Bradley to lead Bridge City softball

A familiar hand will be guiding the Bridge City softball program in the coming school year. Kylie Bradley has been chosen as the new head coach for the Lady Cardinals after serving as an assistant coach last season.

The head softball coach at Bridge City is a goal Bradley has had on her mind. "It may be a little sooner than I thought might come, but that's been the goal to be in Bridge City and to help build a program whether I was assisting or I was the head coach, Bradley responded.

Kylie was thrilled with being chosen the head coach at Bridge City High School. She expressed, "I was overjoyed because I've made a lot of moves in my career that were centered around knowing I wanted to be here in Bridge City, so it feels good for that to work out."

Bridge City was Kylie's first coaching job out of college and she coached middle school sports before leaving Bridge City to take an assistant coaching position for softball in Kountze. Despite the move to Kountze Bradley has maintained a love for the school district where she got her first coaching job.

Bradley replaces Raven Harris whom she served as an assistant softball coach. Harris led the Lady Cardinals softball program for the last four years and has moved to Buna to be the softball coach there.

During her one year as an assistant coach for softball Bradley worked with the other softball assistant coach Chris Moore to run the junior varsity. Kylie worked primarily with the Lady Cardinal catchers on the varsity level. She also helped run drills for the infield when Coach Harris was pulled away to concentrate her attention on the pitchers.

Scouting and statistics are actually two tasks that Bradley loves to cover. She would help the players in the dugout with how to correct mistakes they made in a previous inning to allow Coach Harris to concentrate on execution on the field during the game.

There are some very good Lady Cardinals returning to the nest that should help Bridge City be a contender for a district title in softball in 2024. The pitching circle should be very adequately filled with senior Carson Fall and Cambree LaComb who will be a sophomore.

Bradley reminded, "We have Carson and Cambree pitching and that's huge. Cambree carried a lot especially when Carson was struggling with her arm injury, and we had to rest Carson some.

The status for Fall to pitch in a regular rotation may not be known for a few weeks. "Injury wise I'm not sure where she's at exactly, but I'm very comfortable saying that the thing about Carson is if she can throw for us she's going to throw. I know it's very hard on her not to be throwing for us every game. If she's still battling that injury we might have to save her for some of the bigger games. Carson has become such a leader even with her quiet demeanor, but when I tell you the girls look up to her and follow her it's just a hundred percent true," Bradley stated.

There will also be starters returning at every position in the infield and a couple spots in the outfield. "We've got a good group coming back. My little JV team last year was pretty impressive, so I'm excited to see how they can fit in and help us with things like especially base running or outfield," Bradley evaluated.

As a senior this year Lexi Nugier at shortstop is expected to have an even bigger impact than she did last season. Bradley explained, "Lexi took a huge role. As an assistant coach I talked to the girls and said I need somebody to be a leader in the infield. Lexi stepped up and really led in the infield. Not only is her glove outstanding she makes a huge difference as a leader on the field."

Other returning infielders for the Lady Cardinals are Brooklyn Droddy and Anna Autrey. Both swing very good bats and can play either corner infield position.

Kyleigh Hamilton and Makenna Knight are middle infielders who Coach Bradley can also use in the outfield when needed. A star in the outfield is Nicole Sasser with her bat, her glove, and her quick feet on the bases.

Catching is a special interest for Kylie since she played as catcher most of her four years at Orangefield High School and her last three years in college. The Bridge City catcher is returning starter Haley Munoz who is an outstanding leader and a consistent hitter with a high on base percentage. "Having her behind the plate with her leadership skills is huge," Bradley expressed.

Coach Bradley believes the Bridge City Lady Cardinals will be a contender in the district. "The whole entire team coming back is super solid, and I have faith that if I ask them to move to another position almost every girl on the team is a double threat and they can be moved around and they're going to do what I need them to do," Bradley concluded.