Former Ballard pitcher Brooke Gray had an exceptional career for the Bruins
By Dyuce Woodson
July 5, 2023 –The term G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) is used as slang to describe something that is exceptionally good, sometimes, there’s an -ed added, making the term GOATed, which essentially means, again, really good. When you look at what the G.O.A.T. acronym stands for, recent Ballard High School graduate Brooke Gray fits that description.
When she became the full-time starting pitcher in her sophomore year, she only lost three games – all three losses coming her sophomore year. She also has more than 1,000 career strikeouts – a career strikeout total that didn’t have a chance to have four full seasons.
“You got to remember one thing about Brooke. Brooke only played three years on the varsity level because we had a COVID year,” Ballard head softball coach Alan Jones said. “If you add what she’s had every year, which is probably 300, 250 [strikeouts] each year, she probably would have 1,400 if you could average it in. And she would’ve done in 2020 what she’s done in 2021, 2022 and 2023. There’s no doubt about it.”
Over the past two seasons, Ballard was one of the best softball teams in the country. The Bruins are the third team in Kentucky High School Athletics Association (KHSAA) history to repeat as state champions. They also set the record for the program with the most consecutive wins and the 2023 Bruins were ranked second in the nation, according to MaxPreps.
While Gray’s resume speaks for itself, it’s what won’t make the box score or the record books that Gray will remember about high school softball.
“The bus rides down to state are always so much fun with the team,” Gray said. “We all have, like, our songs that we listen to and also spring break, like, getting to bond with all the girls because I’ve been going it since eighth grade.”
Despite the number of individual awards Gray earned during her senior year, which includes the Gatorade Player of the Year in Kentucky for softball and Miss Softball, she always credits the girls who were behind her during this two-year run, when the team went 75-1.
“It’s unreal just knowing that everybody on, like, the starting nine and even not on the starting nine, like, everybody had my back – even the girls in the dugout,” Gray said. “Just having that, like, trust in the team is just all a pitcher could ask for.”
No better example of the team having her back than in the 2023 state championship game. While Gray struck out 10 batters, her teammate, fellow senior now-graduate Emory Donaldson, got a hit every time she was at bat, going 4/4.
As she gets used to calling herself a Ballard alum, she’s especially proud of the legacy she and her team has set.
When asked what is something that’s the most notable thing the team did over the past four years, she said, “Either going back-to-back state championships or breaking the [most consecutive wins] record. Just because I know that’ll be talked about for a really long time, like stuff that I’ve done here, people are going to talk about it for a few years. But, it’s like what the team has done all together, is something that other teams, and you know, other girls will talk about for years to come.”
Gray will continue her softball career at the University of Louisville. Previous Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year winners had gone on to have successful college careers, like Montana Fouts and Gray’s former Ballard teammate Allie Skaggs, Gray’s confidence is rising as she embarks on a new chapter in her softball career.
“It gives me hope for college, definitely. That if, you know, Montana Fouts and all these other great players have had so much success in high school and also, like, the Gatorade Players of the Year in Kentucky, almost all of them excel in college,” Gray said. “That gives me a lot of hope that, like, I’m on the right path for college.”
As for her head coach, he has the utmost confidence in his former ace.
“I’m telling you right now, U of L is getting a superstar. Not only as a pitcher but as a young lady,” Jones said. “She’s going to take them places they never have been before.”
Jones says he’s planning on going to as many Louisville Cardinal softball games as possible during Brooke’s college career. One thing he’ll especially remember about Gray “is her smile because it’s the same smile when she showed up as an eighth grader as she is today.”