Congratulations to Grace Bradley – All State

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Ken Krause

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May 7, 2008
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Grace signing


Just wanted to take a moment (or two) for a shout-out to one of my students, Grace Bradley, who just graduated from Grayslake Central High School, on the accolades she’s received in the last couple of weeks to cap out her high school career. In addition to being named Northern Lake County All-Conference and to the Daily Herald Lake County All-Area Softball team, we found out this week that Grace was also named to Illinois Coaches Association Class 3A All-State Softball Team for the second year in a row.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer or more deserving player. I have known and worked with Grace on her hitting since she was in 7th or 8th grade. At the time she was the scrawny little teammate of another one of my students, who was about the same size, and when she saw how that girl was doing she said “I gotta get me some of that.” At least I presume that’s what she said.

Grace has worked very hard since then, putting in hour after hour in the off-season with me during lessons and with her dad Greg in-between lessons to learn how to drive the ball with authority. It paid off this year, as she batted .404 hitting cleanup, with an OBP of .475, OPS of 1.158, and slugging percentage of .683. She had 42 hits, with 6 doubles (including a high-pressure walk-off to secure a double header sweep), 1 triple and 7 home runs (8 if you count the one she hit in an “unofficial” game) while helping to lead her team to a Regional title.

She is also high on the all-time list in several offensive categories at GCHS, including being tied for 5th in total hits, 5th in runs scored, 2nd in career batting average, slugging percentage, and RBIs, and 3rd in home runs. This was in a school that opened in 1946, and while they probably didn’t have fastpitch softball as a varsity sport until much later, there were still a lot of players who came before her.

Interestingly, the leader in each of those categories was her friend, teammate and catcher Elisa Koshy. Imagine having that duo in your lineup!

There are two other remarkable things about Grace’s accomplishments in her career. One is that she did most of that in just two years. She didn’t even make varsity until her sophomore year, and then she only played a little bit. I can only imagine what she would have done with another full season under her belt.

(That should also be encouraging to all those young players who don’t go to varsity immediately as a freshman, or don’t get an opportunity to play immediately. You can still do great things if you persist.)

The other amazing thing about Grace’s offensive production is that she did it all while also being her team’s #1 pitcher for the last two years. (I take no credit for that part – she has a different pitching coach who clearly did a great job with her.)

That sort of performance reminds me of what they used to say about Ginger Rogers: She did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels. (For those who don’t know who they were, here’s a video. Check it out.)

Many pitchers don’t hit at all in softball because of the amount of time it takes to become good at that one critical skill. Those who do often hit fairly low in the lineup. But as I said, Grace not only pitched but hit cleanup this year after spending most of last year hitting in the two-slot. I think most players would be happy to accomplish what she did either pitching or hitting, much less doing both.

I think what makes me happiest about all of this is that Grace is such a quality human being. She is nice, sweet, friendly, and humble – the type who will probably blush if she reads this blog post. If you were casting the All-American female lead for your movie, Grace would get the part as soon as you met her.

Kudos to her parents, Greg and Barb, for raising someone who could accomplish so much and yet remain so down-to-earth. I doubt Grace ever checked her stats once. She didn’t do it for recognition. She did it to help her team.

Now it’s a summer of post-graduation ball with the Illinois Impact, then it’s on to Carroll College to continue her career. I have no doubt she will continue to impress at the next level.

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