Kaboom! Awards: Baseball Highlights

Bradley Baseball continues historic trend of league success

Josh Schwam

Baseball 6/18/2021 11:00:00 AM

The 2021 Kaboom! Awards, presented by RE/MAX Traders Unlimited and supported by PNC, once again is being celebrated virtually during the middle of June. This week's schedule of presentations is focused on each sport's season highlights, including this morning's spotlight on Bradley Baseball.

The prospects of the global pandemic delayed the start of the 2021 Bradley Baseball season, but despite the long layoff after the cancellation of the 2020 campaign just 10 games into the season, the Braves continued their recent run of success in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Mixing in a number of young players into a lineup with established veterans, Bradley took third in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 12-10 league record, a mark that included a 4-game split at eventual champion Dallas Baptist, which has gone on to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Finishing third in the MVC standings for the fourth time in six league seasons, Bradley's 12 Valley wins were the most since 2007 (13-11) and gave the Braves a third consecutive winning conference season with at least 11 league wins for the first time in program history.

Five Braves earned all-conference honors, led by the trio of senior RF Dan Bolt, senior 3B Brendan Dougherty and sophomore 1B Connor O'Brien. The first preseason MVC Player-of-the-Year and All-American in program history, Bolt backed up the preseason hype by batting .345 with nine home runs during the regular season, in addition to leading The Valley with a .483 on-base percentage during the regular season. A starter in 196 consecutive games at third base to end his career, Dougherty also finished his career by reaching base safely in the final 38 games of the 2021 season, sparking his final .323 batting average. O'Brien led the Valley with a .370 batting average during the regular season to become the first Bradley position player to repeat as a first-team All-MVC selection since Daren Epley, also a first baseman, went back-to-back in 1987 and 1988.

Though Bradley's season was shortened to just 42 games, the Braves wound up playing the program's longest home stand since 1984 by hosting 14 consecutive games at Dozer Park. The home stretch from April 9 to May 8 included a pair of games ended by walk-off home runs: Bolt supplying the heroics April 11 against Evansville for a 5-4 win and O'Brien taking the bow April 17 for a 3-2 win against Southern Illinois.

Resuming Friday afternoon, the 2020-21 Bradley Women's Golf season will be highlighted as the 2021 Kaboom! Awards, presented by RE/MAX Traders Unlimited and supported by PNC, continues.

2021 Kaboom! Awards Presentation Schedule

Day, Date	Feature	Links
Monday, June 14	Men's Golf highlights	Video \| Article
Monday, June 14	Volleyball highlights	Video \| Article
Tuesday, June 15	Men's Basketball highlights	Video \| Article
Tuesday, June 15	Tennis highlights	Video \| Article
Wednesday, June 16	Women's Basketball highlights	Video \| Article
Wednesday, June 16	Softball highlights	Video \| Article
Thursday, June 17	Men's Cross Country/Track & Field highlights	Video \| Article
Thursday, June 17	Soccer highlights	Video \| Article
Thursday, June 17	Women's Cross Country/Track & Field highlights	Video \| Article
Friday, June 18	Baseball highlights	Video \| Article
Friday, June 18	Women's Golf highlights	Video \| Article
Monday, June 21	Female Coach Joe Stowell Award	Video \| Article
Monday, June 21	Male Coach Joe Stowell Award	Video \| Article
Tuesday, June 22	Carl Grose Service Award	Video \| Article
Tuesday, June 22	Special Recognition Award	Article
Wednesday, June 23	Charles Orsborn Award Finalists	Video \| Article
Wednesday, June 23	Megan C. Fong Inspiration Award	Video \| Article
Thursday, June 24	Female Most Outstanding Athlete	Video \| Article
Thursday, June 24	Male Most Outstanding Athlete	Video \| Article
Friday, June 25	Charles Orsborn Award	Video

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Players Mentioned

#35 Dan Bolt: OF; 6' 1"; Senior; L/R

#26 Brendan Dougherty: IF; 6' 2"; Senior; L/R

#41 Connor O'Brien: 1B; 6' 1"; Sophomore; R/R

Players Mentioned

#35 Dan Bolt
: 6' 1"; Senior; L/R
: OF

#26 Brendan Dougherty
: 6' 2"; Senior; L/R
: IF

#41 Connor O'Brien
: 6' 1"; Sophomore; R/R
: 1B

Kaboom! Awards: Baseball Highlights

Bradley Baseball continues historic trend of league success

Players Mentioned

#35 Dan Bolt

#26 Brendan Dougherty

#41 Connor O'Brien

Players Mentioned

#35 Dan Bolt

#26 Brendan Dougherty

#41 Connor O'Brien