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Madison Armstrong

Madison Armstrong

Madison Armstrong graduated in December 2019 from Western Carolina University after a stellar career as a player for Western Carolina Softball. Just a few weeks later she became the assistant coach for Catamount softball joining the program in January, 2020. In spring of 2025, Armstrong completed her sixth season on staff in Cullowhee which also served as her second year as Associate Head Coach after being promoted in the fall of 2023. 

WCU's pitching staff in 2025 was led by senior Tessa Juett and freshman Amanda Fulton as the pair combined for 19 wins and 22 complete games as a duo. The duo paired up with Juett (129) and Fulton (100) to be apart of the first pitching duo in Catamount history to eclipse 100 strikeouts in a season since 2016 (Taylor Sigmon – 202 & Courtney Buchanan – 126).

Juett earned pitcher of the week honors during the later part of March as she began the week by earning her fifth win of the season in midweek action against the Runnin' Bulldogs, tossing 5.1 innings with four strikeouts. Juett benefited from a fast start and a three-run barrage in the middle innings to claim the midweek triumph. After pitching 1.2 innings of relief against Tulsa, Juett began SoCon play with a bang, going the full five innings, scattering five hits, and recording eight strikeouts to grab her second win in the circle on the week in an 11-0 run-rule victory over ETSU as WCU swept the Saturday doubleheader.
 
Tessa Juett closed her storied Catamount career on Wednesday with her name etched all over the record book for a WCU pitcher ... She finished second in total wins (36) and complete games (50), second in career strikeouts (450), third in starts (87) and innings pitched (538.1), fourth in appearances (117), sixth in strikeouts per seven innings (5.85), and seventh in ERA (4.41).

WCU's pitching staff in 2024 was led by junior Tessa Juett who claimed first-team all-SoCon honors with her league-high 14 wins, 159 strikeouts, 18 complete games and 183.1 innings pitched. She also garnered NFCA All-Region honors as well for her 2024 performance. Juett garnered SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors following a 4-0 week with starts against N.C. Central and ETSU. The Berea, Ky. native held opponents to a .163 average over 24.2 innings of work with four earned runs allowed to earn the weekly honors. Juett moved into numerous top 10 spots in the program’s career record book including fourth with 27 wins, fourth in starts with 63, third in innings pitched at 398.0, and sixth in strikeouts with 321, becoming the sixth pitcher in program history to eclipse 300 strikeouts in her time in Cullowhee. 

Working primarily with the pitching staff, Armstrong's hurlers finished third in the Southern Conference in 2023 with 243 strikeouts and posted an ERA of 3.78 which was fourth-best in the league. Jayme Eilers earned Pitcher of the Month honors for April 2023 and also claimed the honor in April 2021. Tessa Juett finished third in the league with 107 strikeouts and earned SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 13. 

In 2022, the WCU pitching staff under Armstrong's direction continued to rack up the strikeouts totaling 296 punchouts which was second-best in the SoCon led by Savannah Rice who grabbed 151. Eilers claimed SoCon Pitcher of the Week following the first week of action in the conference on February 14. 

In her first full year as the assistant coach, after the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Armstrong helped guide the team to a No. 2 seed in the 2021 Southern Conference race and a runner-up finish in the SoCon Championship. Led by First-Team all-conference honoree, Jayme Eilers the Catamounts pitching staff posted the second-best ERA in the SoCon at 3.47 while totaling a league-high 258 strikeouts led by Eilers and her SoCon leading 173. Eilers and Savannah Rice led the SoCon in pitching wins with 14 and 11 respectively as Eilers posted a league-high 175.0 innings pitched. Eilers was a two-time honoree for SoCon Pitcher of the Week while Rice claimed one. Eilers also claimed the April 2021 SoCon Pitcher of the month honors. 

Armstrong was a four-year player for Western Carolina graduating in December with a degree in physical education. She is a three-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District III selection as well as the 2018 Southern Conference Second Team selection. She was named to the 2017 SoCon All-Tournament team and was a member of the 2016 SoCon All-Freshman team. She was a member of the 2016 club that recorded 33 wins – the second-most in program history. In the spring of 2025, Armstrong earned her masters degree from Clemson University in Athletic Leadership. 

She ended her career ranked first for most runners caught stealing with 44 and second in the Western Carolina record books for doubles in a career with 35. Armstrong ranked ninth in the WCU record books for games started at 209, tied for 10 for runs scored with 85 and ranked seventh for most hits with 160.
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