Kayla Braud is high school softball’s answer to baseball’s Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners. She has earned the title of “triple threat,” being able to get on base by bunting, slapping or hitting away.
The Marist (Eugene, Ore.) senior shortstop bats left-handed, has great speed (1.67 seconds from home to first from a standing start), can bunt, beat out grounders, hit gappers or hit with power. Since coming from Japan, Suzuki has used the same talents to become one of the American League’s premier hitters.
Kayla Braud, Marist (Eugene, Ore.)
Photo courtesy of Toni Cooper
The 5-foot-5 Braud, who is headed for the University of Alabama, used her multi-talents to fashion one of high school’s most untouchable records – an incredible 103-game hitting streak. She never went hitless in four years.
BK (Before Kayla), the national record was 46 games. She broke that as a junior.
Putting "The Streak" in perspective, the national prep baseball record is 52 games by Brandon Boles of Kokomo (Ind.) from 1998-2000. The professional baseball streak – long recognized as untouchable – is 56 games by New York Yankees Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio.
John Gillis, who has edited the National High School Sports Record Book for the past 16 years, told MaxPreps, “This record ranks right up there with the untouchables. Her performance sustained over an entire career is incredible. If I have another 16 years (of editing) I can’t envision anyone approaching that.”
University of Alabama coach Pat Murphy calls her record “mind-numbing. It’s just amazing – I don’t care what level. She’s fast and a triple threat from the left side. She has just amazing tools. She’s got a great head on her shoulders and a great work ethic. She’s going to get better and better and get stronger. Speed never slumps.”
Murphy revealed that though he was in regular contact with his prize recruit during her senior year, they never mentioned The Streak. He would check the internet or hear from a local sportswriter to keep track of each game. It was like a pitcher working on a no-hitter: no one is supposed to discuss it for fear of the unspoken “jinx” that would follow.
Mike White, who has coached her for the past six years on the Eugene Thunder summer team, calls The Streak “phenomenal. You’d have to say that this will never be broken. There’s got to be an element of luck. With her speed, the hitting streak just kind of came on its own. The pressure on her the last year at times was overwhelming.”
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Her new club coach, Dennis Muir of the Northwest Bullets Gold, calls the record “astonishing. It’s an incredible run. It’s valid and you won’t ever see it again.”
Bob Hammitt, who is Kayla’s prep coach – and also her grandfather – says, “I’m more impressed with the team, a 58-2 record and two state (4A) championships. Obviously I’m proud. It’s a great accomplishment. She’s worked very hard and deserves it. She’s put a lot into the game.
“She’s a very good hitter and has a lot of different tools. She’s also been very lucky. Maybe you’re 0-for-2 and it’s your third (and final) time up. She gets a gapper. She’s so skilled at laying the ball down and so quick getting out of the box.”
Braud told MaxPreps that this year alone, “I had three or four games where I got a hit in my last at-bat. Those were the most stressful games. I either got a (clean) hit or got a bunt down.”
In fact, during two of her last four games, she saved The Streak with fifth-inning infield hits in her last time at the plate.
Making the streak even more remarkable is the fact that her reputation greatly limited her ability to get base hits. “I usually get only one or two good pitches in an at-bat,” she estimated. “I only faced six or eight pitchers all year that were really challenging (threw a lot of strikes). Getting walked is no fun. I look to the batter behind me in the order. She should look at that personally.”
Now that The Streak is finalized, Braud says, “It’s really overwhelming. Looking back, I can’t even express how overwhelming of a ride it has been and how blessed I am.”
Her career statistics are just as mind boggling. She started 113 straight games over four years and batted a lofty .612. She scored 211 runs, drove in 108 (from the leadoff spot) and stole 111 bases in 117 attempts. Her on-base percentage was a stunning .718.
In 451 plate appearances she walked 55 times and struck out only 16 times.
Junction City coach Mike Campbell faced Braud eight times during her career and he calls her “as good or better than anyone I’ve seen play at the high school level. She’s fun to watch but not fun to play against. She’s a nightmare. When she gets on base, she’s a terror. Your team gets very unsettled because you’re worried about her and can’t play your game.”
Campbell once used five infielders against her and he confesses, “If we have two outs and no one on base, we are going to walk her. Every coach goes in with the thought ‘If we could end that streak, it would be great.’ She just makes adjustments. We’ve been unable to contain her in four years.
“She makes very tough (defensive) plays look routine. There’s just no weakness in her game. She has really changed Marist softball. The level has really raised. She’s set the bar very high and they really do strive to meet it.”
Braud was destined to be a softball player, because her mother, Kelli, played the sport and her father, Denny, played baseball, both at Northeast Louisiana, now named the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
The clincher was her cousin, Chelsey Siltenan, who was seven years older and played for Marist’s 2000 state champions. Chelsey was Kayla’s idol and she got her start as a batgirl for her cousin’s team. Starting organized softball at age eight for the Eugene Thunder, Kayla carried her worship even further by playing her cousins’ position, shortstop, and wearing her uniform number, one.
