As they reminisce on old memories, the two underclassmen trade smiles, revealing that their friendship runs deeper than just living in close proximity.
“Our class and her class were always super close; we were all best friends,” Bradley softball’s sophomore shortstop Addie Welsh said. “We live about two blocks away from each other. It’s a really small town, really small community.”
Welsh and her freshman teammate Kierston McCoy hail from Mapleton, Illinois; a small village that contains less than 300 people but holds two large chemical plants and two metal casting facilities. Stronger than the steel produced at the foundries was the bond in which Welsh and McCoy formed over the years.
Their greatest connection through years of basketball and volleyball was put together on a different field of play: the diamond. With McCoy in the circle and Welsh playing behind her at shortstop for Illini Bluffs High School, the duo helped lead their alma mater to back-to-back IHSA Class 1A state titles in 2021 and 2022.
Tigers on top
Between Illini Bluffs’ two championship seasons, the Tigers compiled a record of 37-3 and outscored their opponents by a commanding two-year total of 346-53. Their 17-1 record in 2021 was exactly the way athletes across the country hope to go out but often fail to: on top.
“It took a lot of hard work,” Welsh said in reference to the championship season in her senior year. “I remember starting off at the beginning of the year and we had our mindset that we wanted to go to state because the year before was COVID and we got that year taken away from us.”
Despite still remembering her only error that season (during the team’s lone loss, a 5-1 defeat to Olympia in which McCoy also remembers getting tagged for a home run), Welsh believes part of the success came from her ability to narrow her focus.
“I feel like I just did the little things well that year,” Welsh said. “I led off the season so I was just focusing on making sure that I could get on base because I knew I had Kierston [McCoy] behind me who could drive me in.”
With Welsh joining the Braves during the offseason, McCoy was left to continue the success that the Tigers manufactured the season prior, but this time she’d be without her partner.
Despite the changes around her, McCoy took the opportunity to lead, and ran with it all the way back to the championship.
“It was kind of indescribable,” McCoy said, turning to Welsh. “Coming off my junior year with a win and then losing these valuable players, like, I really missed you guys. I really did.”
“Being a senior, it was awesome to go back and kind of be a leader of the team,” McCoy continued. “To see it from that standpoint and help my team benefit, it was just a great memory to share with some of my best friends.”
Being named the Peoria Journal Star’s Player of the Year in 2022 – an award she was slighted for the year prior by Tremont High School’s Paige McAllister who pitches for conference rival Evansville – the young star’s potential was realized between bookend championship seasons.
“I was so excited, that was a huge honor,” McCoy said. “My family was super excited for me and it’s just a huge honor to be able to have.”
Buying in to the Braves
Before the girls had won their first title, their hometown university was already seeping into their future discussions. Welsh’s parents William and Mindy are both Bradley alums while McCoy’s mother, Kari, was a former Brave who pitched from 1998-2000.
Admitting that she wasn’t free of nudges from her parents, Welsh decided that her parent’s choice was the best path forward. After committing, the team decided to take a trip to her future home, which included a stop at a local staple.
“This was right before state,” Welsh said. “I was already committed here and Kierston [McCoy] was talking to Bradley at the time. We got us and a few of our teammates together and came down to this area. We went to One World and then to Dang [Banh Mi & Poke] to get smoothies. Then we walked around campus.”
Getting a sense of the campus, McCoy also landed on the Hilltop far in advance of her freshman year, but despite her familiar ties to the team and relationship with Welsh, the decision wasn’t so easy.
“My mom went to Bradley and she was a pitcher also so it has kind of been a dream for me growing up but then I got older and I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go or if I wanted to build my own legacy and not follow in her footsteps,” McCoy said.
“But then coming here, touring and meeting everyone, it was just such an awesome experience,” McCoy added. “I am a huge homebody and have a huge family that I love to be around so it was kind of perfect.”
That decision ended up working perfectly for both.
A bond built to last
A familiar location for Bradley students, Welsh and McCoy agreed that Grandview Drive was one of their favorite places to visit. Whether it’s doing homework, watching sunsets or just sitting outside in the sun, the duo are a hard link to separate.
In a season mired by injuries and a less-than-ideal record, the reuniting of the Mapleton mix has been a promising piece to focus on. With Welsh still commanding her spot at short, her teammate has returned to the circle sparingly, now taking increasingly steady reps at third base as the depth chart thins.
Shifted to controlling the left side of the infield, the duo displays a connection that those unfamiliar with each’s game would assume their history together runs deep.
“I feel like we’re really good at communicating,” McCoy said. “Me and Addie [Welsh] are always communicating plays and talking to each other through everything. Sometimes you’re there for three hours, your focus goes elsewhere but communicating with each other really helps us stay focused.”
“Both of them are very much ballplayers and I mean that in the highest regard because they’re about the game,” Bradley head coach Sarah Willis said. “They carry themselves very professionally, both are very competitive individuals.”
For how they’re getting accustomed, Welsh totaled 137 assists in her first season, the most by a Bradley freshman. In her first 40 games, McCoy batted .279 and drove in 17 runs while striking out just 11 times in 111 at bats. These accomplishments led to her earning a spot in the lineup in year one.
When each describes the other, ‘fiery’ is a term that comes to mind.
“I think Kierston is definitely a fiery competitor but she doesn’t let it show,” Welsh said. “Sometimes she can really get locked in and she’s always gonna get her job done.”
“I have full faith in Addie’s hops at shortstop, she can jump the highest I’ve ever seen,” McCoy said. “She does have a bit of rage, we call it the ‘rage cage’. She gets really fired up but then all that’s brought out in positive ways on the field.”
From a small, compact village to the large family in the Peoria dugout, Welsh and McCoy are inseparable, whether it’s on the field or outside the confines. A lifetime of memories have resulted in a friendship for life.
