Maya Brady Is the Spark’s Not-So-Secret Weapon

Maya Brady, the starting center fielder for the Oklahoma City Spark, is off to a remarkable start in her second season of Athletes Unlimited Softball. 

Brady is no stranger to athletic success. Her mom, Maureen Brady, was a standout pitcher at Fresno State in the 90s. She helped send the team to the Women’s College World Series twice during her collegiate career, a feat not unknown to her daughter. In one of those years, Maureen Brady held a 0.98 ERA. 

Most notably is Brady’s uncle, seven time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady. Maybe you’ve heard of him. But Maya Brady doesn’t hide behind her uncle’s athletic career; she builds her own. 

Brady has solidified the leadoff spot in the Spark’s lineup while playing center field. Her contact from the left-handed batters box and elite speed make her an obvious choice for the leadoff position. 

Naturally, she makes a remarkable center fielder. This season, Brady has claimed six putouts and one outfield assist with a perfect fielding percentage.

The Numbers

Through her first five starts, Brady managed to hit over .500 in each game. After six games, Brady is leading the league with ten hits and eight runs, as well as eight RBIs. She is second in the league in average with .556 and OPS with 1.889.

Even more, she is tied for first in walks with six and second in slugging percentage with 1.222.

Brady is producing some unheard of statistics, and it’s nothing new to her. Last season with the Talons, Brady started six games and hit .647 with 11 hits in 17 at bats. 

This season, Brady has already almost matched her at bats from last season just five games in, and is expected to substantially increase her playing time. Luckily, these numbers don’t plan on going anywhere. 

Collegiate Career

Brady left UCLA as one of the most decorated Bruins in program history. A two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year (2023, 2024), Brady boasted a career slash line of .348/.464/.757 and a season best average of .448 (2023). 

She was a two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist claiming a top three and a top ten spot in 2023 and 2024, respectively. In 2020, Brady was also named Softball America Freshman of the Year. 

Brady played shortstop in college, and has since transitioned to the outfield. Over her five years at UCLA (including one COVID year), the California native played in 249 games and started 247 of those.

She totaled 279 hits, 71 home runs, and 246 RBI. At the end of her career, she finished second in program history in home runs, runs batted in, and slugging percentage.

Style and Approach

Brady enters the box with confidence, taking a deep breath before every pitch. She keeps her hands high, expecting the riseball and adjusting to anything lower in the zone. Everything is hit hard off the bat, a reflection of her sheer power and strength and she waits behind the ball.

Brady’s hands stay close to her body, allowing her to take an inside pitch deep. She never takes both feet out of the box, and made her fifth-inning home run look easy, a skill only done by the best of the best. The Spark lead extended to 4-2 as the solo shot was blasted over the outfield bleachers.

In the outfield, Brady takes a step with right foot, then her left, and takes a small hop to get into her ready position. This small move has likely followed her from her infield days. The ‘prep-step’ is a move often seen by infielders. In the outfield, however, Brady keeps her steps sharp to easily track down fly balls.

She almost always stands to the left field side of the bag, but can move swiftly and react to the ball. And when a runner takes off for second, Brady sneaks in behind the bag to field an overthrow.

Brady holds a strong drop-step, picking the direction of the ball and angling towards it. On a deep-fly, she follows it back to the wall, finding her location before making the catch. When the ball’s dropping in shallow, she moves quickly and sets up to come through the ball on the catch.

Just Getting Started

With 19 more games to go with the Spark, Brady will definitely have more talent to put on display. The Spark head up to Portland next for a three-game series against the Cascade. Brady is expected to continue to start in center.

The Portland series will be streaming on ESPN and ESPN2.