By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
Every once in a while, things just seem to go your way over the course of a few days. Maybe it’s just good luck or maybe you simply make it happen, but sometimes the stars just seem to line up in your favor.
Good for you, but did you pitch 7 2/3 innings in your first-ever playoff start on the mound and single-handedly keep your team in the game until it was won in extra innings?
Kade Bryant did.
Did you then turn around three days later and shoot a career-low 68 at the regional golf meet?
Kade Bryant did.
Whether or not his playoff hair dye job makes things better or worse is a matter of personal preference, but there is no doubt that Bryant had a pretty special week competing for Benton High School.
One of those accomplishments would be good enough to double your Instagram followers. But both?
Wait a minute … what happened to the whole specialize-in-one-sport thing? Bryant is specializing in two sports at the same time.
“I put a lot of time into both,” he says. “I come to baseball after school, go home for a little while and then go to the golf course. It is tiring, especially keeping up with school, too.”
And to make things even better, he’s not even specializing with the same hand. In baseball, he’s a left-handed pitcher; in golf, he’s a righty.
“I’ve always been left-handed, but when I started playing golf, I just started using right-handed clubs,” Bryant says. “So I stuck with it.”
Athletes playing two sports during a school year is not that unusual. Athletes playing two sports at the same time does happen, but usually only in special circumstances.
But athletes playing two sports at the same time at this level and having top-shelf performances on the big stage just doesn’t happen very often.
“I understand he’s a baseball player first,” says Benton golf coach Tim Cram. “But if he played golf all the time, he’d be really, really good.”
Cram should know; he’s been coaching golf for 30 years.
“First of all, he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever had,” Cram says. “But he retains information in a way that is unbelievable. You tell him something one time and he puts it into use. In all my years of coaching, you have a handful that just get it; those who are good athletically, great kids, mature and work hard. He’s one of those.”
Bryant started playing baseball when he was three but didn’t take up golf until he was 10. “I found out I was kinda good at it,” Bryant says.
It’s pretty obvious what the next question is. “I think I like baseball a little bit more because of the team aspect of it,” he says. “Just being around the guys all year long and seeing the improvement makes it a lot more fun.”
But that is not to say that golf is a distant second for Bryant. “I love how golf is the course versus yourself,” he says. “You have to mentally stay locked in and do what you do best.”
The funny thing is, Bryant doesn’t appear dominant in either sport – until you look at the results. As a pitcher, he throws in the mid-80s but has very good control. “I’m not going to throw anything by you,” he says, “but I do locate my pitches pretty well.”
On the golf course, “I’m not much of a long hitter. I just need to hit fairways, hit greens and run some putts in,” he says.
The biggest issue about Bryant playing so well in both sports isn’t really an issue at all. Cram and Benton baseball coach Dan Peavy got together before the season and worked out a schedule that didn’t have too many conflicts.
Now that the postseason has arrived, the schedule gotten even better. Baseball playoffs are on weekends and postseason golf tournaments are scheduled for early in the week.
The Benton baseball team will be in Dutchtown this weekend in the second round of the Division I Non-Select playoffs.
Kade Bryant will be there.
The Benton golf team will be in Lafayette Monday and Tuesday for the Division I state championship tournament.
Kade Bryant will be there, too.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com