Kayla Braud, a freshman on the Alabama softball team, ended her 103-game hitting streak in high school only because she graduated. The hitting streak was a national record and was named the No. 1 record-breaker by ESPN RISE.
However, that was high school, and now she’s elevated into the college level of play, where the game takes on a whole new height.
“It is tough because it is a job here,” she said. “There is a lot more time spent into it, and you are facing a lot more competition and better players all the time.”
Earlier this week, she was also named SEC Freshman of the Week after batting .615 (8-for-13), with five RBIs and five runs scored in the Hatter Invitational last weekend. The tournament took place in Deland, Fla., and was her first collegiate road game.
“I got off to a rough start that weekend,” she said, “but I was really glad to be able to finish strong for my team. I was able to get on base, and we scored runs.”
The team played Ohio State, Rhode Island and Stetson in the tournament. Head coach Patrick Murphy said in a news release he was very pleased with Braud’s performance throughout the weekend.
“You can see with experience that Kayla is becoming more and more comfortable at the plate,” he said. “Her last game against a very good Ohio State team was her best. She… got our offense going in the right direction. Kayla is one of our true triple threats who will get better each weekend.”
Braud came to Alabama all the way from Eugene, Ore., which is roughly 2,500 miles – a 38-hour drive – away from Tuscaloosa.
“I thought it was going to be really tough as far as not being with my family,” Braid said, “but they really treat you as family on this team. The adjustment has not been as hard as I thought it would be because of the people here.”
The circumstances in which Murphy discovered Braud were unusual. He said he had been watching Georgia and Alabama teams that particular weekend, and her team had been playing one of the teams he was watching.
“She kept getting on base over and over again,” he said.
Though she’s still new to collegiate play, she is able to contribute to the team and has her own impact in games.
“She can drag, she can slap, she can hit away, which is kind of a rarity in softball,” Murphy said. “When she gets on base, things happen for us offensively.”
Braud said her main team goal is to win a national championship, and though the team is young, she wanted her teammates to be able to go out and do their best this season. And for her personally, she wants to be whatever she can for the team.
“My biggest goal is to play whatever role the team needs me to be, be productive in the lineup, getting on base whenever I can and helping the team,” she said.
