There are almost 500,000 high schoolers who play baseball in America every year. Out of all of those players, Suncoast may have one of the brightest young stars on their hands. Bradley “BA” Link is a junior and is also one of the best baseball players in the class of 2023. As of the 24th of February 2022, he leads the state in home runs. He and fellow teammate, Nate Stafford, are the only two players in Palm Beach County with home runs. Link has gotten many offers from many different colleges. He got some from big schools such as University of Miami and others. Out of all these schools, he chose to pursue his academic and athletic career as a spider for the University of Richmond. Although he is at the peak of his high school career, he has not always been there. 

Bradley first separated himself in baseball at a young age. He was already a very good player during his sophomore campaign. In the offseason between his sophomore and junior year, Link made it his goal to get himself in the best shape of his life. “I focused on getting my body to its peak physical performance,” Link said. He started the offseason weighing about 170 pounds. At the beginning of his junior year, he weighed in at 190 pounds of pure muscle. This combined with his 5’10 frame makes him a huge power threat both on the mound and at the plate.

At the beginning of the 2021-2022 season, Link was off to a racing start. Through the first three games of the season, Link had three home runs. He is on an almost impossible pace to his 24 this season. While it is very unlikely that he will hit more than 10 this season, he is making a huge impact on his position in the rankings of the class of 2023 baseball. He is already a top prospect for colleges to look at, and if he keeps up with this throughout the final two seasons of his high school career, we could see his name get called at the MLB draft.

He has helped Suncoast get off to one of the top starts in Palm Beach County for baseball. The energy he brings to the team has helped carry the rest of the team’s mojo. From seniors to freshman it seems like every player on the Suncoast baseball team roster is playing great. Freshman Heyden Neihoff said, “Right now the team is playing great and I think we are doing that by focusing on the little things like limiting mental errors and mistakes. This way we don’t get carried away by the big picture.” The pitching, defense, and hitting all seem to be locked in at this time. As of March 8, the Chargers are 6-1 compared to the 0-7 they started off last year. Suncoast’s baseball program is no longer a sport to sleep on.