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Wright dominstes on the mound out of the bullpen for the Redhawks

Brady Wright earning his keep at the college level

08/01/2014, 4:15pm CDT
By Scott Mees-the Southern

Bulls Wright had a great sophmore season at SEMO

The transition from starting pitcher at Anna-Jonesboro High School to reliever in college has been a good one for Brady Wright.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound hurler recorded 12 saves, which was third in the nation, at Rend Lake College as a freshman in 2013. He transferred to Southeast Missouri State University to play Division I baseball this past season.

Wright led the Redhawks in saves with six, and he also accumulated a 3-0 record with a 3.67 ERA. The sophomore appeared in 24 games on the mound, which was tied for the team lead as well.

“At the beginning of the year I was behind quite a few guys in the bullpen, and I was able to put up pretty good numbers midway through the year,” Wright said. “My role just kept increasing, and it was a pretty good year for me despite a few bad outings. But it was an awesome year for the team in general.”

SEMO was picked to finish sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference. The voters obviously dropped the ball there because the Redhawks won the regular season conference championship.

“We returned pretty much our whole lineup from the year before I got there, and we had two of the best hitters in the country in Matt Tellor and Derek Gibson. We brought in a lot of new pitchers and some JUCO guys that no one ever really knew about.”

Wright was on the mound when SEMO defeated Tennessee Tech, the preseason favorite, to win the OVC championship.

“There was a huge dog pile, and it was just unreal,” Wright said. “They were a really good team and it was a great moment for us. They were the best offense in the country, statistically.”

The OVC tournament didn’t go as well for the Redhawks. Jacksonville State ended up winning it and moving on to the NCAA Regional. But it was still a terrific season for the Redhawks.

Wright has gotten used to pitching out of the pen, and he’s enjoying it. The unpredictability of knowing he could pitch at any time is thrilling.

“It’s a huge difference having to be prepared to pitch every day,” Wright said. “It is really exciting, especially throwing in big situations during the late innings. I actually enjoy it more than probably pitching once a week.”

Although he plans on remaining a relief pitcher, Wright is working on adding a changeup to go along with his fastball and slider.

“I’m pretty much locked in as a reliever,” Wright said. “I don’t really have the three-pitch makeup or the mechanics of a starting pitcher. I am trying to work on a changeup, and hopefully that will work better against the left-handed hitters if I can get it down. The main thing is staying locked in every single game.”

Wright is looking forward to his junior season at SEMO. The team finished 37-20 this year, and he believes it has a chance to be good once again.

“We lose a couple big bats, but hopefully we’ll be able to repeat as conference champions,” Wright said. “Hopefully, I can work myself up to a late inning role again next season. I just need to stay away from the one big, bad outing. If I can do that it should be a great year.”

This summer, Wright is playing for the North Shore Navigators of the Future Collegiate Baseball League in Lynn, Massachusetts. He’s staying in Marblehead, which is right next to the Atlantic Ocean and about 15 miles northeast of Boston. He’ll return to SEMO in August.

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