{"id":2644,"date":"2020-05-08T23:31:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T04:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=2644"},"modified":"2020-05-08T23:31:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T04:31:27","slug":"hypothetical-yields-clear-answer-for-bradley-softball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2020\/05\/08\/hypothetical-yields-clear-answer-for-bradley-softball\/","title":{"rendered":"Hypothetical yields clear answer for Bradley softball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the Bradley softball team \u2013 and every other team competing in the NCAA spring season \u2013 a question lingers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What could have been?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Petersen Hotels Field, home of the Bradley Braves, as it appeared prior to an exhibition game versus Illinois Central College in 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first weekend of March had just concluded, and the Braves were preparing to host Loyola-Chicago for a weekend series \u2013 what would have been the first series of Missouri Valley Conference play for both squads. The Braves stood at 14-9 thanks to a strong start to the season that included a season-opening win versus ranked Arkansas<\/a> and a 7-3 record in the final 10 games played.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Braves and Ramblers never took the field on March 14. On March 12, the MVC announced it was suspending all spring sports through March 30<\/a>, a decision that was followed by the cancellation of the entire season one day later<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell I mean we had kinda been hearing the rumblings of it, but we were just trying not to think about it and take care of what we needed to take care of\u2026\u201d Head coach Amy Hayes said. \u201cAnd for us, we were feeling pretty good\u2026 even with our numbers low, we were still playing really good ball, you know, and kids were stepping up and we felt really good going into the Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Braves continued to prepare for the Loyola series as they normally would have, though inclement weather became a primary concern as the week progressed. That all changed, however, by week\u2019s end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThursday or Friday was our last practice and it was pretty sad. We had a scrimmage just to get some last at-bats in. I\u2019m a senior so, getting my last at-bats in against my teammates. It was a fun practice, it was good. It was a fun practice, it was good. We kind of all knew the end was nearing, so it was pretty sad leaving the field that day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As things stood when the season concluded, Wysocki led the team with 29 hits, 42 total bases and a .433 average<\/a>. Factor in the pitching efforts of Grace French, who had amassed a 5-0 record with a 2.75 ERA when play stopped, the Braves were in good shape entering the campaign\u2019s stretch run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly my approach was just to relax and not press and just have fun for my last year,\u201d Wysocki said. \u201cIt all started going pretty well, so I was just feeling really confident going into the Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think Grace was just, she is just so solid, I mean she is just a bulldog\u2026\u201d Hayes said. \u201cWe just told her, really I think going into that first weekend or right after that first weekend she was going to have to focus more on pitching. That\u2019s where we really needed her this year. And you know, she\u2019s a tremendous athlete. She can play any position we needed her to\u2026 sometimes you get kickback on that, but not with Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The 2020 Bradley Braves were looking to capitalize on the success of last year’s team, the most successful Braves team in a decade. 14 players returned from the 2019 team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wysocki, who was named the team\u2019s offensive MVP on May 8, led the team with 67 at-bats. Even as the squad battled injuries, it was expected that they would be at full strength during the balance of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt like they were gelling really well, they were super excited for conference and to start\u2026\u201d Hayes said. \u201cIt was a bummer. I feel bad for our seniors, to put in all that time and all that work, to have it be clicking and to feel confident going in and to know that you can win the championship and then not getting an opportunity to even compete for your conference season.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent trends support the notion that the Braves were in a solid position to capitalize on their strong start. 14 players returned from the 2019 team, which entered the MVC tournament with a full head of steam before bowing out to eventual champion Drake in the semifinals. The Braves will now have to turn their attention towards next season, however, as they chase what would be the third conference title in twelve seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Kealia Wysocki, what could have been is clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think this was the best team I had ever been on at Bradley, and I really do think we would have won the Valley if we would have had our season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Bradley University\u2019s complete response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here: https:\/\/www.bradley.edu\/sites\/coronavirus\/communications\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the Bradley softball team \u2013 and every other team competing in the NCAA spring season \u2013 a question lingers: What could have been? The first weekend of March had just concluded, and the Braves were preparing to host Loyola-Chicago for a weekend series \u2013 what would have been the first series of Missouri Valley Conference play for both squads. The Braves stood at 14-9 thanks to a strong start to the season that included a season-opening win versus ranked Arkansas and a 7-3 record in the final 10 games played.\u00a0 But the Braves and Ramblers never took the field on March 14. On March 12, the MVC announced it was suspending all spring sports through March 30, a decision that was followed by the cancellation of the entire season one day later.\u00a0 \u201cWell I mean we had kinda been hearing the rumblings of it, but we were just trying not to think about it and take care of what we needed to take care of\u2026\u201d Head coach Amy Hayes said. \u201cAnd for us, we were feeling pretty good\u2026 even with our numbers low, we were still playing really good ball, you know, and kids were stepping up and we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2648,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644\/revisions\/2648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}