Sometimes dreams come true.

Madden always wanted to play for Texas, so he jumped at the opportunity when coach David Pierce called him last summer.

“Texas was a dream school of mine whenever I was little,” Cypress Ranch senior ace Ty Madden said. “It was surreal that this was an actual possibility.”

The opportunity came at the perfect time because he had reopened his recruiting after a few coaching changes at Rice.

“Coach Pierce is a great guy, and I loved all the coaches up there [in Austin],” Madden said. “They made me feel really welcomed, and it’s one of the most winning programs in college baseball, so I didn’t think there was a better place for me to go.”

Madden’s spent most of his life playing the sport, and there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing.

“Baseball is what I love,” he said. “It’s always been my favorite thing to do.”

As comfortable as the 6-foot-4, 210-pound flamethrower looks on the mound, he wasn’t always a pitcher. Madden was a catcher until his sophomore year, when he got hit in the shoulder by a foul ball. The change of position was also caused by growth spurts, whether it was the eight inches between his freshman and sophomore seasons or the 40 pounds between his junior and senior year.

The move sold college programs on his abilities and kept the winning tradition alive at Cy Ranch. In helping preserve that winning tradition, Madden has produced memorable performances like his no-hitter against rival Cy Woods in his varsity district debut.

As great as his career has been, he wants to have an even better finish. He’s one of the double-digit, college-bound seniors on his team’s roster, so he sees an opening for the Mustangs’ third state title since 2012.

“If I play my game, focus on myself, and take care of my job, then I have enough faith in my teammates,” Madden said. “We have some hot bats in the lineup, and we have so many pitchers in our rotation that this could all come together.”

In seven appearances and six starts in 2018, the senior is 5-1 with a 0.64 ERA. Madden has given up three earned runs on 11 hits in 32 2/3 innings. He has struck out 41 and walked just 18. Entering the month of April, opponents are batting .100 against Madden, and he has thrown two shutouts.

_This article appears in the April Issue of VYPE Magazine. Pick up your copy at any one of our _locations_ today!_