“One of my greatest memories growing up,” she related, “was playing wiffle ball in the backyard with my family.”
It was smooth sailing for the natural athlete until she decided she wanted to be a left-handed hitter at age 10. She batted right-handed only in key game situations when a run was vital.
At age 11, she was a lefty for keeps. Incredibly, she pointed out, “I didn’t hit the ball out of the infield all year and batted over .500.”
Denny Braud eventually turned the Thunder coaching reins over to Mike White, who pointed out, “Over time we developed her power. She’s a naturally strong kid. We worked a lot on her swing technique. She takes lots of cuts every day.”
Braud freely credits White for making her a great hitter. She says that White “really took my game to the next level. He has thrown batting practice since I was 12 or 13. He throws hard, has a lot of movement and is literally one of the best pitchers in the world. If I can hit him, I can hit anybody.”
Playing in many ASA summer tournaments as she grew, Braud entered Marist as a well-seasoned freshman. Still, she admits, “A lot of people didn’t expect me to do as well as I did. I kind of came in with a bang,” she understated, because she went 3-for-3 in each of her first two games.
Braud completed her “rookie” year with these outstanding statistics: .533 batting average, .663 on-base percentage, 48 runs and 41 stolen bases in 43 attempts.
As a sophomore, she became more of a leader. “I tried to motivate my team by my actions (rather than being very vocal),” she explained. Her “actions” translated into these statistics: .624 batting average, .710 on-base percentage, 38 runs, 28 RBI and 30 stolen bases in 33 tries.
She never was aware that she had a long hitting streak until coach Hammitt told her during her junior year. However, he did not mention the national record until after she had broken it. By the time she found out what the record was (46 games), she already had surpassed it.
“I began getting recognized for my streak,” she related. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I said, ‘Oh, boy, I get my name in a book. There’s no way I’m going to get much further.’ I didn’t imagine it would take me as far as it did.”
Braud completed her junior year with a national-record 73-game hitting streak. She batted .645, with a .740 on-base percentage. She also had 65 runs, 30 RBIs and was never thrown out in 28 stolen-base attempts. The icing on the cake was the team’s first Class 4A state title in eight years – which in turn earned her Class 4A Oregon Player of the Year honors.
Beginning her senior year, Braud was confronted by members of the media who wondered if she could reach the magic 100 mark. “No way – that’s just silly,” she told everyone. “I got a little more nervous. There were a lot of expectations, not only for me but for the entire team.
“It was more of a game-to-game thing. Once I got a hit, they (her teammates) would relax. I kind of worried about it too much. After the first few games … the less I thought about it the better I hit.
“The 100th game really was the game that was kind of the mark. It was pretty scary. It was a close game which made it more intense. I hit a chopper between the pitcher and catcher and the catcher threw too late. I knew I was going to be safe when I hit it.”
Her final game – No. 103 – was somewhat similar because she beat out a grounder to the second baseman for her lone hit. “That game wasn’t so much about The Streak because we won the state (2-1 over Henley),” she pointed out. “It was really nice to go out my senior year with the hit and the win.”
Her final season produced these numbers: .612 batting average, career-high .748 on-base percentage, 60 runs, career-high 40 RBI (at leadoff) and 12 stolen bases in 13 tries. Her slugging percentage was an off-the-charts 1.049. Braud and standout pitcher Nyree White shared Oregon’s Player of the Year honors.
Despite her incredible softball feats, Kayla Braud is a multi-dimensional teenager. She played basketball (point guard) through her freshman year and soccer (forward and midfielder) through her senior year. She was an All-State soccer player and Marist was Class 4A state runner-up when she was a junior.
She compiled a 3.8 GPA (4.1 in honors classes) and belonged to the National Honor Society, the Christian Leadership Team, Retreat Team and is a Eucharist minister at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Eugene. She also was named Marist Homecoming queen.
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is one of her idols and she has many of the same qualities, which she plans to utilize at the University of Alabama.
“My goal is to play anywhere I can help the team,” she says. “I’m really determined to be a key player.”
Alabama coach Pat Murphy couldn’t be happier, even though she caused him somewhat of a “meltdown” the night she made her commitment.
He took her call around midnight while watching an Alabama-Kentucky basketball tournament game. “I had my phone in one hand and an ice cream cone (chocolate) in the other,” he related. “By the time I got off the phone (one-half hour later) the whole cone had melted down my arm, my leg and into my right shoe.”
It cost him a new pair of shoes (around $90), but he vows it was worth every drip.
Alabama has an opening at shortstop next year and Mike White sees instant success. He declares confidently, “She can step into Division I and hit.”
He also sees her playing professionally some day. “Her weakness is her arm,” he concedes. “She has to learn to use her speed more in the field for range, but I have seen improvement (in all areas) every year.”
