EAST LANSING — After South Lyon won the state championship in 2021, the Lions grabbed members from the South Lyon Stealth travel softball team to take a picture with them and the championship trophy.
Among that group of middle schoolers was sixth-grader Isabella Bracali, who is a big reason why the Lions will have a chance to snap that same photo again this weekend.
Four years later, the second baseman drove in the winning run during a 1-0 victory over Utica Ford in the Division 1 state semifinal on June 12 at Michigan State, advancing South Lyon (32-7) to Saturday’s state championship.
“She is a poised sophomore who knows her strike zone and what she’s doing at the plate,” first-year coach Jerry Shippe said. “We always have full confidence in what she’s doing up there. She’s a professional hitter. To have that kind of poise as a sophomore is very rare. She knows what she’s doing up there.”
Bracali sailed a pop fly to shallow center field, allowing Rylee Miller to cross home plate in the third inning.
On a regular-sized high school field, one of Ford’s outfielders might have gotten to the ball in time, but Bracali took advantage of Secchia Stadium having plenty of real estate. Though she admitted she was actually hoping to smack a line drive instead of popping up.
“I was (watching the ball in the air). I was just hoping that it was dropping,” said Bracali, who finished 3 of 4 batting with one stolen base. “I know they were playing a little farther back, so I was just trying to hit a line drive. That didn’t happen, but I’m just happy the run scored.”
Those are the types of plays she’s been making since she got into the starting lineup as a freshman.
She’s just too consistent in the batter’s box and reliable as an infielder to take off the field.
Her secret? She never takes a day off. Even when South Lyon isn’t practicing as a team, she’s doing something individually to keep herself sharp.
That blue-collar attitude is a hat tip to some of the mentors she’s had over the years, from the players on the 2021 state championship team to current Duke pitcher Ava Bradshaw, who was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Michigan in 2022, and some of the veterans on this team, like seniors Izzy Nooe and Avery Bourlier and junior pitcher Havanna Bissett.
Their tutelage helped her feel confident and comfortable as a freshman, which is saying something because the Lions wouldn’t have made it to the state semifinal a year ago without Bracali doing some of the heavy lifting, too.
“Watching them here last year and seeing how she handled it and watching her hit, it’s easy to see why she got that everyday nod (to be in the starting lineup),” said Shippe, who was an assistant last season. “From Day 1 (when I got promoted in the offseason), I knew she was my kid to go out there and play second base for me.”
And the Lions are hoping she can help them continue to right some of the wrongs from last year’s 5-4 loss to Lake Orion in the state semifinal.
South Lyon was favored to make the championship, but it lost Bradshaw to an injury in the second inning. While Bissett has been a reliable arm throughout her career, she was thrown out there cold. By the time she found her groove, the Dragons were well on their way to the upset win and had earned a chance to win a state title.
The Lions have since rebounded from that heartbreaking end to the 2024 season and are back at MSU.
“They’re resilient,” Shippe said. “Things happen to them during the game, but they bounce back and let the defense and pitching do the work for them.”
One of those players who continues to bounce back has been Bracali, who wore her Stealth jersey the last time South Lyon won the championship. Now she gets to try to win one while wearing an actual Lions’ uniform.
“I don’t really remember a lot (from the 2021 game), but I remember I was cheering for them, and I was just happy that they won because I got a picture with all of the girls, and it was a really cool moment,” Bracali said.
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter at @folsombrandonj.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: South Lyon’s Isabella Bracali will wear a different softball jersey at this state final
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
