Eastern Guilford’s Joe Brady to step down at the end of the year after 23 seasons: SG at EG on Senior Night tonight

Eastern Guilford baseball coach Joe Brady will step as the baseball coach for the Wildcats at the end of this season after 23 years as the head coach and tonight it will be Senior Night at EG with the Southern Guilford Storm coming in at 7pm….

I caught up with Coach Brady earlier this afternoon and asked him a few questions about his time spent at Eastern Guilford…..

Andy Durham: How long were you the baseball coach at Eastern Guilford?

Joe Brady: 23 years and all spent as the head coach….I have been teaching/coaching for 36 years….Teacher and coach at East Montgomery and Elkin HS, before coming to Eastern Guilford.

AD: Number of years at EG?
JB: Again, 23 years, I came here in the fall of 1987. Eastern Guilford man all the way.

AD: Players that you coached that went on to play at the next level, college or pro?
JB: Terry Mayo was drafted by the Brewers and stayed with them for 2-3 years and then he went on to play college football. Kevin Bowman, a catcher, was the MVP at Guilford his freshman year in college. Tripp Gardner played at GTCC and Kevin Jones went on to play at Lander College in Greenwood, South Carolina…John Gann and Hunter Dawson played club baseball at N.C. State and their team went on to win a National Championship…..

AD: Most rewarding season?
JB: 2001 when Eastern made it to the 3rd round of the state(NCHSAA) playoffs.

AD: Most frustrating season?
JB: In many ways due the growing pains associated with a very young team, 2010…This has been a season highlighted by those constant growing pains….

AD: What will you be doing after baseball is over for you?
JB: Playing as much golf as possible and doing odd jobs and making repairs around my home…There are quite a few jobs that I haven’t been able to get around to over the past 23 years….

AD: Who most influenced your baseball career?
JB: My high school baseball coach at Chatham Central High School, Ronald Scott….He has been at Chatham Central since the day the doors opened in 1957…I graduated from there in 1970 and Coach Scott has been there from day one. He is not coaching now, but he is still teaching….

AD: Tell me someone you saw play baseball in Guilford County that you will never forget?
JB: Jake Smith from Southern Guilford. He hit two home runs against us in the conference tournament finals his freshmen year at SG and that changed the course of our post-season…..

AD: How does baseball help or benefit a student-athlete today?
JB: The competitive nature that you develop carries over to every-day life when you become an adult. You learn values that teach you how not to give up and finish what you start. You have to a fighter and a finisher. You can’t run away from fly ball or you can’t just walk off the field when you get stuck in a run-down….It is the same way in life. When you purchase something you have to pay for it, you can’t just walk away and be irresponsible. You have to pay the price and you have to be there as an individual and the individuals together make up your team concept. You have to learn to work as a single moving part and you have to also learn to work as multiple moving parts, when you go after something as a team……Baseball and all sports are not bigger than life, to be successful on the outside(when you get out of school), you have to learn to be successful on the inside(while still in high school) first……

AD: Most inspiring teacher or coach you have worked with while at Eastern Guilford?
JB: Stephanie Cherry. She is a Special Education teacher here at Eastern and she is here every morning at 7 am….She has been doing this for 30 years and she never misses, she is always here at 7am each and every school day and that is something, that we all as teachers, should aspire to do. To have that same zeal as we start each day, doing something that can make a difference in some young person’s life that day, no matter who they are, or where they came from that morning……

Southern Guilford at Eastern Guilford tonight on Senior Night for Coach Joe Brady’s last Wildcat season….

One thought on “Eastern Guilford’s Joe Brady to step down at the end of the year after 23 seasons: SG at EG on Senior Night tonight

Comments are closed.