach M. "Even at a young age, it was her determination, drive and grit that made her great. She can honestly play ANY position on the field and that is hard to find in this sport. Madison has singlehandedly earned every accolade and award that has been given to her. Few people, especially in Port Chester softball, actually know the amount of blood, sweat and tears it took for Madison to get where she is going, the amount of hours practicing, weekends not spent with friends and free time being used to better her game. In my career here as the varsity softball coach, Madison is one of three players to take this sport to the next level. Cassie Lagana being the first, Madison's big sister BK being the second and Madison in at #3. And these three players had everything in common. Raw talent, determination, resilience and fight just to name a few, in my eyes all great attributes to making these individuals successful humans."

Madison has also played off-seasons for the elite Empire State Huskies travel team, playing in national recruiting showcases throughout the nation. She was offered a scholarship to Villanova last year as a junior by Wildcats head coach Bridget Orchard, a former Rye Brook resident who gave Madi the green light to play as many sports as he liked going into her final senior year softball season as a Lady Ram. So Madi is having fun playing sports she has missed while focusing on her softball career. She is also a jiu jitsu expert, an outstanding runner who has won Port Chester cross-country races over long distances and stolen 43 bases for the Lady Rams during last year's pandemic-shortened season. And she has experts wondering how good she could have been had she stuck to basketball because she is giving the Lady Rams the strong inside presence they have been lacking as a scorer and rebounder as one of the team's badly needed Bigs, a strong power forward who can also double as center. And she is a leading contender to be named Port Chester's outstanding female athlete at the end of the year, the same award won by her big sister.

So look for Madi to have a great winter basketball season and an even greater softball season before she winds down her Port Chester athletic career with a promising future at Villanova. It takes a lot for an athlete to win a Con Edison Athlete of the Week Award because there is a lot of talent up and down Westchester and across the lower Hudson Valley. But then Madi has a lot of talent to offer.