Making a name for herself: Southmoore's Taitum Bradshaw leaving her impact on softball program
By Michael Kinney
Even before Taitum Bradshaw ever put on a Southmoore softball jersey, she knew what was expected of her.
With two older sisters who went through the program, she had a bird’s-eye view of the success the team had strung together and what it took to make it happen.
“She's been running around here in pigtails since she was three years old, watching her older sisters play,” Southmoore coach Jason Lingo said. “And now she's leading the charge on that same field.”
But now that Bradshaw is a senior and the final of the Bradshaw sisters to come through the program, she has not only lived up to her sister’s name but also left her own mark on the program.
“I feel like I've kept the title going pretty good. I feel like the Lingos are probably going to be a little excited to get me out of their hair and have no more Bradshaws,” Bradshaw said with a laugh. “But I feel like I've carried on the name or the little bit of a name we have pretty well, and I'm glad I got to do it here.”
When her prep career comes to an end, Bradshaw will be joining several other players from around the state at Grand Canyon University in Arizona to continue her softball exploits.
But Bradshaw knows she still has unfinished business at Southmoore first. What she has done so far is be part of a pair of 6A state fast pitch championships (2020, 2021) and a slow pitch title (2022).
In her final campaign, Bradshaw wants to help the SaberCats win three straight in fast pitch and close out the year with a second slow pitch crown as well.
“It would mean everything,” Bradshaw said. “Last year, I know the seniors felt good coming off with two back-to-back fast pitch and slow pitch (titles). And I just feel like that would be awesome if I could do the same.”
During the regular season, Bradshaw batted .520 with 13 doubles, seven triples and four homers. She also collected 33 RBIs, 37 runs scored and swiped 24 stolen bases in 26 attempts.
Just as impressively, Bradshaw didn’t commit a single error in the outfield.
However, according to Lingo, Bradshaw’s intangibles may be the best part of her game.
“I can't ask Taitum Bradshaw to do any more for us than she has and not only just this year as a senior, but her whole career,” Lingo said. “She's always been one of our most athletic kids and she's one of the most athletic kids in the state. She also has a work ethic that is unrivaled.
"She will take more reps in the outfield, she'll take more cuts in the cages. You have to push her out of the complex to make her leave every day. And those are the kind of kids that we want and that we love having around.”
Lingo specifically pinpointed the leadership Bradshaw has provided the SaberCats.
“It's not just in talking and explaining things a little to the other younger girls, it's being the first person to pick up balls in the cage. It's the first person to pick up a screen and log it off the field, help go get the ice and the water jugs,” Lingo said. “All the little bitty things that bosses tell people below them to do.
"She's a leader because she tells them it needs to be done and she's the first one to grab it and say, ‘Come help me.’ She doesn't tell anyone else to do things; she expects them to come help her. And that's why she's a leader and that's why the kids love her.”
Yet, Bradshaw admits she wasn’t always confident in everything that came with being a leader.
In previous seasons, there were always older players who took on those requirements and she was able to be herself.
“Last year, the team was mainly seniors. We had a bunch of leaders on the team,” Bradshaw said. “It's been hard for me and Riley Sharp, our shortstop. We've always followed the leader. We've never had to step up and be the leaders.
"But this year, it's definitely different. I think we're handling the role okay. The main thing is just we had to step up as leaders.”
Bradshaw said she realized this during the end of the slow pitch season. With some of the players graduating early and going off to college, some of the voices they normally heard in the dugout weren’t there in crucial moments.
“I realized that next year, instead of Lexi Hernandez (a senior last season) having to help us say, ‘It's okay, we got this,’ that I'm going to have to be that person next year to calm everyone down and get everyone's head in the game,” Bradshaw said.
That was the case the SaberCats found themselves in during the regional tournament last week. After dropping a game to Edmond Deer Creek, they were one loss away from seeing their season come to an end.
On the brink of elimination, the SaberCats won their next three games by a combined score of 27-12. That includes sweeping the Antlers in the championship series.
That puts Bradshaw back on track to close out her career with another title chase, which begins Thursday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
Southmoore starts the 6A state tournament with a game against Owasso at 6:30 p.m. It's a rematch of last season's 6A title game, which the SaberCats won, 5-1.
