BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
Kyle Bradley will be playing for one of the top collegiate baseball programs in the country next fall when he heads north to Rutgers University. HOWELL — Kyle Bradley wants to win a baseball state championship with Red Bank Catholic (RBC) this spring.
The strong right-handed pitcher believes his team has the returning talent to be a major contender for championships. Bradley, who figures to be one of the Caseys’ cornerstones, will be completely focused on taking RBC to the next level. That’s because the senior won’t have to worry about any outside distractions now that he has signed his National Letter of Intent to Rutgers University, where he will continue his career on a baseball scholarship.
“Towards the middle of the summer I decided to go early decision, that’s what most colleges wanted,” said Bradley, who lives in Howell. “A lot of schools contacted me and I was pretty open-minded.
“I chose Rutgers because of the location, the program and its academics,” he added.
In choosing Rutgers, Bradley will be joining a Big East power that has been one of the best programs in the country for a number of years under head coach Fred Hill
Recent Rutgers stars, David DeJesus, of Manalapan (Kansas City Royals) and Val Majewski, of Freehold Township (Baltimore Orioles) made their way to their respective Major League clubs this year.
“Rutgers is a very good team,” noted Bradley. “It will be tough to get into the starting rotation.”
Bradley said that he had won Rutgers over when assistant coach Glen Gardner scouted him in person this summer.
“He liked that I throw hard and when he came to watch me, he liked that I was there before he got to the field,” Bradley pointed out. “He liked the fact that I was that focused.”
Bradley began playing baseball in the Howell Central Little League. He was a position player, he noted, until he was in eighth grade at the Howell North Middle School, when he decided he wanted to be a pitcher. His lively fastball made him instantly difficult to hit.
Over time, he has developed an outstanding change-up to go along with the 91 mph fastball that impressed colleges as well as some Major League teams (he’s had personal tryouts with Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers and been contacted by the World Series champion Boston Red Sox).
One of the reasons that Bradley is looking forward to the 2005 scholastic season is that he believes he came into his own as a hurler just this summer pitching for RBC’s America Legion team and participating in a baseball showcase.
“I was stronger mentally,” noted the RBC hurler. “This summer I put a lot of work into my pitching.”
He bore the first fruits of that dedication this summer, impressing colleges at the showcase and in Legion ball, resulting in scholarship offers. Next, he hopes, is a big senior year on the diamond with RBC.

