Historical runs ends for Bradley softball

By Justin Phelps ‘05

Ashley Birdsong ‘09 throws a pitch during Bradley’s 2-1 loss to Missouri. (Bradley University / Bob Hunt)

Throughout the season, first-year Bradley coach Amy Hayes and her staff talked to the Braves about making history this year.

“From the beginning, that’s something we told them they could do this year,” Hayes said. “I think it took a little time for them to believe it and believe in themselves, but they just proved it. I’m really proud of this team.”

The Braves season ended Saturday night in a 2-1 loss to DePaul in an elimination game at the Columbia, Mo. Regional in the NCAA tournament. But this team has much to be proud of when it reflects on the season.

The Braves (26-28) won the Missouri Valley Conference softball tournament for the first time in program history.

“Bradley’s never done that,” said senior pitcher Ashley Birdsong, who was 10-2 in the last 12 games of the season. “No one can ever take that away from us. We’re the first team at Bradley University to ever do that. We made history.”

Bradley also advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time and claimed its first NCAA tournament victory. The Braves defeated 15-seeded and 20th-ranked DePaul, 2-1, Friday afternoon in the double-elimination regional.

Hayes told her team they raised the bar for the program. By raising the bar, the Bradley softball program isn’t an unknown anymore.

“I think people know who we are now,” Hayes said. “Being in the state of Illinois, that’s a tough place to recruit. You have to deal with Northwestern, DePaul, Illinois, Southern Illinois-Carbondale - and now Edwardsville is moving up - and Eastern and Western. This puts us on the map as one of the best.”