Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012
FRANK JOLLEY | Columnist
Baylie Bridges proved a long time ago that I'm a better sports writer than basketball coach.
As a summer rec-league coach in south Lake County, I often instructed my players to leave Bridges -- now Leesburg's senior point guard -- alone when stepped behind the three-point line.
It seemed like a relatively sound decision at the time. Bridges was 8 or 9 years old at the time and wasn't much taller than an outdoor shrub. She played with an endless amount of energy, but it seemed like it took virtually everything she had to heave the ball up toward the basket.
My thinking was that we'd double-team bigger and -- I felt -- more dangerous shooters when Bridges was hanging out away from the ball.
I guess I never realized that she was usually her team's deadliest shooter.
Over the course of that summer, nearly 10 years ago, the little blonde southpaw made my team pay time and time again for my oversight. Since then, she's proven countless other coaches wrong, as well.
Rarely does any coach overlook Bridges now. She's grown considerably -- standing now at 5-foot-8 -- and rarely gets lost in a crowd. More often than not, in fact, she is the one player on the Leesburg Yellow Jackets roster who gets noticed before anyone else. Opposing coaches often pull their better defensive players aside during warm ups, point Bridges out and remind them that she is a key to the Yellow Jackets' success.
She's so clutch that when former NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal turned up at the school last month and challenged someone to step up and sink a 3 pointer, Bridges was singled out by her teammates to take the money shot.
Bridges calmly stepped up and hit nothing but net. Technically, the basket didn't help the Yellow Jackets win a game, but it likely was the most expensive shot she ever made. O'Neal had wagered an iPad for every coach and player on the girls team if Bridges could hit the trey.
(PS ... Shaq, the girls are still waiting for their iPads!)
Despite all that she has accomplished on the basketball court over the years, Bridges is about to become the player that all future Yellow Jackets will strive to become.
With 11 points in today's game at Ocala Lake Weir, Bridges will surpass legendary Yellow Jackets point Pearl Johnson as the school's all time leading scorer. Johnson, who recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, closed out her career in 2008 with 1,413 points.
From Bridges' perspective, the scoring accomplishment is a dubious one. She's got other things on her mind that rank higher on her list of priorities.
"To be honest, I'm just trying to get that district championship," Bridges said last week.
Where's the ego?
She's supposed to be arrogant and cocky, right?
Nope.
She's never been that way. While she possesses a shooter's arrogance -- she wants the ball in her hands for the last shot of the game -- Bridges never puts herself ahead of her team.
Yellow Jackets coach Mark Oates has always praised her work ethic and willingness to stay after practice to work on deficiencies in her game. She's never satisfied with her performance, he said, and constantly drives herself to become a better player and teammate.
"Baylie is always ready to work," Oates has said repeatedly. "She's a true leader. Her main concern always is winning and helping her teammates get better."
Bridges is a leader by example. She's rarely the biggest player on the floor, but she's often one of the toughest.
She usually gets knocked down multiple times during a game and always bounces right back up.
If you rough her up and send her to the free-throw line, she'll make you pay by draining her charity shots.
She's the ultimate "Little Engine That Could."
And by the end of today, she'll likely be the most-prolific scorer in the history of girls basketball at Leesburg High School.
When Oates finally gets the opportunity to publicly acknowledge Bridges' achievement, she'll likely politely accept the applause and feel the love from Yellow Jacket fans. Then she'll look to blend in with her teammates on the basketball court.
In reality, the only glory Bridges wants is the kind that goes along with leading the Yellow Jackets to a state championship.
Everything else is a distant second.
She's come a long way from that little girl who wasn't much larger than the basketball, but had a shot true enough to transform coaches into journalists.
Frank Jolley is a columnist for the Daily Commercial. Write to him at frankjolley@dailycommercial.com.
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Article provided by:
Gerald LaceyStaff Writer
Carver Heights Quarterback Club
1986 Varsity Jackets Football Lettermen #82
Class of 1988 Leesburg High School
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