- Taylor Bradley
- Senior, Marist School
Taylor Bradley has helped build homes with Habitat for Humanity. She’s a member of the National Honor Society and has won awards for her scores on national Latin exams.
But some of her greatest success has come on athletic fields.
She has played numerous sports since she started high school at Marist School, where she will be a senior in the fall. She has played golf and basketball, and has lettered for the varsity track team three times.
And Taylor’s real passion is for fast pitch softball.
“It’s a team sport,” she said, “and you can never have a single standout player – to win you have to work as a team and I love it. It’s given me so much, and opened so many doors with friends and relationships, and I’m so grateful for it.”
Taylor has participated in softball from age 7. By age 10, she was playing on traveling softball teams, like the Atlanta Flames and the Las Cruces Rebels, a team in New Mexico. With the Rebels, Taylor competed in the Amateur Softball Association’s national competition in 2011. She also has participated in a regional showcase with Fastpitch Scouting Report, and was selected for the 2012 All American Games in Akron, Ohio.
During her junior year at Marist, Taylor served as co-captain of the varsity softball team. She has been chosen for both the All-Region and All-State softball teams every year starting in 2010.
At the Marist School, she has been a starting member of the varsity softball team since her freshman year, and was named the Most Valuable Player during both her sophomore and her junior years.
In 2011, Taylor was named as a Featured Athlete by the Archdiocese of Atlanta. In 2012, she was named a DeKalb County Athlete of the Week. Currently, Taylor is playing travel softball with the 18 and younger team, the Georgia Impact.
Coach Mike Trapani described Taylor as “the epitome of a team player.”
“She is all about what’s best for the team, whether that means she plays out of her normal position, or is asked to sacrifice an at-bat,” he said. “You have heard the phrase “Check your ego at the door”? Well, that’s what Taylor does as she steps on the field.
“She has truly been a delight to coach and I look forward to her senior year and watching her grow as a softball player and young lady in the years to follow.”
Asked what drives her, Taylor credited her parents, both doctors.
“My parents are role models,” she said, “and they’ve driven and pushed me. But at the same time, I’m self-motivated. When I want to achieve something, I go out and do it.”
What’s Next:
Taylor is committed to Georgia State University, where she plans to play Division I softball. She plans to major in psychology, and she is leaning toward a career in therapy. “I want to help people, and I think that the major will allow me to do so,” she said.
This article was reported and written by Blake Flournoy, a rising senior at Riverwood International Charter High School.