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PREP SOFTBALL: Central Hardin's Brady repeats as Area Player of the Year (06/15)

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By Nathaniel Bryan
Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 8:00 pm

 

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By NATHANIEL BRYAN nbryan@thenewsenterprise.com CECILIA — When she thinks about the top high school softball players to come through this area, graduating Central Hardin third baseman Kylie Brady reels off such names as former Central Hardin pitcher/shortstop Amanda Faulkner, former Elizabethtown pitcher Whitney Valentine, former Elizabethtown catcher Leslie Borders and former North Hardin pitcher Jennifer Young. Brady isn’t sure she should be considered among the group she listed. “That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t think of myself like that,” she said. “There’s been a bunch.” When it came to choosing the best player in the area this season, there weren’t a bunch of choices. Brady was the clear winner for Area Player of the Year, receiving seven out of a possible 10 first-place votes and finishing with 42 out of a maximum 50 points. The 2006 Sophomore of the Year won her first Area Player of the Year honor last season, making Brady among only a handful of players to claim the top award back-to-back years and among an elite few to win individual awards three consecutive seasons. “I really appreciate it. I’ve worked since I was little to get to this point,” she said. “And to win it twice is special.” Voting was done by the seven area head coaches and four members of The News-Enterprise sports staff. Player of the Year voting was on a 5-3-1 scale with five points going to a voter’s first choice, three to the second choice and one to the third. Coaches were forbidden from voting for their own players. North Hardin freshman pitcher/first baseman Andrea Whelan was the runner-up for the second straight year, finishing with 27 points and two first-place votes. Elizabethtown senior catcher Jessica Rediker was third with 15 points and one first-place vote, while LaRue County senior third baseman Tesha Paysen received the other first-place vote. Not surprisingly, Brady led the 16-player All-Area Team, receiving 145 out of a maximum 150 points using a 15-to-1 voting scale with 15 points going to a voter’s top choice, 14 points going to the second choice, 13 to the third pick and 1 to the last slot. Brady helped Central Hardin sweep the 17th District Tournament and 5th Region Tournament titles for the first time before helping the Lady Bruins (26-15) win two games at State to advance to State’s second day (Elite Eight) for the first time. At the plate, Brady was one of the most feared hitters in the 17-team region. Entering State, she was batting a team-best .423 and also led the team in runs scored (26), hits (47), doubles (16), triples (four), home runs (two) and walks (20). She was tied for the team lead with 12 stolen bases and was second in RBIs with 18. And this was actually a down year power-wise for Brady, considering she hit five home runs when she won the award as a junior. “I know her home run numbers might have been down, but her batting average was still up there and her walks were up because she wasn’t being pitched too. Or if she was being pitched to, she was being more carefully pitched to,” said third-year Central Hardin coach Mark Martin. “Knowing how dangerous she is, I don’t think too many coaches would argue she’s the most dangerous hitter in this area when you put average and power together.” On average, Brady was walked every 5.55 at-bats, got an extra-base hit every 5.05 at-bats and struck out only once every 37 at-bats. Chalk LaRue County coach Mielle DiStefano up as one of the coaches Martin was referring to. “Kylie’s tough. You can’t pitch around her,” said DiStefano, who has had to coach against Brady in basketball and softball. “There’s other players you can get out, but there’s nothing you can throw at Kylie. She’s a tough out. She’s an outstanding kid. She carries herself well in basketball and softball. She puts the team first and it seems like she’s got a good head on her shoulders.” As good as Brady’s offensive numbers were, they were much harder to achieve the past two years. She had her best offensive season as a sophomore, but it hurt her in one aspect in that coaches knew she was a big bat. After a strong junior campaign, Brady’s trips to the plate became more and more frustrating. “My sophomore year, they’d come straight down the middle with the first pitch. If I didn’t hit that first one, I’d probably get two more good strikes an at-bat,” Brady said. “My junior year, I’d get at least one and maybe two. My senior year, I’d get one (strike) if I was lucky.” Brady’s offensive awareness didn’t involve much luck. Take the Campbellsville region tournament game. After hitting a double in her first trip to the plate and being intentionally walked in her second, Brady noticed the infield defense was playing back and proceeded to lay down an RBI bunt for a single. And when she gets to second base, Brady tips off pitches to Lady Bruin batters with a closed or open right fist. “She’ll walk, bunt, slap or stay back and drive it, depending on what she needs to do. Kylie has the softball savvy to have a great feel for that kind of stuff,” Martin said. “We’ve got a couple of other hitters who do it (tip pitches) less conspicuously, but Kylie’s been around the game so long. She’s into all parts of the game, not just her part. And not just hitting or fielding, but to help her teammates do well.” Because of how strong an offensive force Brady is, her defense often gets overlooked. Although offense has come naturally to Brady, she had to work on her glove. “I think I’m a pretty good defender. That’s probably what I worked on the most. I really did try to work on it going into my junior year,” said Brady, who noted a strong bat wouldn’t have been enough to get her playing time for the Under-18 Louisville Lady Sluggers travel time. “You couldn’t have a weak glove and be successful on that team.” Brady, a perennial All-Area basketball player as well, will attend Bellarmine University this fall and will play for the Lady Knights’ basketball team. She’s undecided if she’ll try to play softball the following spring, but if she does, Martin feels she’ll be successful once again. “I think she could have played Division-I softball. But unfortunately, there’s not a ton of softball scholarship money out there, which is why it was probably smart to take the Bellarmine (basketball) scholarship when it was there,” he said. “But if she decides to play at Bellarmine, they’re getting a bargain as far as the softball side.” A bargain Martin will hate to see out of the Lady Bruin lineup for the first time in a while. “I don’t think too much about it for a while. I want to get away from it for a little while,” Martin said with a laugh. “It’s going to be weird next year to not see her name penciled in. It’s kind of hard to believe that four years, five in her particular case, goes by so fast.” Brady agreed it would be weird not putting on a Central Hardin jersey anymore. “I still have a couple of T-shirts that I can wear when I go back to their games,” she said. A T-shirt which will be worn by one of the greats. Nathaniel Bryan can be reached at 505-1758

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