Bradley ready to turn Lady Bulldogs program into an Empire
Jun. 25—Being a part of a winning culture has been part of the softball DNA for Bailey Bradley. Now, she's ready to turn the Lady Bulldogs' softball program into an Empire of her own starting in 2023.
Bradley, a recent graduate of Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, comes from Caddo High School in Caddo, Oklahoma, which has been a softball power house the last several years.
Empire Public Schools hired the recent graduate to have her first head coaching gig and Athletic Director Brant Hayes is glad to see someone that is ready to come in and put her stamp on the program.
"She's young, energetic and will definitely be a go getter. Has a background of excellent programs and success, that I feel she will take way from to build her own program here as an Empire Lady Bulldog," Hayes said. "She has already put in a lot of work into the field and takes pride in our school. We are very happy to have her and excited for what she will bring to our athletic department."
It was her sophomore season when Bradley and the Caddo Lady Bruins started the dominance in the softball world. They made five appearances throughout slow pitch and fast pitch softball.
As she makes her first rounds as a head coach of a program, Bradley looks forward to working with the Lady Bulldogs in making the program as successful as her alma mater in Caddo.
"I really wanted to be a softball coach from the beginning because the sport really helped me figure out like how I wanted to live and showed me more on how to live life," Bradley said. "I learned a lot from the game and I wanted to continue doing that for other children and just help kids understand that there is more of a life lesson. Every softball team I was on, it was a family to me. All the girls were my sisters, I never had sisters so that is where I got that from."
Bradley, who began her college career at Southwestern Christian University before transferring to SWOSU, has started to play games at the Marlow Summer League and met with the girls as they prepare for 2023.
"I'm actually holding open fields for them to come out so I can come and meet them while giving them their uniforms and get to meet their parents while understanding where they come from," Bradley said. "I really expect us to get really rolling as soon as we can. We actually have our first game coming up next Tuesday, so I just gotta figure out where everybody goes. After that we will be on the ball and going after it."
With the summer fading into fall in the next couple of months, Bradley will have high expectations for the team and believe if they're successful, they can build a program like she had at Caddo when she was playing.
"That is what I really like about Empire, was that it made me feel like I was back at Caddo where I was used to things being so small," Bradley said. "I really want to give them the high school experience I had. Going to State, I mean that is all we were known for after that. Even now, Caddo is still winning state titles for softball all the time, so I just want to turn that program around for them and let them know that there can be a lot of pride taken in through this sport."
