Benedictine junior is three-sport All Region selection

When you talk about Brad Stewart, a 6’1”, 178-pound three-sport star for the Benedictine Cadets, it’s difficult to know exactly where to begin. He plays football, basketball, and baseball at a high level; he’s been an All-Region selection in all three and two All-State selections in football (one Honorable Mention, one Second Team). Stewart has compiled an impressive list of athletic awards and he’s also an excellent student who takes Advanced Placement and Honors classes. Much to the joy of the Benedictine faithful and the chagrin of Cadets opponents, Stewart still has a year left in his high school career.

As impressive as Stewart’s athletic career has been through his first two and a half years of school, he was having a difficult time when In the Game spoke with him. He was recovering from an injury, one that ended his basketball season prematurely and left him sitting on the sidelines watching his teammates get ready for the region tournament. He had developed a stress fracture in one of his heels after jumping for a pass at the Elite Junior Classic, played at McEachern. He opened up a small fracture in his foot on that play but refused to come out of the game. “It was hurting but I played through the discomfort,” he recalls. Stewart scored 41-yard touchdown on a pass from Coffee County’s Tyree Paulk in the game.

As Stewart transitioned from football to basketball, the injury didn’t have time to heal properly and worsened, eventually ending his season. “I’m out and we have another player out with a bad ankle. But we’re going to make a run in the region tournament,” he says.

With his basketball season over, Stewart has his sights set on baseball. He won’t say which of the three sports is his favorite but he has been playing baseball longest. He first wandered onto a baseball field when he was four years old and he’s been playing ever since. When Stewart was 10 years old, his first travel team called. The Savannah Mudcats wanted him on their squad, and it was at that time that he realized just how much he loved baseball. “That was a turning point in my baseball career,” he recalls. “We played every weekend all over the place. That’s when it started getting serious.”

Stewart made Benedictine’s varsity as a freshman. Primarily a centerfielder, he also closes when needed. Stewart simply refuses to lose. When a ball is coming his way, he will do whatever he needs to in order to make a play. He flies around the outfield with little regard for limb or livelihood – all that matters is getting the ball in his glove. When he’s at the plate, the same will to succeed takes over. Hitting is a challenge to him, one he takes personally. It’s him against the pitcher and he is determined to prevail. “How can you call getting something right three out of 10 times success? That drives some people crazy but I love it,” he says.

His first year with the Cadets, they made the 5A playoffs but lost in the first round. Last year, Benedictine had moved down to 2A and the Cadets rolled through the season, eventually getting to the Final Four. Benedictine faced Wesleyan in the quarterfinals and that’s where Stewart made one of the biggest plays of his career. The Cadets were the home team and the game was in the top of the seventh. Benedictine was holding on to a slim, one-run lead. There were two outs in the inning but Wesleyan had two runners on. The hitter got into one and scorched a line drive directly at Stewart. It wasn’t going to land in front of him – he either had to catch it or it was going to the fence.

“When it started coming my way, my first thought was, ‘Oh no.’ When I made my first move, I tripped a little. The ball was hit really hard. I turned and ran as hard as I could. I just dove at the end and caught the ball.” He came to a rest about 20 feet from the fence. Had the ball been hit a little higher in the air, it would have been a three-run home run.   

The appearance in the semifinals in baseball wasn’t Stewart’s only opportunity to play in a Final Four. The Cadets football team also went to the semifinals this year on the heels of a 13-1 season. Benedictine lost to Lamar County in the semifinals for the team’s second loss in as many years to Lamar in the playoffs. Stewart, a wide receiver, cornerback, and kick/punt returner, enjoyed every minute of the Cadets’ playoff run. “It was a blast. We have something special here at Benedictine,” he says.
 
During the 2013 season, Stewart caught 30 passes for more than 700 yards. He also scored 11 touchdowns. That kind of production, coupled with a grade point average north of 4.0, has a number of colleges courting him for football. Marshall has already come forward with an offer and several other Division I schools are in steady contact with him. Stewart would like to play at least one sport in college, though he won’t say which one he prefers. “It’s a goal of mine. I’m hoping it will happen,” he says.

Throughout his career, a great deal of attention has come Stewart’s way. He finds all the attention a little unsettling. After all, he plays sports because he loves to get out there and compete. The other stuff is a just one big distraction that can derail his enjoyment of the sports he loves if he isn’t careful. Stewart’s father, Brandon, keeps him well-grounded. “He constantly reminds me that I’m no different than anybody else. Determination and discipline is what will move me forward. He helps me stay in the present and not dwell on the past or look too far into the future,” says Stewart.

In three short years, Brad Stewart has already amassed an impressive collection of awards in all three sports:
Football: Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame Football Player of the Year 2013, Best of Preps 2013 Most Versatile Male Athlete of the Year, All State Honorable Mention Football/Offense, Greater Savannah First Team Wide Receiver, All Region First Team Wide Receiver, All State Second Team.

 Basketball: All Region First Team, Greater Savannah Honorable Mention.

  Baseball: All Region First Team, Greater Savannah First Team, Top 100 Georgia Dugout Club Prospect, and Perfect Game’s Top Prospect list.

Favorites:
•    Subject: Math
•    College Team: University of Georgia
•    College Player: Michael Bennett
•    Pro Team: Atlanta Falcons
•    Pro Player: Calvin Johnson
•    Person To Meet: Wes Walker and Mike Trout
•    Place to Travel: “I would love to visit all the islands in the Caribbean.”
•    Superpower: Fly

Junior Standout/Coastal/February 2014
Brad Stewart
Benedictine
Savannah, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
Benedictine junior is three-sport All Region selection