For years, Griffith’s Brylie Bridges didn’t have to look far to find her father whenever she was playing softball.
Jeff Bridges was usually in the dugout, offering words of encouragement.
“He was my motivation to always be better,” she said.
That suddenly changed after Jeff Bridges died in August 2024 at the age of 57.
“At the beginning, I didn’t really have any motivation,” Brylie Bridges said. “I stopped going to practices and other things for my travel teams.”
But the Griffith softball team has rekindled Brylie Bridges’ passion for the sport. As she begins her high school career, she is part of a young core that includes familiar faces like fellow freshman Elena Rivas and sophomores Natalie Vianello and Cheyanne Fant.
“High school season really brought me back,” Brylie Bridges said. “I want to go to things now, and I enjoy going to them.”
No doubt the Panthers (6-0) enjoy having Brylie Bridges in the lineup too. She homered in her first career at-bat against Merrillville on April 1. Two weeks later, she hit a grand slam that provided the final runs as Griffith rallied to top Wheeler 10-7.
For the season, Brylie Bridges is hitting .526 with a team-high 11 RBIs and a team-high five stolen bases. She’s also 1-0 with a 0.88 ERA in eight innings in the circle.
Griffith coach Kevin Shepard said he expected Brylie Bridges to make an immediate impact — he has been her coach before — but her level of production has surprised him.
“I knew she’d do well,” Shepard said. “But I didn’t know she was going to do this. She’s made solid contact on every hit she’s had.”
Among the people cheering for Brylie Bridges is her uncle Scott, Jeff’s brother and co-owner of the Griffith restaurant Bridges’ Scoreboard. He offered her some advice as she returned to the field for this season.
“After he passed, she was a little lost,” Scott Bridges said. “But I’m glad she decided to stick it out. I just told her to go out, do the best that she can and have some fun. She seems to be doing that.”
Scott Bridges, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in December 2023, was in the crowd for Brylie’s first home run and retrieved the ball that she hit for a grand slam. He said he often thinks about Jeff while he watches her play.
“With the success she’s having, he’d be on cloud nine right now, and that’s the toughest part,” Scott Bridges said.
Brylie Bridges said her early success has helped ease any nerves she had about playing high school softball and has reminded her that she can do it well. The approach she used to hit a home run in her first at-bat will likely carry her through the rest of her high school career and beyond.
“I was nervous because there were a lot of my friends and family in the stands,” Brylie Bridges said. “But once I got up there, I cleared my head, and everything was fine after that.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
