Leslie asks Bradford to run the baseball program

LESLIE — Rich Bradford is leaving the Leslie softball program after seven years, but he’s not going far.

Leslie announced Bradford this week as his new baseball coach as he takes over for Mark Frohriep.

Leslie baseball is coming off a 17-13 season, 11-7 in the Cascades Conference. Seven of the Blackhawks’ 13 losses have come against teams that won their district, including a pair of eventual state semifinalists Maple Valley.

Bradford posted a 143-75 record with the Leslie softball program.

He makes the move following the graduation of his daughter, Ada Bradford, who capped a successful Blackhawks career with 1,281 strikeouts, more than all but a dozen pitchers in state history.

But on the Blackhawks baseball team is his son.

“It means a lot to me to have the opportunity,” he said. “To have coached Ada, along with all the players I’ve coached in the softball program, is pretty amazing to me. I feel truly blessed to have this opportunity. On the baseball side, I feel the same way. I don’t think too many people have that much time with kids, so I value that.”

He’s moving from one bat and ball sport to another, so he feels a lot of his approach will carry over.

“A lot of my (philosophy) is no freebies, no rides,” he said. “Try to be as structurally and fundamentally sound as possible, the fewer errors the better. All of those things translate to baseball, maybe even more with the pitch count.”

Bradford leaves a Blackhawks softball program after leading it to three league titles and four district crowns, including a district title this year, a run in which Leslie defeated Grass Lake in a road trip in the district semifinal.

“I feel like we’ve done a good job of creating a good culture,” Bradford said. “We’ve graduated a lot of parts of being successful on the field, but I feel like the culture can stay the same and still be a positive experience for girls moving forward.”