Bradley Holiday Softball Camp (Grades 1-8)

01/15/11

Bradley Holiday Softball Camp will focus on all defensive position fundamentals; including pitching and catching. Offensive fundamentals and base running instruction will also be included.

Camp Cost: $85.00

The Braves claimed their first MVC Tournament title

Junior Jacqueline Vitale (indian Head Park, Ill./Lyons Township) and senior Miriam Wegmann (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) each hit solo home runs and junior Amanda Clack (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro) robbed Creighton's Bailey Dawson of a potential game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to highlight a 2-0 Bradley win over the Bluejays in the championship game of the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship at the EastSide Centre. The tournament title is the first for the Braves and Bradley receives the MVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

What was anticipated to be a potentially high scoring contest due to a strong wind blowing out to left center, senior pitcher Ashley Birdsong (Otis, Ore./Otis) and three-time Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year Tara Oltman both turned in solid pitching performances as the two squads combined for a total of five hits.

Birdsong tossed her 10th shutout of the season and picked up her ninth consecutive victory in the circle for the Braves, tossing a two-hit complete-game shutout. She struck out four and walked one to improve to 19-10 on the year. Birdsong has thrown the last 64 innings for Bradley and picked up all nine victories during the Braves current nine-game win streak. The nine-game win streak is Bradley's longest win streak since winning 10 straight games in 1997. The MVC Tournament MVP, Birdsong was 4-0 with a 1.45 ERA during tournament play.

The Braves claimed the first MVC Tournament title in program history and will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance. Bradley is the first host school to win the MVC Tournament in the 27-year history of the event.

Joining Birdsong on the all-tournament team were fellow seniors Alycia Bachkora (Overland Park, Kan./Notre Dame de Sion), Anne Creighton (Glide, Ore./Glide) and Wegmann, along with Sinkler, Dawson and Michelle Koch from Creighton. Also earning spots on the all-tournament team were Casey Gorrell (Illinois State), Jenna Schwark (Missouri State), Elena Leon (Drake), Rachel Gerking (UNI), Darcy Wood (Indiana State), Katie Armour (Indiana State), Alicia Garza (Southern Illinois) and Katie Wagner (Southern Illinois).

The Braves have won nine consecutive games heading into the NCAA first-round game against DePaul. The Braves finished with a 1-2 record at the NCAA regional winning game one against number 15 ranked DePaul.