Ahh, fall. That time of year where pumpkins matter again, football kicks off and softball hits the field for the first time in the new school year.
Wait, what?
You read that correctly. The defending Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) champions returned to action earlier this month for the first time since last May, thumping Heartland Community College 19-5 at Laura Bradley Park.
Already up eight runs in the eighth inning, the Braves used the long ball to tack on six more. Junior Rachel Huggins launched a grand slam shortly after sophomore Caitlin McCarron’s two-run home run earlier in the inning.
Bradley followed the solid home showing with a pair of games in Champaign last weekend. After beating the host Illini 6-5, the Braves rallied down from a three-run deficit to force extra innings against Wright State before falling to the Raiders 9-8 in extra innings.
Head coach Amy Hayes said she was happy with how the team hit so far compared to years past. She also singled-out pitcher Alyson Spinas-Valainis for her performance.
“I think you can see the development of our hitters over the last couple years thanks to Coach Malveaux, and Alyson [Spinas-Valainis] has done a good job in the circle for us,” Hayes said. “I think she’s going to be a big part of our rotation this year.”
Hayes also noted that this season’s freshman class has left an impression in its brief time on the Hilltop.
“I’m really impressed with our freshmen,” Hayes said. “I think they’ve come in with a really solid work ethic and athletically are very, very sound. We feel good about having a balanced team right now.”
One of those freshmen traversed three time zones to reach Peoria. Outfielder Erika Hansen came all the way from Fillmore, California, a city roughly an hour away from Los Angeles.
Hansen made a mark in the scorebook early in her Bradley career, launching a home run against Illinois for her second this fall.
Hansen believes the fall games are especially helpful for freshmen looking to get their college careers started.
“We get to learn how everything works…get all the bugs and nerves out,” Hansen said. “We get to figure out the field and learn how everyone plays and operates in the field and up to bat.”
The MVC champions will be honored prior to the Oct. 6 soccer game against Denver, where the team will receive its championship rings.
Before then, however, the team will be back in action this weekend against the DePaul Blue Demons and a pair of community colleges, Kankakee and Lincolnland. The team was also originally scheduled to face Northwestern, but the Wildcats do not have enough healthy pitchers.
