Madison (Frain) Peterson joins KMA Hall

Between games of Creston’s softball doubleheader against Atlantic Thursday night, former Panther pitcher Madison Frain was presented an award from Trevor Maeder of KMA Radio in Shenandoah for induction into the KMA Sports Hall of Fame.

Prior to that presentation, coach Mike McCabe and the Panther softball team presented outgoing activities director Jeff Bevins with gifts in appreciation of his 15 years as service to the district. He will remain on staff as I-JAG instructor as Scott Driskell takes over as assistant principal and activities director.

Peterson had an outstanding prep career at Creston Community High School. She was named honorary captain of the Omaha World-Herald All-Western Iowa team in 2012 after going 27-6 with a 0.73 ERA as a senior. She also hit .386 with 13 doubles and 29 RBIs.

Her career record was 148-31 with a 0.99 ERA as a Panther, leading her team to four straight Hawkeye 10 Conference championships. She compiled 1,619 career strikeouts and hit .382 for her career.

A recorded message from Derek Martin, KMA sports director, was played over the public address system Thursday. In that message, Martin noted that Peterson’s success as a Panther started early. As an eighth-grade pitcher she helped Creston to a 31-win season, striking out 317 batters with just 43 walks in posting a 1.71 ERA.

Her freshman year she posted another 31-win season with 314 strikeouts and a 0.82 ERA. As a sophomore Peterson struck out 259 batters with a 1.05 ERA before garnering 348 strikeouts and a 0.66 ERA as a junior. Peterson wrapped up her high school career with 346 strikeouts and 0.73 ERA in 2012.

She was an all-conference player five times and earned all-state honors four years.

After the presentation, Peterson was gracious in talking about her appreciation for all of the support she had from teammates, coaches and Panther fans during her career. Many of those former teammates were in attendance Thursday night.

The daughter of longtime Panther wrestling coach Darrell Frain and Kim Frain said the program is similar to what her father experienced in wrestling here.

“In our family we often talked about the wrestling community, but the softball community is unreal, too,” Peterson said. “I told the girls this afternoon, softball is the only girls sport that is happening right now, so when you are successful, everyone comes out. I use the Winterset games as examples. We would have people four or five deep in lawn chairs in the outfield coming to watch us. It was amazing. That’s the most people I’ve every played in front of.”

Peterson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport management and minor in coaching at the University of South Dakota, where she also obtained her master’s degree. Peterson is currently assistant athletic director for compliance and operations at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.

At USD she likewise had a stellar pitching career, ranking third in career wins (41), sixth in career complete games (46) and fourth in career strikeouts (322). She was a first team All-Summit League player and named to the Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence. She was on the Summit League Honor Roll four times and a two-time NFCA scholar athlete.

In speaking to current Panther team members earlier Thursday afternoon, she encouraged the young players to follow their dreams and to be good teammates for each other.

“I talked a lot about being a good teammate and what the college atmosphere is like if you want to play,” Peterson said. “If you have a dream, go for it. My dad and I had a big dream of playing college softball and I couldn’t have done it without him. And in high school, my teammates throughout the five years, that was the best part. It was fun to win, but they are what made it fun.”

Softball announcer Todd Jacobson noted the contribution of the Panther coaching staff, headed by Mike McCabe, who often caught for Peterson as she worked on pitches indoors in the winter. McCabe noted that on Madison’s teams over five years, the Panthers never lost back-to-back games.

Peterson is the second Creston recipient in the three years of KMA Sports Hall of Fame inductions. Creston’s 1997 state championship boys basketball team was honored during the first year of presentations.